25 Topic: Transition to Modern America- 1920s EQ: How was the 1920s a real transition to modern America?

POP QUIZ 1. Please, in 3-4 sentences, explain the Scope’s Trial and give the outcome of the trial. 2. Please tell me the association between the following: a) Speakeasies, b) Flappers, c) Al Capone 3. Why was the KKK reinvigorated during the 1920’s?

The Second Industrial Revolution U.S. developed the highest standard of living in the world The 1920s and the second revolution Electricity replaced steam Modern assembly introduced

The Automobile Industry Auto makers stimulated sales through model changes, advertising Auto industry fostered other businesses Autos encouraged suburban sprawl

Autos of the Era

Patterns of Economic Growth New technologies meant new industries such as radio and motion pictures Structural change Professional managers replaced individual entrepreneurs Corporations became the dominant business form

Early Radio

Patterns of Economic Growth Marketing and national brands spread Big business weakened regionalism, brought uniformity to America

Advertising Modernity Advertising became a thriving industry that promoted consumerism. Advertising agencies employed market research and psychology to stress consumer needs, desires, and anxieties rather than the qualities of the product. They celebrated consumption as a positive good.

Glenwood Stove Ad

Other Ads

© 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. A 1919 advertisement for Lucky Strike cigarettes featured the image of actress Billie Burke. Paid celebrity endorsements for consumer goods became a common practice in the post WWI years. Tobacco companies were among the most aggressive purveyors of this new advertising strategy. © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc.

Economic Weaknesses Railroads poorly managed Coal displaced by petroleum Farmers faced decline in exports, prices Growing disparity between income of laborers, middle-class managers Middle class speculated with idle money

City Life in the Jazz Age Rapid increase in urban population Skyscrapers symbolized the new mass culture Communities of home, church, and school were absent in the cities

Women and the Family Ongoing crusade for equal rights “Flappers” sought individual freedom Most women remained in domestic sphere Discovery of adolescence Teenage children no longer needed to work Indulged their craving for excitement

The Roaring Twenties Sports, like golf and baseball, became much bigger part of national popular culture Decade was notable for obsessive interest in celebrities like Charles Lindbergh and Gertrude Ederle Sex became an all-consuming topic of interest in popular entertainment

Sports Culture

“Lucky Lindy” Lindbergh

The Flowering of the Arts Alienation from 1920s mass culture “Exiled” American writers put U.S. at forefront of world literature T.S. Eliot Ernest Hemingway F. Scott Fitzgerald

Part Five: The New Mass Culture

Movie-Made America Mass communication media reshaped American culture in the 1920s. Movie ticket sales soared. Publicists whetted American appetites by creating an elegant image for movie stars. Attacked by conservative groups for sexual permissiveness, Hollywood studios came up with a plan of self-censorship by hiring Will Hayes as a morals czar.

© 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Seeing History Creating Celebrity. © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc.

One of the First Talkies The Jazz Singer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIaj7FNHnjQ

Radio Broadcasting Radio developed into the nation’s first comprehensive mass entertainment medium. Large companies formed national networks that aired a variety of programs to homes across the country. Building on blackface minstrelsy, “Amos ‘n’ Andy” was the first national radio hit show. Radio also helped to commercialize previously isolated forms of music and build a mass following for sports.

New Forms of Journalism The 1920s saw the growth of newspaper tabloids that emphasized crime, sex scandals, gossip columns, and sports. Their popularity forced advertisers to appeal directly to working class and immigrant readers. As in other businesses, journalism saw the trend towards consolidation. The Hearst chain controlled 14 percent of the nation’s circulation.

The Flowering of the Arts Writers like Sinclair Lewis and H. L. Mencken criticized flaws and contradictions of 1920s Harlem Renaissance: African Americans prominent in music, poetry