Standard Five
Products
During World War One, Americans had
lived under many kinds of restrictions. The
federal government had controlled railroads,
shipping, and industrial production. At the end
of the war, these controls were lifted. Industries
that had been making war supplies began
making products for a peacetime economy.
New Technologies
•
Technology made it possible for millions of
people to improve their lives. It also caused
great changes in American society. Two of the
most important new technologies were radio
and automobiles.
Radio
Radio greatly changed communication.
The first radio station opened in the state of
Pennsylvania in nineteen-twenty. Within ten
years, there were hundreds of others. There
were more than thirteen million radio receivers.
Most of the radio stations were owned by large
broadcasting networks. These networks were
able to broadcast the same program to stations
all over the country.
Crystal Radio
The earliest practical use of crystal radio
was to receive Morse code radio signals
transmitted by early amateur radio
experimenters using very powerful spark-gap
transmitters. As electronics evolved, the ability
to send voice signals by radio caused a
technological explosion in the years around
1920 that evolved into today's radio
broadcasting industry.
Crystal Radios
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqdcU9ULAlA
Radio Hams
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBGIdf0VjQ4
Programs
Most programs were simple and
entertaining. There were radio plays, comedy
shows, and music programs. But there also were
news reports and political events. Millions of
people who never read newspapers now heard
the news on radio. Citizens everywhere could
hear the president's voice.
Radio Personalities
Radio created public
personalities, like announcer
Graham McNamee. In 1921,
McNamee first broadcast a
baseball game by radio. He knew
little about sports, but his vibrant
baritone soon became familiar to
millions of Americans. McNamee
became the top sports announcer
for the new National Broadcasting
Company (NBC).
Rudy Vallee Show
Another NBC radio star
was Rudy Vallee, a singer
who created a variety
show format. The Rudy
Vallee Show began in
1929 and was one of the
most popular shows of
the 1930s. Many famous
vaudeville names paid a
visit to the show.
War of the Worlds
On Sunday, October 30, 1938, millions of radio
listeners were shocked when radio news alerts
announced the arrival of Martians. They
panicked when they learned of the Martians'
ferocious and seemingly unstoppable attack
on Earth. Many ran out of their homes
screaming while others packed up their cars
and fled.
Though what the radio listeners heard was a
portion of Orson Welles' adaptation of the
well-known book, War of the Worlds by H. G.
Wells, many of the listeners believed what
Orson Welles
they heard on the radio was real.
War of the Worlds Part 1 Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zl_J4J2mQpQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACc6ucc4Wgo
Ads
Radio also was a great help to companies.
Businesses could buy time on radio programs for
advertisements. In these 'ads', they told
listeners about their products. They urged them
to buy the products: cars. Electric refrigerators.
Foods. Medicines. In this way, companies quickly
and easily created a nationwide demand for
their goods.
Women
Women had worked in factories and outside of
the home in other areas during World War I.
During the 1920’s roles for women began to
change as new household products were made
widely available.
Vacuum Cleaners, Refrigeratiors,
Washing Machines
During the 1920s, vacuum cleaners,
refrigerators, and washing machines seemed to
promised consumers more time for leisure
activities. Advertising came of age during this era to
sell the goods that bustling factories were
producing.
The traditional "wash day" in many homes
was Monday, and the arrival of the washing
machine did, indeed, free up part of that day for
other activities.
Cars Everywhere
Before long, there were cars everywhere. All these cars
created a need for better roads. Outside cities, most
roads were made just of dirt. They were chokingly dusty
in dry weather and impassably muddy in the rain.
They were rough and full of holes. Few bridges connected
roads across rivers and streams. America's new drivers
demanded that these problems be fixed. So, local and
state governments began building and improving roads as
they had never done before
New Living Conditions
Cars changed more than the way Americans
traveled. They changed the way Americans lived.
They removed some of the limitations of living
conditions.
Drive to Work
For example, families with cars no longer
had to live in noisy, crowded cities. They could
live in suburbs -- the wide-open areas outside
cities. They could use their car to drive to work
in the city.
Businesses Moved
Businesses moved, too. No longer did they
have to be close to railroad lines. With new cars
and trucks, they could transport their goods
where they wanted, when they wanted. They
were no longer limited by train times.
Go to Town
Cars also made life on farms less lonely. It became
much easier for farm families to go to town on business or to
visit friends.
Cars helped Americans learn more about their nation.
In the nineteen twenties, people could drive all across the
land for not much money. Places that used to be days apart
now seemed suddenly closer.
Families that normally stayed home on weekends and
holidays began to explore the country. They drove to the
seashores and lakeshores. To the mountains and forests. To
places of historical importance or natural beauty.
Air Travel
positive effect of World War I were the different
kinds of transportations that were invented. The
Americans needed airplanes to fight in the Great
War but later on the airplane was established as
a peacemaker means of transportation. People
were now starting to take trips by airplanes.
• The motion picture industry also began during
the early 20th century.
1927 - First talking movie, The Jazz Singer
released
Rin-Tin-Tin
• Rin-Tin-Tin, the movie dog, used to be a starving
German Shepherd dog during the Great War. He
became most famous dog ever to star in the
movies in 1923. Rin-Tin-Tin, a German shepherd,
icon of the 1920s and early 1930s, was a famous
movie hero. His athletic feats astonished
audiences -- he could scale an 11--foot, 9-inch
fence, leap over chasms, and climb trees. His
acting brought tears, laughter, and amazement.
Thousands of children sent him fan mail, and he
answered with a paw-printed photograph
The peanut butter and jelly sandwich became
famous in 1922.
18th Ammendment
Prohibition
Although some prominent Black leaders
opposed Black participation in WWI, contrasting the
fight for freedoms overseas with overt segregation,
a result of the 1896 Plessey vs. Ferguson’s ruling of
separate but equal, on the home front, most
African Americans believed that WWI was as an
opportunity to demonstrate their patriotism and
their place as equal citizens in the nation. Black
political leaders believed that if the race sacrificed
for the war effort, the government would have no
choice but to reward them with greater civil rights.
African Americans served in world war one
because many African Americans eagerly
volunteered to join the Allied cause following
America's entry into the war. By the time of the
armistice with Germany on November 1918,
over 350,000 African Americans had served with
the American Expeditionary Force on the
Western Front.
Most African American units were largely
relegated to support roles and did not see
combat. Still, African Americans played a
notable role in America's war effort. One of the
most distinguished units was the 369th Infantry
Regiment, known as the "Harlem Hellfighters",
which was on the front lines for six months,
longer than any other American unit in the war.
171 members of the 369th were awarded the
Legion of Merit.
The First Great Migration 1910-1930
Americans, especially African Americans,
moved to northern cities. This "Great Migration"
of African Americans led to many finding better
paying jobs in war industries during World War I.
However, they also ran into prejudice and
violence due to job competition. A riot in East
St. Louis was the high point of racial tension in
the North during the war - but many African
Americans felt it was much better than in the
South.
Red Summer
One of the negative changes right after WWI were
mostly negative for African Americans, immigrants, and other
minorities who had social or political ideas different from the
ones in America. One incident that took place in Chicago on
June 1919 was when a young African American named Eugene
Williams decided to go swimming by a beach along Lake
Michigan. By mistake, Williams crossed over the invisible line,
which was an area that was reserved for whites only. When
the whites saw Williams they stoned him and eventually
drowned him. Since the police refused to make any arrest
both races soon started to fight against each other causing 38
deaths. This incident soon became known as "Red Summer."
African Americans felt that they needed to be treated better
because they also fought in the war.
Penicillin
Discovered in the 1920's were penicillin and
discovery of insulin for diabetics. This decade
had some major breakthroughs in medicine and
science.
Prominent African Americans
Early 20th Century
Mamie Smith
Bessie Coleman
“Ma” Rainey
Cotton Club:
Ethel Waters
Marian Anderson
Harlem
Renaissance
Marcus Garvey
WEB Dubois
Duke Ellington
Louie Armstrong
Eubie Blake
Langston Hughes
Claude McKay
Countee Cullen
Jessie Faucet
Jean Toomer
Rudolph Fisher
Negro Leagues
Thurgood
Marshall
Count Basie
Ralph Bunche
Emmett Ashford
Joe Lewis
Muddy Waters
Promenant Women of the 1920’s
Alice Paul
Carrie Chapman Catt
Louise Brooks
Gertude Ederle
Bessie Smith
Gertude Ederle
Helen Wills
Dorothy Parker
Zora Neale Hurston
Edna St. Vincent Millay
Georgia O’Keeffe
Mary Pickford
Greta Garbo
Nellie Tayloe Ross
Clara Bow
Gloria Swanson
Coco Chanel
Zelda Sayre
Margaret Gorman
Amelia Earhart
Bonnie Parker
Promenant Men 1920’s
•Charles Lindbergh -- Famous Aviator and adventurer
•Al Capone -- Famous Gangster
•F. Scott Fitzgerald -- Self-proclaimed "Flapper King" & Author of The
Great Gatsby
•Jack Dempsey -- Boxer
•Babe Ruth -- Baseball Player and unofficial King of New York
•Albert Einstein -- Famous Scientist
•Al Jolson -- Entertainer and Movie Star
•Charlie Chaplin -- "The most famous person who ever lived" (at least
in the 1920s)
•Duke Ellington -- Musician and band leader at "The Cotton Club"
Victory Gardens (save for WWII)
One major cause of the food shortages was the
forced internment of Japanese-Americans.
According to the California Farm Bureau,
Japanese farmers were responsible for 40% of
the vegetables grown in California valued at
over $40 million annually. Japanese farmers
were forced to leave about 200,000 acres of
farmland.