The Twenties A New Mass Culture

Trends in Popular Culture Cities 1850: 70 hour work week 1910: 55 hour work week 1930: 45 hour work week Work week changed from 7 days to 5 Salaries & wages on the rise Increase in salaries & wages allowed more opportunities for leisure activities Farms Worked from dawn to dusk Very little time to spare Few leisure activities In the evenings, families would: – Play games – Read – Sing around the piano Would join other families for picnics or baseball Did not have the time or money for more expensive leisure activities

Movies Urban & suburban people have more free time & income to go to the movies Movie technology around for years Studios in Hollywood create monopolies controlling production, distribution, & exhibition 60 to 100 million people went to movies each wk Most movies were silent films – Many immigrants spoke little English – Movies used universal themes, allowing everyone to follow the story – Available to anyone with a little extra money – Stars became as popular abroad as they were at home

Movie Stars Charlie Chaplin – Comedian – Character was equal parts hobo, dreamer, & poet Rudolph Valentino – More romantic actor – Played exotic sheik William S. Hart – More rugged role – Played cowboy who came to restore order 1927, film history changed for good with the release of The Jazz Singer

The Jazz Singer -First movie with sound synched to action -“You ain’t heard nothin’ yet” amazed audiences -Silent pictures faded quickly -Replaced by “talkies -Movies spoke directly to desires, needs, fears, & fantasies of millions of people

Radio & Phonograph Both became powerful instruments of mass popular culture Millions of both were marketed in 1920s Both helped produce a standardized culture: – All Americans listened to the same songs – All Americans learned the same dances – All Americans shared same popular culture Before 1920s, radio primarily used for military, telephone operators, amateur “wireless” operators KDKA station in Pittsburgh became instant success

Radio Contd. Within 3 years, almost 600 licensed stations broadcasting to 600K radios Radios used for music, educational lectures, religious sermons, news & weather reports Advertisers used radio for commercial purposes 1927, America listened to championship boxing match btwn. Gene Tunney & Jack Dempsey Movie theaters packed with “listeners” This type of broadcast was impossible before 1920s

Phonograph Allowed people to listen to songs from radio at home, whenever they wanted to Difficult to use Played in poor sound quality Grooved discs helped improve sound quality Country music spread from S & W to the N & E Pop music spread from NYC to the S & W Americans learned same fashionable dances: – Fox Trot – Charleston

Cultural Heroes Heroes came from sports: – Baseball Babe Ruth – Football Red Grange – Boxing Jack Dempsey – Golf Bobby Jones – Tennis Bill Tilden All major sports were broadcast on the radio

Heroes Contd. 1920s called “Golden Age of Sports” Journalists captured excitement of sports for all of America – Turned athletes in “gods” – Babe Ruth – “The Sultan of Swing – Notre Dame backfield – “The Four Horsemen” Decade needed heroes WWI shattered American’s faith in progress Athletes reassured citizens that people can do great things Gave Americans a sense of hope

“Lucky Lindy” Charles Lindbergh captured hearts of all Americans Very little flying in 1920s – WWI Aces – Small domestic airlines Pilots became “new” heroes May 1927: – Took off from Long Island – Single engine plane, “Spirit of St. Louis” – Headed to Paris – First to cross Atlantic solo & non-stop; 33 hours – Became instant media celebrity – Radio and movies documented and celebrated his feat

Women’s New Roles Many women challenged political, economic, social, and educational boundaries in the 1920s – Wanted to prove vital roles in and out of the home Women were more liberated – Dresses were shorter – Wore more makeup – Danced to latest crazes – Assumed same political rights as any man Women led “revolution in manners & morals”

Flappers -Young woman -Short skirt -Roughed cheeks -Hair cropped short, “bob” -More publicized than imitated -Not all women aspired to be flappers -Emergence of flappers encouraged women to want more control over their lives

Women Contd. Making Strides 19 th Amendment gave women the right to vote NAWSA encourages women to run for office or fight for laws protecting women & children in the workplace 1925; Nellie Tayloe Ross (WY) & Miriam Ferguson (TX) elected as state’s gov. NWP demands complete equality with men Primary goal to pass Equal Rights Amendment Women worked in domestic service, manufacturing, clerical, sales, & management Also won jobs in journalism, aviation, banking, law, & medical Family Life Women tended to live longer, marry later, & have fewer children Some worked, others volunteered Joined book clubs, and other groups This all helped women intellectually Consumer economy helped women Electric vacuums & irons made life easier Many homes in urban American had no electricity Labor was hard in these areas: still drew & carried water from wells, heated irons on stoves, washed clothes by hand

Modernism WWI altered writers & authors views of the world Both approached their crafts with pessimism This pessimistic, skeptical view sparked modernism Psychologist Sigmund Freud influenced literary & artistic modernism – Human behavior driven not by rational thought, but by unconscious desires – Theories led writers and authors to explore the subconscious mind

Sigmund Freud

Paintings Artists went from representational painting to abstract art New York’s 69 th Infantry Regimental Armory (1913) – Art Show – First look at abstract art – Outraged traditionalists – Roosevelt said it represented “lunatic fringe” – Inspired many American Painters to search for artistic honesty in abstract patterns – Many new abstract artists emerged

1920s Artists Edward Hopper Man Ray Joseph Stella Georgia O’Keeffe Archibald Motley William H. Johnson

Literature Authors part of “Lost Generation” – Not longer had faith in cultural guides of Victorian era Many were inspired by this “lost” condition – Searched for truth – Searched for fresh ways of expressing those truths Many of the well known authors read today rose to distinction in the 1920s List includes: – F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Edith Wharton, Sinclair Lewis, William Faulkner, Gertrude Stein, Eugene O’Neil, & T.S. Eliot

Authors and Their Works

Literature Contd. Many of these authors were “disillusioned,” influenced by Freud’s obsession with the subconscious mind Most wrestled with meaning of war & life at the same time Efforts resulted in literary masterpieces still cherished today