- Roaring Twenties
Roaring Twenties is a phrase used to describe the 1920s, principally in
North America , that emphasizes the period's social, artistic, and cultural dynamism. 'Normalcy ' returned to politics in the wake ofWorld War I ,jazz music blossomed, theflapper redefined modern womanhood,Art Deco peaked, and finally theWall Street Crash of 1929 served to punctuate the end of the era, asThe Great Depression set in. The era was further distinguished by several inventions and discoveries of far-reaching importance, unprecedented industrial growth and accelerated consumer demand and aspirations, and significant changes inlifestyle .The social and societal upheaval known as the Roaring Twenties began in North America and spread to
Europe in theaftermath of World War I . Europe spent these years rebuilding and coming to terms with the vast human cost of the conflict. The economy of theUnited States became increasingly intertwined with that of Europe. When Germany could no longer afford war payments Wall Street invested heavily in European debts to keep the European economy afloat as a large consumer market for American mass produced goods. By the middle of the decade,economic development soared in Europe, and the Roaring Twenties broke out inGermany (theWeimar Republic ), Britain andFrance , the second half of the decade becoming known as the "Golden Twenties ". In France and francophoneCanada , they were also called the "années folles" ("Crazy Years"). [cite book | last = Hakim | first = Joy | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = War, Peace, and All That Jazz | publisher = Oxford University Press | date = 1995 | location = New York, New York | pages = 41-46 | url = | doi = | id = | isbn = 0-19-509514-6 ]The spirit of the Roaring Twenties was marked by a general feeling of discontinuity associated with
modernity , a break with traditions. Everything seemed to be feasible through modern technology. New technologies, especially automobiles, movies andradio proliferated 'modernity' to a large part of the population. Formal decorative frills were shed in favor of practicality, in architecture as well as in daily life. At the same time, amusement, fun and lightness were cultivated in jazz and dancing, in defiance of the horrors of World War I, which remained present in people's minds. The period is also often called "The Jazz Age ".Economy
The Roaring Twenties is traditionally viewed as an era of great economic prosperity driven by the introduction of a wide array of new
consumer good s. The North American economy, particularly the economy of the US, transitioned from a wartime economy to a peacetime economy; the economy subsequently boomed. The United States augmented its standing as the richest country in the world, its industry aligned to mass production and its society acculturated intoconsumerism . In Europe, the economy did not start to flourish until 1924.In spite of the social, economic and technological advances, African Americans, recent
immigrants andfarmers —along with a large part of the working class population—were not much affected by this period. In fact, millions of people lived below thepoverty line of US $2,000 per year per family.The Great Depression demarcates the conceptualization of the Roaring Twenties from the 1930s. The hopefulness in the wake of World War I that had initiated the Roaring Twenties gave way to the debilitating economic hardship of the later era.Demobilization
At the end of World War I,
soldier s returned to the United States and Canada with money in their pockets and many new products on the market on which to spend it. At first, the recession of wartime production caused a brief but deep recession, known as thePost-WWI recession . Quickly, however, the U.S. and Canadian economies rebounded as returning soldiers re-entered thelabor force and factories were retooled to produce consumer goods.Republican economic policies
Various policies initiated by the Republican Party had a big impact on the boom. The government was associated with "
laissez faire " economics, which helped create the conditions for the boom.POV-statement|date=September 2008 In 1922, theFordney-McCumber tariff was passed, allowing American businesses to flourish by protecting them from foreign competition.POV-statement|date=September 2008 TheSecretary to the Treasury from 1921 to 1932,Andrew Mellon , cutsurtax from above 50% to 20%. This aidedcorporate industries, allowing them to dominate their respective markets.POV-statement|date=September 2008New products and technologies
Mass production made technology affordable to the middle class. Many of the devices that became commonplace had been developed before the war but had been unaffordable to most people. Theautomobile , movie,radio , and chemical industries skyrocketed during the 1920s. Of chief importance was the automobile industry. Before the war, cars were a luxury. In the 1920s, cheap mass-produced vehicles became common throughout the U.S. and Canada. By 1927,Henry Ford had sold 15 millionModel T s. Only about 300,000 vehicles were registered in 1918 in all of Canada, but by 1929, there were 1.9 million. The automobile industry's effects were widespread, contributing to such disparate economic pursuits as gas stations, motels, and theoil industry .Radio became the first mass broadcasting medium. Radios were affordable, and their mode of entertainment proved revolutionary. Radio became the grandstand for
mass marketing . Its economic importance led to themass culture that has dominated society since. During the "golden age of radio",radio programming was as varied as TV programming today. The 1927 establishment of theFederal Radio Commission introduced a new era of regulation.Advertisement reels, shown before early films, augmented the already booming mass market. The "golden age of film", during the 1930s and 1940s, evolved from its humble 1900s origins of short,
silent film s. Like radio, film was a medium for the masses. Watching a film was cheap compared to other forms of entertainment, and it was accessible to factory and otherblue-collar workers .New infrastructure
The new technologies led to an unprecedented need for new
infrastructure , largely funded by thegovernment . Road construction was crucial to the motor vehicle industry; several roads were upgraded tohighway s, andexpressway s were constructed. A class of Americans emerged with surplus money and a desire to spend more, spurring the demand for consumer goods, including the automobile.Electrification , having slowed during the war, progressed greatly as more of the U.S. and Canada was added to theelectric grid . Most industries switched fromcoal power toelectricity . At the same time, newpower plant s were constructed. In America, electricity production almost quadrupled.Telephone lines also were being strung across the continent. Indoorplumbing and modernsewer system s were installed for the first time in many regions.These infrastructure programs were mostly left to the local governments in both Canada and the United States. Most
local government s went deeply into debt under the assumption that an investment in such infrastructure would pay off in the future.Fact|date=January 2008 This caused major problems during the Great Depression. In both Canada and the United States, the federal governments did the reverse, using the decade to pay downwar debt s and roll back some of thetax es that had been introduced during the war.Demographics
Urbanization was one of the most important trends. For the first time, more Americans and Canadians lived in cities than in small towns or rural areas.Mass transit systems, the firstskyscraper s, and the growing importance of industry contributed to this. A growingservice sector was also increasingly important, with thefinance andinsurance industries doubling or tripling in size. The basic pattern of the modernwhite collar job is often believed to have been established during this period. Many of the clerical jobs went to women, who entered the workforce in unprecedented numbers. In Canada, one in five workers were women by the end of the decade. The fastest growing cities were those in the Midwest and theGreat Lakes region , includingChicago andToronto . These cities prospered because of their vast agriculturalhinterland s. Cities on the West Coast received increasing benefits from the 1914 opening of thePanama Canal .Culture
uffrage
On
August 18 ,1920 ,Tennessee became the last of 36 states needed to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment, granting women the right to vote. Equality at the polls marked a pivotal moment in thewomen's rights movement .Lost Generation
The Lost Generation were young people who came out of World War I disillusioned and cynical about the world. The term usually refers to American literary notables who lived in
Paris at the time. Famous members includedErnest Hemingway ,F. Scott Fitzgerald , andGertrude Stein .ocial criticism
As the average American in the 1920s became more enamored of wealth and everyday luxuries, some began satirizing the hypocrisy and greed they observed. Of these social critics,
Sinclair Lewis was the most popular. His popular 1920 novel "Main Street" satirized the dull and ignorant lives of the residents of a Midwestern town. He followed with "Babbitt", about a middle-aged businessman who rebels against his safe life and family, only to realize that the young generation is as hypocritical as his own. Lewis satirized religion with "Elmer Gantry ", which followed a con man who teams up with an evangelist to sell religion to a small town.Other social critics included
Sherwood Anderson andH.L. Mencken . Anderson published a collection of short stories titled "Winesburg, Ohio", which studied the dynamics of a small town. Mencken criticized narrow American tastes and culture in various essays and articles.Art Deco
Art Deco was the style of design and architecture that marked the era. Originating in Belgium, it spread to the rest of western Europe and North America towards the mid-1920s.In the U.S., one of the most remarkable buildings featuring this style was constructed as the tallest building of the time: the
Chrysler Building . The forms of art deco were pure and geometric, even though the artists often drew inspiration from nature. In the beginning, lines were curved, though rectilinear designs would later become more and more popular.Expressionism and Surrealism
Painting in North America during the 1920s developed in a different direction than that of Europe. In Europe, the 1920s were the era ofexpressionism , and latersurrealism . AsMan Ray stated in 1920 after the publication of a unique issue of "New York Dada": "Dada cannot live in New York".Cinema
At the beginning of the decade, films were silent and colorless. In 1922, the first all-color feature, "
Toll of the Sea ", was released. In 1926,Warner Bros. released "Don Juan", the first feature withsound effect s and music. In 1927, Warner released "The Jazz Singer", the first sound feature to include limited talking sequences.The public went wild for
talkies , and movie studios converted to sound almost overnight. In 1928, Warner released "Lights of New York ", the first all-talking feature film. In the same year, the first sound cartoon, "Dinner Time ", was released. Warner ended the decade by unveiling, in 1929, the first all-color, all-talking feature film, "On with the Show ".Harlem Renaissance
African-American literary and artistic culture developed rapidly during the 1920s under the banner of "
The Harlem Renaissance ". In 1921, the Black Swan Corporation opened. At its height, it issued ten recordings per month. All-African-American musicals also started in 1921. In 1923, the Harlem Renaissance Basketball Club was founded byBob Douglas . During the later 1920s, and especially in the 1930s, the basketball team became known as the best in the world.The first issue of "
Opportunity " was published. The African-Americanplaywright , Willis Richardson, debuted his play "The Chip Woman's Fortune ", at the Frazee Theatre (also known as theWallacks theatre ).ref|fn_1 Notable African-American authors such asLangston Hughes andZora Neale Hurston began to achieve a level of national public recognition during the 1920s.African American culture has contributed the largest part to the rise of jazz.Jazz Age
The first commercial
radio station in the United States, KDKA, began broadcasting in Pittsburgh in 1922. Radio stations subsequently proliferated at a remarkable rate, and with them spread the popularity of jazz. Jazz became associated with all things modern, sophisticated, and also decadent. Men tended to sing in a high pitched voice, typified byHarold Scrappy Lambert , one of the popular recording artists of the decade.The music that people consider today as "jazz" tended to be played by minorities. In the 1920s, the majority of people listened to what we would call today "sweet music", with hardcore jazz categorized as "hot music" or "race music."
Louis Armstrong marked the time with improvisations and endless variations on a single melody, popularizingscat singing , an improvisational vocal technique in which nonsensicalsyllable s are sung or otherwise vocalized, often as part of acall-and-response interaction with othermusician s on-stage. Apart from theclarinet ,Sidney Bechet popularized thesaxophone . Dance venues increased the demand for professional musicians and jazz adopted the 4/4 beat ofdance music . Tap dancers entertained people inVaudeville theaters, out on the streets or accompanying bands. At the end of the Roaring Twenties,Duke Ellington initiated thebig band era.Dance
Starting in the 1920s, ballrooms across the U.S. sponsored dance contests, where dancers invented, tried, and competed with new moves. Professionals began to hone their skills in tap dance and other dances of the era throughout the Vaudeville circuit across the United States. Electric lighting made evening social entertainment more comfortable, giving rise to an era of
dance hall s and live music. The most popular dances were the fox-trot, waltz and tango, the Charleston, andLindy Hop .Harlem played a key role in the development of dance styles. With several entertainment venues, people from all walks of life, all races, and all classes came together. The
Cotton Club featured black performers and catered to a white clientele, while theSavoy Ballroom catered to a mostly black clientele.From the early 1920s, a variety of eccentric dances were developed. The first of these were the Breakaway and Charleston. Both were based on African-American musical styles and beats, including the widely popular
blues . The Charleston's popularity exploded after its feature in two 1922 Broadway shows. A brief Black Bottom craze, originating from theApollo Theater , swept dance halls from 1926 to 1927, replacing the Charleston in popularity. By 1927, theLindy Hop , a dance based on Breakaway and Charleston and integrating elements of tap, became the dominantsocial dance . Developed in the Savoy Ballroom, it was set tostride piano ragtime jazz. The Lindy Hop remained popular for over a decade, before evolving into Swing dance. These dances, nonetheless, were never mainstreamed, and the overwhelming majority of people continued to dance the fox-trot, waltz and tango throughout the decade.Fashion
Immortalized in movies and magazine covers, young women’s fashion of the 1920s was both a trend and a social statement, a breaking-off from the rigid Victorian way of life. These young, rebellious, middle-class women, labeled ‘flappers’ by older generations, did away with the corset and donned slinky knee-length dresses, which exposed their legs and arms. The hairstyle of the decade was a chin-length bob, of which there were several popular variations. Make-up, which until the 1920s was not typically accepted in American society because of its association with prostitutes, became for the first time extremely popular. [ Kitch, Carolyn. "The Girl on the Magazine Cover". Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2001. p.122-23]
The Changing Role of Women
With the passing of the 19th Amendment in 1920, women finally attained the political equality that they had so long been fighting for. A generational gap began to form between the “new” women of the 20s and the previous generation. Prior to the 19th Amendment, feminists commonly thought that you could have a career or you could have husband and a family, but not both because one would inherently inhibit the development of the other. This mentality began to change in the 20s as more women began to desire not only successful careers of their own but also families. [Brown, Dorothy M. "Setting a Course: American Women in the 1920s". Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1987. p.33] The “new” woman was less invested in social service than the Progressive generations, and in tune with the capitalistic spirit of the era, she was eager to compete and to find personal fulfillment. [Woloch, Nancy. "Women and the American Experience: A Concise History". New York: McGraw-Hill, 2002. p. 256]
The 1920s saw significant change in the lives of working women. World War I had allowed women to temporarily enter into industries that were once deemed inappropriate for them such as chemical, automobile, iron and steel manufacturing. [Kessler-Harris, Alice." Out to Work: A History of Wage-Earning Women in the United States". New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. p. 219] Black women, who had been historically closed out of factory jobs, began to find a place in industry during World War I by accepting lower wages and replacing the lost immigrant labor and in heavy work. Yet like other of women during World War I, their success was only temporary and most black women, too, were pushed out of their factory jobs after the war. In 1920, seventy-five percent of the black female labor force consisted of agricultural laborers, domestic servants, and laundry workers. [Kessler-Harris, Alice." Out to Work: A History of Wage-Earning Women in the United States". New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. p. 237] Legislation passed at the beginning of the 20th century forced many factories to shorten their workdays and pay a minimum wage. This shifted the focus in the 1920s to job performance in order to meet demand. Factories encouraged workers to produce more quickly and efficiently with speedups and bonus systems, increasing the pressure on factory workers. [Kessler-Harris, Alice." Out to Work: A History of Wage-Earning Women in the United States". New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. p. 237] Despite the strain on women in the factories, the booming economy of the 1920s meant more opportunities even for the lower classes. Many young girls from working-class backgrounds did not need to help support their families as prior generations did and were often encouraged to seek work or receive vocational training which would result in social mobility. [Kessler-Harris, Alice." Out to Work: A History of Wage-Earning Women in the United States". New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. p. 288]
Achieving suffrage meant having to refocus feminism. Groups such as the National Women’s Party (NWP) continued the political fight, proposing the Equal Rights Amendment in 1923 and working to remove laws that used sex to discriminate against women. [Woloch, Nancy. "Women and the American Experience: A Concise History". New York: McGraw-Hill, 2002. p. 246 ] But many women shifted their focus from politics to challenge traditional definitions of womanhood.
Young women especially, began staking claim to their own bodies and took part in a sexual liberation of their generation. Many of the ideas that fueled this change in sexual thought were already floating around New York intellectual circles prior to World War I, with the writings of Sigmund Freud, Havelock Ellis, and Ellen Key. There, thinkers outed that sex was not only central to the human experience but that women were sexual beings with human impulses and desires just like men and restraining these impulses was self-destructive. By the 1920s, these ideas had permeated the mainstream. [Woloch, Nancy. "Women and the American Experience: A Concise History". New York: McGraw-Hill, 2002. p. 274 ]
The 1920s saw the emergence of the co-ed, as women began attending large state colleges and universities. Women entered into the mainstream middle-class experience, but took on a gendered role within society. Women typically took classes such as, home economics, “Husband and Wife”, “Motherhood” and “The Family as an Economic Unit”. In an increasingly conservative post-war era, it was common for a young woman to attend college with the intention of finding a suitable husband. [Woloch, Nancy. "Women and the American Experience: A Concise History". New York: McGraw-Hill, 2002. p. 282-3 ] Fueled by ideas of sexual liberation, dating underwent major changes on college campuses. With the advent of the automobile, courtship occurred in a much more private setting. “Petting”, sexual relations without intercourse became the social norm for college students. [Woloch, Nancy. "Women and the American Experience: A Concise History". New York: McGraw-Hill, 2002. p. 281 ]
Despite women’s increased knowledge of pleasure and sex, the decade of unfettered capitalism that was the 20s gave birth to the ‘feminine mystique’. With this formulation, all women wanted to marry, all good women stayed at home with their children, cooking and cleaning, and the best women did the aforementioned and in addition, exercised their purchasing power freely and as frequently as possible in order to better their families and their homes. [Schwartz Cowan, Ruth. "Two Washes in the Morning and a Bridge Party at Night: The American Housewife between the Wars". Great Britain: Gordon and Breach Science Publishers Ltd., 1976. p. 184 ] This left many housewives feeling frustrated and unsatisfied.
Minorities and homosexuals
In
urban area s, minorities were treated with more equality than they had been accustomed to previously. This was reflected in some of the films of the decade. "Redskin" (1929) and "Son of the Gods " (1929), for instance, deal sympathetically with Native Americans andAsian Americans , openly reviling social bias. On the stage and in movies, black and white players appeared together for the first time. It became possible to go tonightclubs and see whites and minorities dancing and eating together. Even popular songs poked fun at the new social acceptance of homosexuality. One of these songs had the title "Masculine Women, Feminine Men." [The song was written by Edgar Leslie (words) and James V. Monaco (music) and featured in Hugh J. Ward's Musical Comedy "Lady Be Good."] It was released in 1926 and recorded by numerous artists of the day and included the following lyrics: [Artists who recorded this song include: 1. Frank Harris (Irving Kaufman), (Columbia 569D,1/29/26) 2. Bill Meyerl & Gwen Farrar (UK, 1926) 3. Joy Boys (UK, 1926) 4. Harry Reser's Six Jumping Jacks (UK, 2/13/26) 5. Hotel Savoy Opheans (HMV 5027, UK, 1927, aka Savoy Havana Band) 6. Merrit Brunies & His Friar's InnOrchestra on Okeh 40593, 3/2/26]Masculine women, Feminine men
Which is the rooster, which is the hen?
It's hard to tell 'em apart today! And, say!
Sister is busy learning to shave,
Brother just loves his permanent wave,
It's hard to tell 'em apart today! Hey, hey!
Girls were girls and boys were boys when I was a tot,
Now we don't know who is who, or even what's what!
Knickers and trousers, baggy and wide,
Nobody knows who's walking inside,
Those masculine women and feminine men! [A full reproduction of the original sheet music with the complete lyrics (including the amusing cover sheet) can be found at: http://nla.gov.au/nla.mus-an6301650 ]
Homosexuals also received a level of acceptance that was not seen again until the 1960sFact|date=November 2007 . Until the early 1930s, gay clubs were openly operated, commonly known as "pansy clubs".Fact|date=November 2007 The relative
liberalism of the decade is demonstrated by the fact that the actorWilliam Haines , regularly named in newspapers and magazines as the number-one male box-office draw, openly lived in a gay relationship with his lover,Jimmy Shields . [Mann, William J., "Wisecracker : the life and times of William Haines, Hollywood's first openly gay star. " New York, N.Y., U.S.A. : Viking, 1998: 2-6.] Other popular gay actors/actresses of the decade includedAlla Nazimova andRamon Novarro . [Mann, William J., "Wisecracker : the life and times of William Haines, Hollywood's first openly gay star. " New York, N.Y., U.S.A. : Viking, 1998: 12-13, 80-83.] In 1927,Mae West wrote a play about homosexuality called "The Drag ", and alluded to the work ofKarl Heinrich Ulrichs . It was a box-office success. West regarded talking about sex as a basichuman rights issue, and was also an early advocate of gay rights. With the return of conservatism in the 1930s, the public grew intolerant of homosexuality, andgay actors were forced to choose between retiring or agreeing to hide their sexuality.Fact|date=November 2007ociety
Immigration laws
The United States, and to a lesser degree Canada, became more
xenophobic or, at least, anti-immigrant. The AmericanImmigration Act of 1924 limited immigration from countries where 2% of the total U.S. population, per the 1890census (not counting African Americans), were immigrants from that country. Thus, the massive influx of Europeans that had come to America during the first two decades of the century slowed to a trickle.Asia ns and citizens of India were prohibited from immigrating altogether. Alien Land Laws, such asCalifornia 'sWebb-Haney Act in 1913, prevented aliens ineligible for citizenship, (except Filipinos, who were subjects of U.S.) of the right to own land in California. It also limited the leasing of land by said aliens to three years. Many Japanese immigrants, or Issei, circumvented this law by transferring the title of their land to their American-born children, or Nisei, who were citizens. Similar laws were passed in 11 other states.In Canada, the
Chinese Immigration Act of 1923 prevented almost all immigration from Asia. Other laws curbed immigration from Southern andEastern Europe . AGentlemen's Act gave America the right to prevent any Japanese immigrants from entering the country.Prohibition
In 1920, the
manufacture , sale,import and export ofalcohol was prohibited by theEighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in an attempt to alleviate various social problems; this came to be known as "Prohibition". It was enacted through theVolstead Act , supported greatly by churches and leagues such as 'The Anti Saloon League'. America's continued desire for alcohol under prohibition led to the rise oforganized crime , smuggling and gangster associations all over the U.S. In Canada, prohibition was only imposed nationally for a short period of time, but the Americanliquor laws nonetheless had an important impact.Rise of the speakeasy
Listen
filename = Save a Little Dram for Me.ogg
title = "Save A Little Dram For Me"
description = Prohibition era song recorded byThomas Edison studio, 1922. Duration 3:29.
format =Ogg Speakeasies became popular and numerous as the Prohibition years progressed and led to the rise of gangsters such as
Al Capone . They commonly operated with connections to organized crime and liquor smuggling. While police and U.S. Federal Government agents raided such establishments and arrested many of the small figures and smugglers, they rarely managed to get the big bosses; the business of running speakeasies was so lucrative that such establishments continued to flourish throughout the nation. In major cities, speakeasies could often be elaborate, offering food, live bands, and floor shows. Police were notoriouslybribe d by speakeasy operators to either leave them alone or at least give them advance notice of any planned raid.Literature
The Roaring Twenties was a period of literary creativity, and works of several notable authors appeared during the period.
D. H. Lawrence 's novel "Lady Chatterley's Lover " was a scandal at the time because of its explicit descriptions of sex.Books that take the 1920s as their subject include:
*"The Great Gatsby " byF. Scott Fitzgerald is often described as the epitome of the "Jazz Age" in American literature.
*"All Quiet on the Western Front " byErich Maria Remarque recounts the horrors of WWI and also the deep detachment from German civilian life felt by many men returning from the front.
*"This Side of Paradise " by F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays the lives and morality of post-World War I youth.
*"The Sun Also Rises " byErnest Hemingway is about a group of expatriate Americans in Europe during the 1920s.olo flight across the Atlantic
Charles Lindbergh gained sudden great international fame as the first pilot to fly solo and non-stop across theAtlantic Ocean , flying fromRoosevelt Airfield (Nassau County,Long Island ),New York toParis onMay 20 -May 21 1927 . He had a single-engine airplane, "The Spirit of St. Louis ", which had been designed byDonald Hall and custom built by Ryan Airlines ofSan Diego, California . His flight took 33.5 hours. The President of France bestowed on him theFrench Legion of Honor and, on his arrival back in the United States, a fleet of warships and aircraft escorted him toWashington, D.C. , where PresidentCalvin Coolidge awarded him the Distinguished Flying Cross.ports
The Roaring Twenties is seen as the breakout decade for sports in America. Citizens from all parts of the country flocked to see the top athletes of the day compete in arenas and stadiums. Their exploits were loudly and highly praised in the new "gee whiz" style of
sports journalism that was emerging; champions of this style of writing included the legendary writersGrantland Rice andDamon Runyon .The most popular American athlete of the twenties was baseball player
Babe Ruth . His characteristichome run hitting heralded a new epoch in the history of the sport (the "Live-ball era "), and his high style of living fascinated the nation and made him one of the highest-profile figures of the decade. Fans were enthralled in 1927 when Ruth hit 60 home runs, setting a new single-season home run record that was not broken until 1961. Together with another up-and-coming star namedLou Gehrig , Ruth laid the foundation of futureNew York Yankees dynasties.A former bar room brawler named
Jack Dempsey won the world heavyweightboxing title and became the most celebrated pugilist of his time.College football captivated fans, with notables such asRed Grange ,running back of the University of Illinois, andKnute Rockne who coached Notre Dame's football program to great success on the field and nation-wide notoriety. Grange also played a role in the development of professional football in the mid-1920s by signing on with theNFL 'sChicago Bears .Bill Tilden thoroughly dominated his competition intennis , cementing his reputation as one of the greatest tennis players of all time. And Bobby Jones popularizedgolf with his spectacular successes on the links; the game did not see another major star of his stature come along untilJack Nicklaus . Ruth, Dempsey, Grange, Tilden, and Jones are collectively referred to as the "Big Five" sporting icons of the Roaring Twenties.American politics
Warren G. Harding
Warren G. Harding ran on a promise to "Return to Normalcy ", a term he coined, which reflected three trends of his time: a renewedisolationism in reaction to World War I, a resurgence ofnativism , and a turning away from the governmentactivism of the reform era. Throughout his administration, Harding adopted "laissez-faire " policies. Harding's "Front Porch Campaign" during the late summer and fall of 1920 captured the imagination of the country. It was the first campaign to be heavily covered by the press and to receive widespread newsreel coverage, and it was also the first modern campaign to use the power ofHollywood and Broadway stars who traveled to Marion for photo opportunities with Harding and his wife.Al Jolson ,Lillian Russell ,Douglas Fairbanks andMary Pickford , were among the luminaries to make the pilgrimage to centralOhio . Business iconsThomas Edison ,Henry Ford andHarvey Firestone also lent their cachet to the Front Porch Campaign. From the onset of the campaign until the November election, over 600,000 people traveled to Marion to participate. His administration was plagued with scandals with which he was likely not involved (seeTeapot Dome ). On the scandals, he commented, "My God, this is a hell of a job!" and, "I have no trouble with my enemies, but my damn friends, they're the ones that keep me walking the floors at night."Calvin Coolidge
Calvin Coolidge was inaugurated as president after the death of President Harding. He was easily elected in 1924 when he ran on a basis of order and prosperity. Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while president: his inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio; on12 February 1924 , he became the firstPresident of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio, and only ten days thereafter, on22 February , he also became the first to deliver such a speech from theWhite House . He is famous for his quotation "The chief business of the American people is business".Herbert Hoover
Herbert Hoover was the final president of the 1920s, taking office in 1929. He stated in 1928, "We in America today are nearer to the final triumph overpoverty than ever before in the history of any land."Fall of labor unions
Several
labor strike s in 1918 and 1919 marked a turning point in American's view of labor unions. Statemilitia s began to be used to break up strikes and state officials started enactingcriminal law s against disturbances. Labor union membership fell drastically throughout the country. Radicalunionism declined as well, in large part because of Federal repression during World War I by means of theEspionage Act and theSedition Act of 1918 . SocialistEugene V. Debs had been sentenced to prison for 10 years as a result of the latter, although he was released early by Harding.Canadian politics
Canadian politics were dominated federally by the
Liberal Party of Canada underWilliam Lyon Mackenzie King . The federal government spent most of the decade disengaged from the economy and focused on paying off the large debts amassed during the war and during the era of railway over expansion. After the booming wheat economy of the early part of the century, the prairie provinces were troubled by low wheat prices. This played an important role in the development of Canada's first highly successful third party, theProgressive Party of Canada that won the second most seats in the 1921 national election. However the 1920s were also a decade of independence for Canada as theBalfour Declaration of 1926 End of the Roaring Twenties
Black Tuesday
The Dow Jones Industrial Stock Index had continued its upward move for weeks, and coupled with heightened speculative activities, it gave an illusion that the
bull market of 1928 to 1929 would last forever. OnOctober 29 1929 , also known as Black Tuesday, stock prices onWall Street collapsed. The events in the United States were the final shock to itseconomic system which some people may regard as unsoundFact|date=January 2008, leading to a worldwide depression known as theGreat Depression that put millions of people out of work across the capitalist world throughout the 1930s.Repeal of Prohibition
The 21st Amendment, which repealed the 18th Amendment, was proposed on
February 20 1933 . The choice to legalize alcohol was left up to the states, and many states quickly took this opportunity to allow alcohol.ee also
*1920s
*1920s Berlin
*Golden Twenties , theEurope an equivalentReferences
Bibliography
* Allen, Frederick Lewis. "Only Yesterday:An Informal History of the Nineteen-Twenties." 1931.
* Best, Gary Dean. " The Dollar Decade: Mammon and the Machine in 1920s America." Praeger Publishers, 2003.
* Cohen, Lizabeth. "Making a New Deal: Industrial Workers in Chicago, 1919-1939" (1990)
* Cohen, Lizabeth. "Encountering Mass Culture at the Grassroots: The Experience of Chicago Workers in the 1920s," "American Quarterly," Vol. 41, No. 1 (Mar., 1989), pp. 6-33 [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0003-0678(198903)41%3A1%3C6%3AEMCATG%3E2.0.CO%3B2-R in JSTOR]
* Conor, Liz. "The Spectacular Modern Woman: Feminine Visibility in the 1920s." (Indiana University Press, 2004. 329pp.).
* Cowley, Malcolm. "Exile's Return: A Literary Odyssey of the 1920s." (1934) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=98482652 online 1999 edition]
* Dumenil, Lynn. "The Modern Temper: American Culture and Society in the 1920s." 1995
* Fass, Paula. "The Damned and the Beautiful: American Youth in the 1920s." 1977.
* Hicks, John D. "Republican Ascendancy, 1921-1933." (1960) political and economic survey
* Huggins, Nathan Irvin. "Harlem Renaissance." 1971.
* Kallen, Stuart A. "The Roaring Twenties" Greenhaven Press (2001) ISBN 0-7377-0885-9
* Kyvig, David E.; "Daily Life in the United States, 1920-1939: Decades of Promise and Pain" , 2002 [https://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=101545426 online edition]
* Leuchtenburg, William E. "The Perils of Prosperity, 1914-1932" (1958), influential survey by scholar
* Lynd, Robert S., and Helen Merrell Lynd. "Middletown:A Study in Contemporary American Culture." 1929
* Marsden, George M. "Fundamentalism and American Culture: The Shaping of Twentieth-Century Evangelicalism, 1870-1925" (1980)
* Noggle, Burl. "Into the Twenties: The United States from Armistice to Normalcy." 1974.
* Lois Scharf and Joan M. Jensen, eds. "The American Housewife between the Wars. Decades of Discontent: The Women's Movement, 1920-1940". Greenwood, 1983 .
* Frank Stricker, "Afluence for Whom? Another Look at Prosperity and the Working Classes in the 1920s," "Labor History" 24#1 (1983): 5-33
*Starr, Kevin. "Material Dreams: Southern California through the 1920s." (1996) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=59159756 online edition]
* Tindall, George Brown. "The Emergence of the New South, 1913-1945" (1967) comprehensive historyExternal links
* [http://www.kidsnewsroom.org/elmer/infoCentral/frameset/decade/1920.htm The 1920s]
* [http://www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/en/keys/games/game_0_1920s/ Quiz: Life in the Roaring Twenties]
* [http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/exhibitions/online/teachingthetwenties/ Teaching the American Twenties Exhibit from the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin]
* [http://www.si.umich.edu/CHICO/Harlem/timex/timeline.html 1920s timeline, Harlem]
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