CHAPTER 11 The Twenties

Roaring Twenties. Rapid Technological advancements. Cultural Changes. Vast Social Changes.

Expansion of Consumer Society. Higher wages & salaries & low inflation increased the number of consumers. Mass production & competition forced automobile prices down. Cars brought more independence, spurred road building, & increased oil use.

Cars transform American Society. “Economic Multiplier” 1/8 Jobs related to auto industry. Increased sales led to Federal Highway Act. 30,000 Auto accidents by 1930. Urbanization or Urban Sprawl & Suburbs.

Technology & Urbanization. The automobile. (Changes workplace, mobility, housing, dating.) Aviation. (Lindbergh popularizes.) Electrification, & urbanization. (Farm flight.)

1920s Expansion of Consumer Society. Advertising expenditures rose dramatically. Most Americans acquired a radio. Huge advertising & entertainment medium. Celebrity endorsements.

Installment Plans. Radio broke down regional barriers. It developed into a national culture. Installment buying led consumer culture in the 1920s. It became acceptable to buy on credit over a set amount of time.

1920s Cities, Migrants, and Suburbs. Over half the U. S. lived in urban areas. Industrial jobs lured millions into the cities. Advances in transportation allowed many people to flock to the suburbs. Escape crowded cities. (Urban Sprawl.)

New Rhythms of Everyday Life. Birth rates declined & life expectancy increased. An emphasis on nutrition led to better diets. Improved sanitation led to increased life expectancy. Divorce rates rose. Adult Americans devoted less time to raising children.

Alternative Images of Femininity. A sharp break with the restraint of the 19th century traditional ideas of proper behavior came under criticism. Women experimented with new images of femininity, such as the “flapper” look.

Flappers. Rebellious young women who broke traditional expectations on how women should dress & behave. Many women disliked flappers for interest in self pleasure over women’s causes. The “Vamp.”

Women in the Work Force. Millions of women continued to move into the work force post WWI, despite discrimination. The % of minority women who worked for pay was double that of white women. Votes for Women.

1st Feature-Length Motion Picture. “The Jazz Singer.” “Talkies.” (The Sound movies.) Movies became a premier American medium. Movie stars satisfied Americans’ yearning for romance & adventure. The Jazz Singer Clip.

1920s, The Age of Play. People began to elevate sports personalities to heroic status. Gertrude Ederle. (Olympics & 1st to swim English Channel. Jim Thorpe. Olympic athlete of Native American & European ancestry.  Babe Ruth.

Literature, music, dance & entertainment in the 1920s & 1930s. The “Lost Generation.” (Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Stein.) American Writers who were critical of American society & moved to Europe. (Paris.)

Literature, music, dance & entertainment in the 1920s & 1930s. Harlem Renaissance. NYC. (Black explosion in creativity & the arts.) Poetry & Literature. Jazz Pioneers Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong.

Religious Conservatism. Many turned to fundamentalist religion to counter what they saw as societies’ skepticism & materialism. Modern advertising techniques let revivalist preachers attract more followers.

Religious Conservatism. 1925, “Scopes Monkey trial.” Scopes stood trial for teaching evolution. (Darwinism.) Fundamentalism (Those who believed in literal interpretation of how God created humans in the Bible.) clashed with science when ACLU defended Darwinism.

Breakthroughs by/for Women. 1920s The League of Woman’s Voters: Grassroots-non-partisan organization to educate citizens on public issues. 18th Amendment: Prohibition. (21st Repeal) 19th Amendment: Women’s right to vote. (1972, Equal Rights Amendment.)

Supporters of Prohibition. (18th) Women’s Christian Temperance Union. Rural residents of the South. Traditionalist who felt Alcoholism caused crime, violence & family break-ups.

1920s, Prohibition & Organized Crime. Prohibition successful at first. Bootleggers soon made the illicit liquor industry into a thriving business. Al Capone met the demand for liquor, gambling, & prostitutes, becoming the best-known gangster of the era. (The Roaring 20s.)

1920s, Prohibition & Organized Crime. Speakeasies were “secret” clubs that sold bootlegged booze. “Bootlegging” Production, sale & Transport of illegal alcohol. Prohibition led to the rise of Organized Crime & criminal empires. (The Mob.) Bootlegging gave rise to crime and people breaking the law.

Prohibition Repealed. 21st Amendment Overturned. 1933. Grassroots movements are often at the local level, as opposed to a strong national leader. Disrespect of Law. The benefits were not worth the cost.