1.
Facts, Fun, and Flappers

2. National Origins Act 1924 System of quotas developed
No longer accepting “huddled masses”
Nordics accepted
Calvin Coolidge:" Biological laws tell us that certain divergent people will not mix of blend.”
Given as a gift to America (1886) from France as a token of their friendship during the Revolutionary War

3. Nativism Rules Impact of immigration questioned
Chinese, Greeks, Italians, and Jews from Eastern and Southern Europe
Immigration restriction League fretted about the biological outlook for the nation.
Senator Henry Cabot Lodge – ”do not promise well for the country’s standard of civilization.”

4. The Race Issue
Loyalty questioned during WWI – people from all over the world in the US- maybe spies
Eugenics adds to problem (“inferior” races are classified)
National Origins Act would reduce
Greeks would go from 3,000 to 100
Italians would go from 30,000 to 4,000
Polish would go from 30,000 to 9,000

5. Paradox of the Decade
Nordics are supreme (sounds like Hitler doesn’t it?)
Need to produce a standard American
Conflict between tribalism (different ethnicities together) and conformity

6. Migration to the Cities
Citizens now more urban 1920 census showed more people lived in cities than in the country
Manufacturing rose 60% creating a new landscape of cars, roads, electric lights, and houses
2 out 3 homes had electricity (1 in 10 in 1900)
Labor saving devices: refrigerators, washers, vacuum cleaners…
Rice Krispies, Lender’s Bagels, Mounds Bars, peanut butter, Betty Crocker, and Peter Pan appear new foods to enjoy and produce
Modern Romance magazine influenced sexual behaviors
Movie Theaters, chain stores (Sears), and radio advertising very big

7. Consumerism American’s buy on credit
Spending on entertainment very big – movies, amusement parks (Coney Island),
professional sports
Movie attendance outstripped church attendance – 100 million viewers per week

8. “I am so beautiful, why can’t I be happy?” (F. Scott Fitzgerald)