Sodas & Spare Time

Shaking off the Weariness

Even amidst frustrating searches for work or after working long hours six or seven days a week, migrant workers found opportunities for relaxation, recreation, and good food when there was a little money to spend.

“Juke joints,” roughly constructed bars offering music from a jukebox, dancing, sodas and alcohol, were a central aspect of night life in worker camps, catering to single men and women anxious to shake off the weariness of the day's labor.

Although housing was usually segregated by race according the social restrictions of the era, businesses in migrant worker communities such as diners sometimes transcended the constraints of segregation in order to provide services and amenities to as many of the agricultural workers as possible.