EXPERIENCE WITH FIVE-DAY WEEK 53

our opinion that the person who ‘gets up and at it’ reasonably early
in the morning and sticks to it a little longer in the afternoon, with
one full holiday on Saturday, has an advantage over the one who
sleeps a little later, quits a little earlier and thus gets his off time in
useless driblets.”

Frequent allusion was made by employers to the improvement
 in morale that had resulted from the introduction of
the five-day week. Greater zest of employees in their work
has been observed as well as a more cordial attitude toward
the management. A manufacturer of abrasives reported:

“Enthusiastic approval of over 80% of workers by actual vote.
Powerful stimulus to morale. Next to bonus, best continuous effect
of anything company has ever done.”

A number of employers commented upon the practice of
some employees of seeking other forms of remunerative work
on Saturdays. While a few employers condemned this
practice as destroying the purpose of the extra holiday, or
as indicating that employees might just as well be engaged
at their regular occupations, other employers applauded it
as evidence of thrift and a desire to provide for possible
periods of unemployment.
The reasons most frequently given by employees for their
appreciation of the free Saturday differed as between women
and men. Women found in this day the opportunity to attend
 to many household duties that otherwise could not be
properly performed. Some men saw that they could make
necessary repairs on their houses, while others used the day
for recreation, such as hunting and fishing expeditions and
visits to friends. Automobile trips were popular in the
summer, and the morning start helped to avoid the heavy
Saturday afternoon traffic.
That the habit of the free Saturday, once formed, is not
easy to give up, has been the experience of companies that
had introduced the five-day week as an experiment during
the summer and had then sounded out the opinion of their
employees with regard to its continuance as the permanent
working schedule; and also of companies that for one reason
or another had abandoned the five-day week. One employer,