The Roaring 20s: Economic Boom and Road to Disaster

1. The Roaring 20s: Economic Boom and Road to Disaster

2. World War I and the U.S. Economy • Profitable for some companies • Changed from debtor to creditor nation and financial capital of the world • Post war boom led to inflation then recession from 1920-1921 • Economy quickly rebounded and decade became known as the “Roaring 20s”

3. Government Involvement in the Economy • Laissez-faire – minimal government involvement in economy except to preserve law and order • Pull back from Progressive Reforms – which had favored government regulation of business practices to ensure competition and free enterprise

4. A Revolution in Manners and Morals • Changes had roots in previous century • Industrialization, urbanization, immigration • Creation of complex urban culture • WWI (1914-19) • Soldiers returned injured and disillusioned • Questioned ideas and attitudes that led to war • The flapper symbolized this revolution • Rebellious, energetic, fun-loving, bold

5. The flapper • Increasingly shorter skirts • “Bobbed” hair • Close-fitting, rather than wide-brimmed hats • Alcohol consumption and cigarette use • Olive Thomas

6. Regarding the flappers: “The American woman…has lifted her skirts far beyond any modest limitation.” - NY Times, 1920 (Flappers at this time had 9” hem line)

10. Useless statistic • Between 1913 and 1928, the average amount of fabric used to make a woman’s outfit shrank from 19.5 yards to just 7 yards!

11. Women’s Changing Roles • During 1920s, women gain greater equality • Before WWI, both single and married women had been in work force • During war, numbers increased and moved into better paying jobs • 19th Amendment (1920), all women can vote • BUT…

12. Employers seldom trained women for jobs beyond entry level • Women continued to be paid less than men • Employers expected women to quit if they married and became pregnant

13. Fear that new women voters would vote as a bloc, or special-interest group • Most voted along same lines w/ men • Few women voted in early elections • Only 35% of women voters went to the polls in 1920!

14. 1923 Survey to women in Chicago • Why didn’t you vote? • 1/3 said they lacked interest • 11% did not think that women should vote!

15. Women get political…eventually • 1916, first woman elected to Congress • Jeannette Rankin of Montana • 1924, Texas and Wyoming elect female governors • 1928, 145 women in 38 state legislatures

16. Changing Demographics • Statistics that describe a population, such as data on race or income • 1920s, more Americans lived in urban areas than rural areas • 1920-1930, attendance at public high schools doubled • The Great Migration – blacks moved from south to northern cities

17. U.S. African American Population • 1860, 93% lived in the South • 1910, 89% • 1930, 80% • Still, often faced anger in North • Took jobs • Lowered wages • Scabs/strikebrakers

18. Other Migration • After WWI, masses of refugees applied for entry to U.S. • During 1920s, Congress acted to limit immigration from S. and E. Europe and Asia • Legislation DID NOT apply to Americas • Employers turned to Mexicans and Canadians for labor

19. American Heroes • Charles Lindbergh (“Lucky Lindy”) • Spirit of St. Louis from NY to Paris in 1927 • Given Congressional Medal of Honor • 33½ hr flight • Amelia Earhart • 1932, first woman to fly solo across Atlantic • 1937, disappeared trying to circle world

20. Mass Media Creates a Common National Culture • Print, film, and broadcast methods of communicating info. to large numbers of people • Movies (Hollywood) • Newspapers • Tabloids • Magazines • Radio • 1920, Pittsburgh’s KDKA • Networks like NBC linked many individual stations together • Americans heard same news, commercials, music, etc.

21. The Jazz Age • Radio and great African American migration to cities increased led to increased popularity • Very popular with young people during 1920s • 1929 survey: 2/3 of all radio air time devoted to jazz • 1920s came to be called the Jazz Age • National Dance to Jazz: The Charleston

22. The Lost Generation • American expatriates disheartened by artless and uninspired American culture • Many lived in Paris, where they wrote some of their most famous works • F. Scott Fitzgerald: Gatsby (1925) • Ernest Hemingway: The Sun Also Rises (1926)

23. 1920s Slang • Baloney – nonsense, untrue • Bee’s knees – the best • Gold digger – women in search of a wealthy man • Goofy – silly, clumsy, stupid • Peppy – energetic • Ritzy – high class • Swell - terrific

24. The Harlem Renaissance • For African Americans, NYC was becoming the cultural center of the U.S. • Numbers increased from 50,000 in 1914 to 200,000 in 1930. • Over 500 jazz clubs • Harlem was home of an African American literary awakening of the 1920s known as the Harlem Renaissance • Langston Hughes

25. New Technology • Automobiles became the country’s largest industry in 1920s • Mass Production inspired by Henry Ford • Adopted moving assembly line with each worker completing simple task (1913) • Ford offered workers $5 a day (generous for time period) so they could purchase cars • Corporations growing during 20s • Electricity and automobile led to consumption boom, changed culture

26. Video Questions • What was the cultural significance of the automobile? • What was happening with urbanization and why was that significant for the culture? • How did women’s changing roles impact the economy? • How did consumerism and advertising change the culture? • What was the cultural significance of the movie industry? • Where did jazz spread and what was its cultural significance?