The Jazz Age The United States During the 1920s

Focus Question: What led to the development of a national culture in the 1920s? A New National Culture

Urbanization The 1920 census revealed urban population outnumbered rural population for first time.

Cars, Cars, Cars! On average, nearly one car per family! Cars changed the pattern of American life. Cars affected everything Americans did: shopping, traveling, commuting to work, dating. Led to new problems: traffic jams, injuries and deaths on road million cars were registered million

Forms of Mass Media Radio NBC 1924 CBS 1927 Mass Circulation Magazines

Hollywood & Movies Elaborate movie theater palaces built, opulently decorated with vaulted ceilings, marble floors, balconies. “Talkies” arrived in 1927 with The Jazz Singer. Movie attendance rose from 60 million in 1927 to 90 million in 1930.

Charlie Chaplin Mary Pickford Douglas Fairbanks 1920s Movie Stars Became national idols who helped set national trends in clothing and hairstyles.

Sports Heroes Jack Dempsey Babe Ruth

Famous solo flight from New York City to Paris in He flew more than 3,600 miles (5,790 kilometers) in 33 1/2 hours. “Lucky Lindy”: Charles Lindbergh

Jazz Music From talented musicians such as Louis Armstrong

Mass Advertising

In the 1920s there was a new emphasis on consumption, leisure, and amusement. Many Americans stretched their incomes by buying on the newly devised installment plan. “Buy now, pay later” was revolutionary. People bought cars, refrigerators, and washing machines on credit. Americans also bought irons, toasters, vacuum cleaners, phonographs and sewing machines. By the mid 20s, 60% of Americans homes had electricity.

Radio, the newest mass media, relied entirely on advertising for its income. Ads could also be found in mass circulation magazines included The Saturday Evening Post and Reader’s Digest. Advertising created wants and encouraged consumers to satisfy those wants.

What techniques do advertisers use to persuade consumers to buy their products? 1. Make a list of at least 3 techniques you believe advertisers use. 2. Then list at least 3 examples of recent ads (television, radio, magazine, etc.) that employ these techniques.

Advertising Techniques- Celebrity endorsements Testimonials Catchy slogans Promises of social success and threats of social embarrassment Ads created a fantasy world of elegance, grace, boundless pleasure Preyed on people’s insecurities. Sometimes by creating new maladies. (Listerine mouthwash as a cure for halitosis.)

ADVERTISEMENT ANALYSIS: What is the advertisement selling? Identify some of the advertisement techniques used in the ad.

Inside Back Cover, January 1923 McClure's Magazine, Vol. 54, No.11. Script: The Supreme Achievement in Electric Washing Machines Gillespie-Eden Corporation Paterson, N.J. Canada Canadian General Electric Co. Toronto

Movies, radio, magazines, advertising and consumption led to the creation of a mass national culture in the 1920s. However, participation in the mass culture was not universal. Unequal distribution of wealth limited many consumers’ ability to buy the enticing products. 65% of families in the 20s had incomes of less than $2,000 a year, barely enough for a decent standard of living.

The 1920s as a “decade of bubbling creativity.” The 20s saw the emergence of great artists including: Frank Lloyd Wright Georgia O’Keefe Edward Hopper

Frank Lloyd Wright Guggenheim Museum Frank Lloyd Wright Moe House

Georgia O’Keefe Calla Lilies on Pink 1928

Edward Hopper Drug Store, 1927

The Literature of Alienation & the“Lost Generation” Writers of the period included Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Sinclair Lewis, T.S. Eliot, and Ezra Pound. Their writing reflected a general postwar disillusionment with modern culture.

Harlem Renaissance A movement by young writers and artists who wanted to reclaim a cultural identity with African roots. Harlem, in New York City, had a large African-American community. The city became famous for the concentration of African actors, writers, artists, and musicians. The most famous writer of the Harlem Renaissance was Langston Hughes.

Langston Hughes, Dream Deferred What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up Like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore-- And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over-- like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it just sags like a heavy load. Or does it explode?

What is most interesting to you about the new national culture of the 1920s? Do you see any similarities between American culture in the 20s and today?