The 1920's: The Roaring Twenties

The 1920s was an age of drastic social and political changes. For the first time in history, more Americans started living in cities rather than on farms. Americans were wealthier than ever before. People from coast to coast bought similar goods, listened to the same music, did the same dances, and even used related slang. Numerous Americans were uncomfortable with this unfamiliar, urban, and occasionally racy “mass culture”. In fact, for a large number of people in the United States, the 1920s brought more conflict than celebration. However, for a minuscule handful of youth in the nation’s larger cities, the 1920s were roaring. Prohibition gave criminals a way to illegally make money; gangsters, young men who worked in criminal gangs, began selling on the black-market alcohol. Young woman emerged during the 1920s with different appearance, attitude, and behavior; with a bobbed haircut and short skirts.

One of the most interesting and influential time frames in the history of America was the 1920’s, or the Roaring Twenties. The Roaring Twenties was in the decade of the 20’s (1920 to 1929) and was called the “Roaring Twenties” because people in America just boomed. World War I just ended and people prospered because of it. The society was like a well-oiled machine, with everyone dancing and using similar slang, and a lot of people enjoyed it. Not everything was great, because this was also the time where prohibition of alcohol came into play, and the Ku Klux Klan gained popularity as a result. Even though all of these were prevalent at the time, how did the Twenties affect history as a whole?

The strong economy also created the right environment for many important changes in the day-to-day social life of Americans. The nineteen twenties are remembered now as an exciting time that historians call the "Roaring Twenties” , but maybe it was only “roaring” because things were so corrupt.

There is a controversial debate about the 1920s, whether it was “roaring” or whether is was destitute. In the perspective of some historians, the 1920s brought a rapid increase in urbanization and boom in the economy, however, these historians fail to see the evident terrors that the 1920s brought. The positive uproar on the 1920s did not stand a chance against the rising negative roar of residential schools, the Stock Market Crash, and credit debt. Due to these tragic events, 1920s was brought a dark and negative atmosphere rather than one of contentment.

A ten year gap can really impact a society. This is evident in the times of the 1920s through the 1930s. These decades are very different from one another. This paper compares and contrasts the traits of these times in the world of pop culture. Pop culture is an accurate way to observe the past because it shows everything that was mainstream and a staple of the time.

The 1920’s definitely stands up to its title as the “Roaring Twenties”. The time period shortly followed the conclusion of World War 1, so America was filled with great nationalism and pride. The new mass-consumption economy produced many new marvels such as the first affordable automobile the Ford Model T, the new genre Jazz was dominating the radio, and the 19th Amendment gave voting rights to all even women. However the roaring twenties did not convey complete euphoria, agricultural prices plunged and also the Stock Market Crash of 1929 led the country into one of the worse economic downfalls in its history, the Great Depression. Although many scholars tend to argue that the tension between the traditional and modern values arose as a result

The 1920s are often referred to as “The Roaring 1920s” because it was a decade of prosperity. Although they were living on false notions, they were living among wild bootleggers and gangsters, flappers, hot jazz, marathon dancers, and in a decade of dissipation. These were modern times and during so many social and economic changes they were able to have more time for leisure and travel (Digital History: The 1920s – An Overview). Some of the major events of the decade that helped give the 1920s this nickname was the rise of inventions such as washing machines, vacuum cleaners, and toasters, mass entertainment, and half of Americans owning automobiles (John Green Video). There was also a change in the “revolution in morals and manners” that played a big part of how culture was perceived (Digital History: The 1920s – An Overview).

The dawning of the 1920’s in America left a need in the citizens’ hearts to return to a state of normalcy after the devastating effects of the Great War. However, the new era of isolationism spawned a cultural revolution that can only be described as anything but “normal”. Heavy losses over seas left Americans turned off to problems occurring outside of United States borders. As the citizens’ averted their eyes from the problems of the world, they were left to focus their attention of forming the spectacular sense of moral freedom of the decade. The economy flourished as well.Wall Street became an enormous success as the introduction of credit dazzled the American people. The colossal factories which had supplied weapons and war machinery now churned out the automobiles, radios, and abundant excitement which would go on to define the era. The isolationist attitude also led away from the idea of the “whole” and people found themselves focusing on their own needs and wants, which emphasized the adolescent nature of the United States. The post-war, isolationist minds of Americans in the roaring twenties focused on the dream of total freedom as they strove towards liberation in their daily lives, and were represented by the authors of the modernist fiction era.

The twenties in the United States are thought to be full of prosperity, music, dancing, and happiness. The 1920’s are often referred to as the “roaring twenties,” but many histories purpose that this is not a correct interpretation of this time period. America may have not been good for the some of the lower class in this time period, but the 1920’s were fantastic for most of the middle and upper class living in urban cities. The advantages of this time period did outweigh the bad, which is why the 1920’s are called the “roaring twenties.” Women’s roles changed during this time period. The “roaring twenties” gave rise to new music styles. During this decade American’s saw technology advance in many new ways.

The 1920’s were a decade filled with new inventions that not only improved society, but slung American societies into a whirlwind of social changes that defied almost everything they’d previously believed in. From the inventions of the television, automobiles, movies, the radio, and even drive in restaurants just to name a few, all paved the way for societies to interact more doing fun things, and people from all social classes would co mingle in these establishments and that was not typically heard of. “The Roaring 20’s” are referred to as such because the culture, social change, and inventions all combined to make for a booming era of newness people had never witnessed before.

For American farmers, the Great Depression began not with the stock market crash in 1929 but with the collapse of agricultural prices in 1920. Thus the entire decade of the 1920s was a time of poverty and crushing indebtedness, leading to ever-rising foreclosures of family farms. More than 90% of American farms lacked electricity, and the proportion of farms with access to a telephone actually decreased over the course of the decade. Furthermore, rural Americans overwhelmingly native-born, white Protestants found the modern, sexualized, multi-ethnic culture of the cities deeply offensive to their traditional beliefs. Their antagonism toward the perceived cultural excesses of the "Roaring Twenties" fueled a political backlash that allowed a

The 1920s were prosperous times for Canada and many other countries around the world. Canadian economy, thanks to its vast storage of natural resources, was striving to the extent that the 1920s was nicknamed “The Roaring 20s”. The 1920s era not only provided Canada with an amazing trade relationship, but also led to the development of different movements & inventions that shook the world and shaped the way we live today. These impacting events include artwork, social change, women’s rights, prohibition, the Model T car, the radio, silent film, medical advances and the telephone. Though all these phenomena worked together to make the 20s “roar”, but in particular women’s rights, medical advances and the telephone made the most prominent impact on the past and present society.

Throughout the era of the roaring 20s, there were several impacts that vastly influenced and altered America from the beginning of the 1920s to today. One of the several impacts that influenced America drastically in the 20s to today, was the boom in feature movies/the movie industry. Things that it greatly impacted, was our culture, lifestyle, career field, and our technological innovation. The creation of motion pictures, movies with sound, and talkies had an immense alteration on society’s entertainment.

The 1920s has been often been referred as the New Society. “They are stronger. They are rich. They hire and fire the politician, the old judges…the college president” (1) was what Dos Passos’s said about the people in the 1920s. The roaring twenty has flappers which just meant young, confident, sexual women. This was all new for the people in the 1920 because they have always thought of the women following rules and staying home. Another term that was during the roaring twenty was speakeasies which is just nightclubs that sold liquor. Liquor at this time was legal and unwanted. A lot of companies such as Henry Ford’s company forbid having alcohol in work area.

The 1920s influenced the world as we know it today. Many important historical events that occurred during this decade, such as the stock market crash and prohibition, altered U.S history and world history intensely. The fashion and hairstyles of the 1920s made an impression on fashion and hairstyles of the 21st century. One of the most familiar symbol of the 1920s is the flapper. Entertainment was also changing; movies became extremely popular during this era. The 1920s was filled with music, dancing, and movies. The 1920s was known for the automobile, low prices and generous credit made cars affordable luxuries at beginning of the decade. The 1920s were an age of dramatic social and political change.