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Claimed to be the "first Croatian book on the social history of leisure and consumer culture", the young Croatian Historian Igor Duda's study "U potrazi za blagostanjem. O povijesti dokolice i potrosackog drustva u Hrvatskoj 1950-ih i 1960-ih" (In Pursuit of Well-Being. On History of Leisure and Consumer Society in Croatia in the 1950s and 1960s) has been published in April 2005. Announcement by the Author

Igor Duda, U potrazi za blagostanjem. O povijesti dokolice i potrosackog
drustva u Hrvatskoj 1950-ih i 1960-ih. Srednja Europa, Zagreb, 2005,
165 p., 8 p. of plates, ill. (some col.), 24 cm, ISBN 953-6979-24-1

In Pursuit of Well-Being. On History of Leisure and Consumer Society in
Croatia in the 1950s and 1960s

In the 1950s and 1960s Europe passed through a series of social,
economic and cultural changes. The main goals of the Golden Age were
better living standard and well-being for all. The state policies
wanted to create happy citizens by turning them into consumers and
tourists. Croatia, then part of the socialist Yugoslavia, experienced
profound modernization, which brought to the creation of practices of
the mass consumer society. Among them leisure - as the time meant for
consumption and enjoyment in the fruits of one's own work, as well as
in the results of the state policy - had an important place. The
development of mass tourism was seen as a part of the socialist social
revolution, as one of the key indicators of the living standard, as a
field of both social and commercial interests, and as a help to the
nation building. Weekends and several national holidays presented a
good opportunity for leisure activities. Moreover, holidays with pay
were introduced and many efforts were put into the creation of the need
for traveling. The social tourism system, consisting of holiday centres
and a large set of subsidies, offered the cheapest holidaymaking
solution. The Adriatic seaside was the most popular destination.
Croatians learned about consumer, leisure and travel cultures, and
adopted new habits. They were able to travel abroad and numerous
foreign tourists came to visit the country enhancing its modernization
and consumerism.