Question

Life was pretty entertaining in the United States during most of the 1920s—the decade before the Great Depression (1929–1939). Many people had time on their hands and money in the bank. There was music on the radio. Movies played in fancy theaters nicknamed "picture palaces." Some people were also playing a little golf—mini golf. Many historians say miniature golf was invented in Scotland in the 1860s. Back then, society stated that women weren't supposed to raise a golf club past their shoulders. It wasn't considered ladylike. Barred from playing traditional golf, the women got their own miniature course. It was just like a regular course, but shorter. Players were allowed to putt, not swing the golf club.

The idea for pint-sized putting courses made it across the ocean in 1916. James Barber built the first U.S. mini course on his North Carolina estate. When it was finished, he said, "This'll do." That turned into the place's fun name: Thistle Dhu.

In 1926, someone else took the mini golf idea up a notch. His course on Lookout Mountain in Georgia featured funky fairytale statues and hollow log obstacles. He called it Tom Thumb Golf. Then, he built more courses, swapping the hollow logs for obstacles manufactured in "fantasy factories." Others added their own flair to the game. By around 1929, there were about 150 mini golf courses on New York City's rooftops!

The Fun's Over. Or Is It?

It was all fun and games for a while. But then the stock market crashed in 1929. The roar of the '20s became a whimper. As the Great Depression dragged on, many people couldn't afford amusements anymore. Even so, some resourceful fun-lovers dreamed up their own Depression diversions. Some started building cheap "rinky dink" golf courses on abandoned construction sites and vacant lots. They used tires, pipes, rain gutters, cans, and other salvaged stuff as obstacles.

Thousands of rinky dink courses popped up all over the place, including public parks and prison yards! Struggling restaurants and theaters made space for makeshift mini golf. Some mini golf courses added live bands, pie-eating contests, and other entertainment to attract more players. Outdoor lighting let people play at all hours of the day and night. And they did! "American sportdom has known no such epidemic," the Washington Post declared in 1930. There were more than 25,000 courses in the U.S. when mini golf was called "The Madness of 1930."

Millions of Americans loved the game. But some decidedly did not. Washington, D.C., public parks director—and grandson of the 18th president—Ulysses S. Grant III wasn't a fan. He called mini golf a "public nuisance" after receiving complaints about illegal activity like gambling going on at some places. And filmmakers, annoyed by falling ticket sales and theater closings, tried to ban movie stars from playing the game. After all, celebrities tended to make things more popular.

The mini golf craze, like other fads, fizzled after a while. But the game is linked to something other than entertainment. In 1941, a group of Black men were harassed for trying to play at a Whites-only mini golf course operated by the National Park Service in Washington, D.C. The next day, Interior Department Secretary Harold Ickes opened the park courses to everyone. It was the first step toward desegregating all the capital city's public recreation spaces.

Question 7


7 / 8

Which is the closest synonym for the word salvage?

prefer
chisel
varnish
recover

Answer 1

recover — "salvage" means to save or recover something, especially from loss or damage.