CULTURE AND LEISURE

For entertainment, people during the Civil War sang songs, played card and board games, read, and wrote to pass the time. Wealthy people would instruments like pianos to accompany their singing. Novels were common in the homes of the educated, and authors like Charles Dickens, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, and Victor Hugo found a place in Civil War era libraries. Many ladies also spent time perusing the fashion, poetry, and advice columns in Godey's Lady's Book, the most popular women's magazine at the time.