Stephen Feinstein - The 1920s

Published in 2016 by Enslow Publishing, LLC.

101 W. 23rd Street, Suite 240, New York, NY 10011

Copyright 2016 by Enslow Publishing, LLC.

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced by any means without the written permission of the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Feinstein, Stephen.

The 1920s / Stephen Feinstein.

pages cm. (Decades of the 20th and 21st centuries)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Summary: Discusses the decade 1920-1929 in the United States in terms of culture, art, science, and politicsProvided by publisher.

Audience: Grade 9 to 12.

ISBN 978-0-7660-6924-4

1. United StatesCivilization1918-1945Juvenile literature. 2. United StatesPolitics and government1923-1929Juvenile literature. 3. United StatesPolitics and government1921-1923Juvenile literature. 4. Nineteen twentiesJuvenile literature. I. Title.

E169.1.F3545 2015

973.914dc23

2015010944

Printed in the United States of America

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Photo Credits: Albert Harlingue/Roger Viollet/Getty Images, pp..

Cover Credits: Kidwiler Collection/Diamond Images/Getty Images (Lou Gehrig); Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Carl Van Vechten Collection (Langston Hughes); Library of Congress/Moviepix/Getty Images (flapper); Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division, National Photo Company Collection (pouring whiskey down a drain).

Contents

Introduction

Pop Culture, Lifestyles, and Fashion

Entertainment and the Arts

Sports

National and International Politics

Advances in Science, Technology, and Medicine

Conclusion

Timeline

Glossary

Further Reading

Index

The 1920s were known as the Roaring Twenties.

Introduction

For many Americans, the 1920soften referred to as the Roaring Twentieswere a period of prosperity with rapid growth in industry and new developments in the arts and entertainment. But the decade did not begin on an optimistic note. Although America and its allies had won World War I in 1918, the end of the war led to an economic slump. A deadly flu that claimed more than twenty million victims around the world spread in 1918 and 1919. The weary survivors wished to celebrate.

The American economy began to recover and eventually prosper during the Republican administrations of Presidents Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge. Both presidents encouraged the growth of big business. When Calvin Coolidge said, the business of America is business, the nation took his words to heart.

Factories that had once made weapons and supplies for the war now made peacetime products, such as washing machines, vacuum cleaners, radios, and other household items. If people didnt have enough money to buy these new products, they borrowed from banksoften more than they could afford to repay. Unpaid debt would become a serious problem by the middle of the decade.

Americans worked hard, but they also played hard. Not deterred by Prohibitionthe ban on alcoholic beveragesmany Americans went to speakeasies. There, thanks to gangsters, such as Chicagos Al Capone, who smuggled and sold illegal liquor, people could swig alcoholic drinks while dancing the Charleston to jazz, music pioneered by African-American musicians a few years earlier in New Orleans. The birth of broadcast radio in 1920 spurred jazzs popularity. The Harlem Renaissance promoted a flourishing of African-American literature and arts in the neighborhood of Harlem in New York during the 1920s.

Women called flappers wore skirts with scandalously short hemlines. Having just won the right to vote, women felt freer to express themselves in new ways.

The rich became richer during the decade, but many poor people did not benefit at all from the countrys economic growth. Many Americans became fearful of newcomers to the nations shores. Laws were passed to limit the number of immigrants allowed into the country each year. Only a small number of people from eastern and southern Europe were allowed, and Asians were kept out entirely. The public also lost faith in its leaders. Corrupt politicians took bribes. The government was rocked by scandals. Finally, the 1920s saw the return of a hate group called the Ku Klux Klan.

Three world leadersa dictator in Italy, a brutal leader in Germany, and a new emperor in Japanfirst entered the spotlight during the 1920s and would later help start World War II.

Meanwhile, many Americans invested in the stock market. But the stock market could not climb forever. A frenzy of speculation and carefree spending ended in the great stock market crash of 1929. The party was over.

Pop Culture, Lifestyles, and Fashion

The 1920s is one of the most fascinating periods in modern history. This decade, known as the Roaring Twenties, still captures our imaginations today. During the 1920s, the standard of living rose for most Americans, including the working poor even though the majority of Americans worked long hours for very low wages. Basic utilities, such as natural gas, running water, and electricity became increasingly available in the home. Local governments provided water and sewage treatment and garbage collection. People lived healthier lives. With hot and cold running water, people bathed more frequently. By 1929, 71 percent of American homes had indoor bathrooms. With electric lights in the home, there was less danger of fire from kerosene lamps and gaslights. And thanks to gas stoves, the air inside the home was now free of coal dust and kerosene fumes. Middle-and upper-class families could afford to buy new electric appliances, such as vacuum cleaners, washing machines, and refrigerators.

Radio broadcasts became a source for news and entertainment.

Telephones and Radios

New forms of communication brought Americans closer to each other. The telephone, and then the radio, brought about major changes in the way Americans lived and worked. In 1915, coast-to-coast telephone service had begun. By 1921, 13 percent of Americans had telephones. A person on the West Coast was only a phone call away from someone on the East Coast. At the beginning of the decade, most Americans still wrote letters to stay in touch with distant relatives or friends. But as the years went by, more people had telephones in their homes. The telephone became essential in the business world.

On November 2, 1920, even as most Americans had yet to have a telephone conversation, another amazing device was introduced to the nation. On that day, the radio station KDKA in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, broadcast the nations first scheduled public radio program. Only a small number of Americans got to hear the news broadcast that day on their brand new radio sets. But practically overnight, excitement about this new form of communication spread. By 1923, more than five hundred radio stations were broadcasting. Radio sales that year reached $60 million.