The Roaring 20’s & The Dirty 30’s

1. The Roaring 20’s&The Dirty 30’s Between the Wars

2. After WWI • During the war, industry had grown greatly. • Canada had supplied shells to the western front. • Ships were built and maintained for the Atlantic convoys • The steel industry boomed. • Soldiers needed boots, clothes, blankets. • Many factory owners became wealthy. • Farmers grew more wheat.

3. After WWI • Because of the great demand, prices had risen. • The soldiers found goods cost nearly twice as they had in 1913. • Wages had risen during the war, but only about 18%. They could not keep up with the prices. • After the war, factories were closing or cutting back. The jobs that remained were already filled and there was no need to hire ex-soldiers. • The number of trade union members had doubled during the war. Unions were preparing to demand higher wages and better conditions • One Big Union formed. Winnipeg strike was the first test.

4. Prohibition • The ban on the sale of alcohol. • Officially the ban was part of the war effort. • The grain used to make alcohol could be used for food instead. • People expected there would be social benefits from the ban. They thought family life would improve. • For a few years after the war, prohibition was in force in every province. • Prohibition did not work. Bootlegging – making and selling liquor illegally. • By 1924 most provinces decided liquor control was better than liquor ban. • The government could make money from the liquor taxes.

5. The 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution banned the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcohol. Quebec was the 1st province to get rid of prohibition. Many people from the USA started to take the train to Montreal on weekends for entertainment. 1920’s

6. Montreal • In the 1920’s, black musicians and dancers became very popular around the world. Louis Armstrong was the most popular musician amongst white and black fans. • Because of prohibition in the USA, popular black entertainers started to perform in Montreal. • Montreal was then referred to as “Little Harlem” or “The Canadian Harlem” • Video Clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnRqYMTpXHc&feature=PlayList&p=784FD56A29DE725B&index=0&playnext=1

7. Sports • In 1928 Canadian women went to the summer Olympic Games for the first time. The track and field team won medals in nearly every event. • The Bluenose was built in 1921 and competed in races against the best schooners. She won almost very race. She is remembered on the back of the dime.

8. Bluenosehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxZWFHSL7Vo

9. Flappers

10. The Boom Years • Early 1920s, businesses started to make profits and jobs were available again. • This time is called the Roaring Twenties. • People wanted to invest in the future. They bought shares on the stock market.

11. Inventions • Electric Stoves • Washing machines • Irons • Vacuum cleaners • Toasters

12. Entertainment • Radio: Listening to Hockey Night in Canada • Phonographs • Now that people only worked 8 or 9 hours a day, they had more time for entertainment. • Many theatres were built across Canada and were controlled by a Toronto businessman, Ambrose Small • Vaudeville was a type of variety show that travelled and performed in the theatres. • Burlesque show were also popular • Motion Picture Shows were the most popular • Jazz was the latest music fad • Dance Halls were filled and dances like the tango, Charleston and the Black Bottom were all the rage.

13. Automobiles • Model T Ford: Henry Ford invented the assembly line • The Tin Lizzycost $495 in 1917 and by 1925 the price dropped to $424. • 1 in 4 Canadian families owned a car by 1928.

14. Brain Pops: Causes of the Great Depression & The Great Depression

15. The Stock Market • In the 20th century, businesses were too big to be owned by one person. Big companies financed themselves by selling shares on the stock market. • The price of shares was determined by supply and demand. If a lot of people wanted to buy, the price was high. If more wanted to sell, the price was dropped. • Daring investor took risks. They bought “on margin.” They paid the stock broker 10% or 15% of the price of the shares. Later, when the price had risen, they sold. They then could pay the stock broker and still make a profit. • The stock broker would make a margin call if the stock fell and the investor would have to pay all money owned. • 1929, the stock market had reached its peak.

16. The Crash • 1929, the stock market had reached its peak. • Stock Brokers started to make margin calls and investors couldn’t pay up. The brokers were forced to sell them out. • On Oct. 24th thousands of shares bought on margin were dumped onto the stock market. There were no buyers and prices fell. • When the news hit the papers, other investors panicked • Oct. 29th, Black Tuesday: Small sellers rushed to sell out before they lost everything. Companies and individuals were broke all over the world. • This triggered the Great Depression.

17. The Great Depression • By 1933 1 in 5 Canadian workers had no job. • There was no system of unemployment insurance. • 2 million people were “on relief.” • Bennett Buggy: Vehicle created by people who could no longer afford gas, oil, etc. They removed the motor from the car and hitched horsed to it. Named after PM R.B. Bennett. • Food vouchers: paper given to people on relief to exchange for basic food supplies. • Train hobos: Men hitching rides on trains looking for work and the next towns. This was called “riding the rods.”

18. The Prairie Dust bowl • By 1929 wheat had fetched $1.60 a bushel, but by 1932 famers could hardly get rid of it for 38 cents. • There was a drought and the prairie topsoil turned to dust. • Grasshoppers hatched by the millions and ate everything. • Families went barefoot, & dressed in flour bags. They burned wheat instead of wood, as it was cheaper. They ate gopher stew. • Many lost their land.

19. Relief Camps • They were set up to get drifters off the road, out of the cities and out of trouble. • Men in camps worked 8 hours a day. They build roads, dug ditches, planted trees. • In return each received work clothes, a bed, food and 20 cents a day. • The camps were run by the Department of National Defence. • Conditions were terrible.

20. On-to-ottawa trek • June 1935 over 1000 camp workers from Vancouver jumped some empty freight cars. • They were going to complain directly to the Prime Minister. • On the way, discontented workers joined them. • The terrified the government. • The trekkers were met in Regina by the RCMP. • 8 delegates were allowed to go onto to Ottawa to meet with PM Bennett. • The meeting did not go well and the delegates returned to Regina to continue the trek.

21. The Regina Riots • July 1, Dominion Day, the trekkers held a meeting to raise money in the market square. • The police thought things were going to get out of hand. • Four furniture trucks pulled up at each corner of the square and at the sound of a whistle, they opened up and Mounties and city police poured out. • The riot lasted until the late evening.

22. Other Facts • The Canadian Radio Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) was established in 1932. • People wanted an escape and flocked to the movies during the depression. • In 1931, the British parliament passed the Statute of Westminister. This act declared that the British parliament had no power over the laws of the dominions. • MacKenzie King defeated Bennett in the 1935 election • 1937, the Trans Canada Airlines was formed (Air Canada) • 1939, the National Film Board was set up. • Insulin was discovered by Frederick Banting and Charles Best