• WWI had just ended with the deaths of millions of people. 126,000 from the U.S.
• The Spanish Flu had killed 30 million worldwide. 500,000 in the U.S.
• Hatred toward Germans was subsiding but the threat of Communism was taking over.
What affects do you think the above would have the culture, manners, and morals of the 1920s? What do you think the decade will be like? Explain in a few sentences.
The “Business” of America(Legal and Illegal)
1920s Productivity
• More Jobs and more productivity
• Growing cities
• More suburbs with more need for roads
• Building and road construction boom
1
Henry Ford• Movable production line.• 1925-Car every 10
seconds (years before it took 14 hours)
• Industries that boomed because of the car industry- steel, rubber, oil, machine tools, and road building
2,3
Henry Ford’s way• Tried to control the
lives of workers through raises and incentives for moral behavior
• $5 day and 40-hour 5 day work week.
• Immigrants and minorities hired
• Middle class grows
4
This man paid his workers $5 a day which helped further the growth of the middle class.
A) Henry FordB) Edsel FordC) Lee IacoccaD) Donald TrumpE) Bob Lutz
Social class of the workplace
• How you dress dictates your title
• White-collar worker- professional, sales, clerks, managers etc…
• Blue collar- factory worker
5
A factory worker during the 1920s began to be labeled A) White collarB) Blue collarC) Upper ClassD) Social ClassE) Head of the Class
More money, more jobs, more leisure time
• Magazines, newspapers, book sales skyrocket
• Advertising at all time high to influence Americans to think they needed things- BUY BUY BUY!!!
• The mass media and mass communication through radio, newspapers, billboards and magazines
6,7
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Within your group, please take the item given to you and create a 10-15 second radio advertisement using the 1920s slang words given to you earlier. You have 5-7 minutes.
Think about:
1)Why does everyone need this product?2)Who does it help most?3)What will your life be like with/without it?
More cars more leisure opportunities
• More stores• More recreational
activities- amusement parks, camping, movies, sporting events, vacations
• More and more advertising
• More and more people buying on credit
8,9
The advertising on radio, billboards, in magazines and newspapers encouraged people to buy _________________, which later helped plunge the country deep into Depression.
A) on creditB) cars onlyC) only if they had cashD) toothbrushes
The Jazz Age
• Movies• Stars of early silent
films- Rudolph Valentino, Charlie Chaplin
• The Jazz Singer- First talking movie (1927)
• Movie houses were packed
10
The era where music, movies, and entertainment were very popular was known as the
A) Stone AgeB) Jazz AgeC) Nuclear AgeD) Blues AgeE) Spectator Age
The Jazz Age
• Sports• Boxing- Jack
Dempsey• Baseball- Babe Ruth• Football- Red Grange• Negro League baseball• Baseball division
mirrors society
11
This sport mirrored society because of the way it was segregated into white and black leagues
A)BaseballB) SoccerC) BadmintonD) VolleyballE) Bowling
Just Jazz and the Blues• Blues and Jazz- new
music• Blues origins in
slavery• Jazz- an African
American creation• Louie Armstrong,
Duke Ellington• Dances- Charleston
considered immoral
12
• African Americans developed this type of music from their days on the plantation during the time of slavery. Bessie Smith was a favorite.
A)Rock n RollB) BluesC) ClassicalD) Irish E) Jazz
Harlem Renaissance and the Lost Generation
• Langston Hughes- poetry and other writings
• African Americans finding a “voice” through written words
• Lost Generation writers • F. Scott Fitzgerald- The
Great Gatsby ( social class)• Ernest Hemingway- The
Sun Also Rises. (War themes)
13,14
Langston Hughes was a poet and writer who contributed his work during an era in the 1920s known as the
A) Lost GenerationB) Great GatsbyC) Harlem RenaissanceD) Red RevolutionE) Palmer Raids
I, too, sing America. I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes, But I laugh, And eat well, And grow strong. Tomorrow, I'll be at the table When company comes. Nobody'll dare Say to me, "Eat in the kitchen," Then. Besides, They'll see how beautiful I am And be ashamed-- I, too, am America.
I, Too, Sing America
Alcohol is Illegal?• 18th Amendment-
Alcohol Illegal. Volstead Act- 2500 officers to enforce around the country.
• Organized crime booms (Al Capone in Chicago)
• Rise of bootlegging, speakeasies(illegal clubs serving alcohol), ordinary people breaking the law
15-17
Illegal clubs that sold alcohol during Prohibition were known as
A) SpeakeasiesB) Cotton ClubsC) CharlestonsD) Renaissance clubsE) Poetry clubs
St. Valentine’s day massacre
Confiscated beer
The Speakeasy
Fads and Fashion
• Flapper- girl with “bobbed” hair and shorter skirt and hat
• Men- raccoon coats and golf stockings
• Pole sitting, crossword puzzles, tabloid news
18,19
Girls in the 1920s who bobbed their hair and wore shorter skirts and more make-up were known as
A) Gibson girlsB) FlappersC) ShakersD) QuakersE) Victorian Era
Crash!!!!!
• Stock Market Crashes in October, 1929.
• Black Thursday, Monday and Tuesday- Stock prices plunge. (Oct. 24-29)
• $30 billion in stock lost.
• Economy was soon to follow
20
Legacy of the 1920s
• The 1920s had prosperity, youth, and recklessness. The cultural changes were to be seen for years to come. As a result of the crash of the Stock Market, the decade to follow would be filled with despair. Only another world war would be able to pull the country out of depression.
