In 1936, Ystad hosted an exhibition called Fritiden (leisure time). The government had decided on a maximum of eight-hour working days, and the shorter days at work lead to what some people called the” leisure problem “.
The exhibition’s catalog showed that the purpose was to illustrate how modern free time has grown as a result of industrialism. The free time had become a social problem, and that problem has to be resolved by states and municipalities to “make the unemployed’s free time a rich and productive time that creates happy and harmonious people.” Hans Ripa was commissioned to make a poster for the exhibition and this is the result. The exhibition was a huge success for Ystad, both in Sweden and internationally.
