ABSTRACT
The middle-aged families in the working class, 40 per cent of the total sample, were predominantly rural or small town in origin. Thus, the distinction between those in the working class and those in the higher classes of Kansas City was not so much one of family name or ancestry as of occupation, income, educational level, living standards, ambitions, and choice of neighborhood. Working class men and women were trying as hard as they could to "keep up with the times," as the advertisements in stores, newspapers, and television suggested. In short, the goal was to be modern, if not middle class. The men who presided over political machines usually grew wealthy, but remained identified with the working class. The neighborhoods were simply places where working class people from a variety of backgrounds and occupational roles had come together accidentally, as it were, seeking housing they could afford.
