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The stock market crash in 1929, which resulted in the Great Depression, became the biggest economic disaster in the industrial world. In 1931, the shares were worth only 20% of the nominal value of 1929, industrial production fell by half, one in four was unemployed. In 1935, half of American banks and companies were bankrupt. Even the "Ford Motor Company", the country's largest employer, closed its offices.

Thus millions traveled the country after work, many begged, others stole. In this age of broken dreams and empty pockets, one of the worst forms of entertainment flourished: the dance marathons, a way to escape all suffering and have a means of subsistence.

The dance marathons (also called Walkathons), were actually endurance competitions in which couples danced almost nonstop for hundreds of hours, competing for prize money.

Marathons were endless, lasting weeks, even months, with people dancing against the clock. A special role belonged to the master of ceremony. Its main task was to entertain the public, creating new tasks for the competitors. The most common variant was known as "derby", when, after several hundred hours of dancing, participants already on the verge of physical and emotional exhaustion, had to run along tracks painted on the floor.