Andy Lee
July 7, 2010
1920s Good Times or Bad Times?
For many decades, there were great number arguments stating whether the “Roaring
20s” were good times or a bad times in Canadian history. Although there were many clear
reasons that supported both sides of the argument, I believe that the 1920s were good times.
The “Roaring 20s” were times of economical and social boom. New inventions which are still
effective part of our lives in 21st century, growing power of multimedia and entertainment, and
modern form of industrial revolution with mass production all originated from 1920s. Moreover,
the entrepreneurs and industrializing businesses especially in the central Canada or in the cities
were successful. Lastly, stock market was rising gradually until the very late 1920s, until it has
collapsed. The 1920s were surely the golden era of the Canadian history.
First of all, great inventions and discoveries were made during 1920s. These fascinating
discoveries and inventions had done significant impacts and brought changes in people’s
everyday lives. Some of the essential items that we use every day were inventions made in the
1920s, such as vacuums and dish washers. The three major discoveries and inventions that I
believe were the greatest out of all which still are being used today are insulin, private
automobiles, and radio. Insulin was the first effective medical treatment towards diabetes.
Diabetes was one of the major diseases that had killed many people around the world during
1920s. Proper and effective treatments towards diabetes were needed as soon as possible. In
1921, Dr. Fredrick Banting with help of his co-leagues and students succeeded isolating insulin
from the dog’s hormone. Banting’s idea was to inject the isolated insulin to the patient’s body
since the reason diabetes is being caused is because of the scarcity of the insulin in one’s body.
The results of insulin were astonishing! Banting and his co-leagues had successfully created new
treatment towards diabetes. Fredrick Banting was therefore rewarded with highest praise,
Nobel Prize in physiology, and became the first Canadian to ever receive Nobel Prize in
physiology. Insulin is still the best medicine available towards diabetes in modern days.
Private automobiles, such as Model T was encouraged to be produced by the modern industrial
revolution with mass production. The method of assembly line made this mass production
possible. With private automobiles, distant families could easily connect with each other, and
have brought new era of transportation system. In addition, the price of the private
automobiles weren’t so expensive; therefore every average Canadian family had enough money
to buy an automobile if they wanted to. The cars, highways, traffic lights, and so on that we
everyday had originated from the 1920s. The invention of the radio was fascinating. It allowed
people to connect with the world even in remote regions, allowed important messages to be
set out to big population in short amount of time, and lastly made the gap between the cities
and the countryside smaller. Radio was the tool that allowed people in remote regions, such as
farmers to be connected to the world, issues, and so on. They could even hear the live
broadcast of the Leaf’s match in the prairies. It has helped many Canadians to be less isolated
and lonely. Radio also marked the beginning of the mass media revolution. It was the radio
which influenced televisions, computers, and phones, and so on to be created. All of these
great discoveries and inventions I have mentioned were created in 1920s, and they are still very
effective part of our lives in modern days. 1920s surely was a very productive year and was
essential towards the development of the World including Canada.
1920s, marked the beginning of the mass media revolution. Mass media brought fashion
trends, music, games, etc. along with them. Canadians were still in despair and in depression
during the late 1900s after WWI. Canadians faced high unemployment rates as many soldiers
came back from the war, and they were also faced with the sorrow due the loss of the loved
ones through the war. It was the mass media and the entertainment which helped Canada to
forget about the hard times and to recover. Multimedia such as live broadcasts from new
invention “radio” fascinated the Canadians. They could tune in to different channels in order to
listen to many different types of programs. They could hear the music, live broadcast of the
hockey game, live entertainment session with the comedian, and so on. Secondly, the new fast
pace and grooves of the music and the dances were appealing towards the younger generations,
and were very popular. These types of music could also have been easily accessed through the
multimedia such as radio. Thirdly, the younger generations were also fascinated by the new
fashion trends from New York, and other regions in U.S. Woman who were extremely in to
these fashion trends were called flappers. They have cut their hair short, rolled down their silk
stockings, rose the hem- lines, and so on. Flappers believed in the unique characteristics of
them and admired the new fashion trends.
Lastly, new games such as Mah-Jong from China, and Cross Words from U.S. were also very
popular since they could be easily played by anyone. Without these entertainments and power
of multimedia, the variety of multimedia we see everyday perhaps might not have existed.
Moreover, these entertainments, and new trends has helped Canada get over the hardships of
the post war economy and its effects. Entertainments and multimedia played big role in
encouraging the people, which helped the economy to boom.
During the 1920s, the modern industrial revolution began. The idea of mass production
was made possible due to the new assembly line system. Industrial revolution affected almost
every aspect of people’s lives in 1920s. Such as, private automobiles were made; the stock
market of the industries has boomed and reached the highest points which people considered
it to be impossible just a decade before. Canada’s economy has increased significantly and
great parts of the central Canada or the major cities had developed gradually in 1920s as well. It
was said to be the golden years towards the people in the cities, especially towards the
entrepreneurs. As more money was gained, more money was spent and the development and
enhancements were possible, and this is how Canada has developed so much in 1920s, despite
the depressing years they have faced earlier, which were 1910s due to the World War I.
It was true that not everyone was happy during 1920s. Almost every farmer in remote
regions has suffered greatly during the 1920s. The grain prices has dropped 50% after the WWI,
and the new laws made by the government such as tariffs were only focused towards the
workers in the cities, and farmers faced economical hardship. However I still believe that the
1920s were golden years to Canada. First of all, the majority of the Canadians were living in
major cities, and was involved with the major industrializing economy and services. The farmers
in Canada were the minority group. Therefore I believe that it was fair for government to set
their focus on majority and support them as much as they could since the majorities were
growing with gradual speed. Secondly, the farmers had their golden years during the 1910s, for
example, the productivity of the grain industry, fishery, and forestry has grown almost twice in
sizes and the prices of these products has also greatly increased during 1910s, or WWI. This
decade was also a devastating decade towards the industrial economy due to the WWI.
Therefore, I believe that the farmers should be able to accept the fact that it was the other part
of the economy’s turn to grow. Lastly, some goods came out towards the farmers during 1920s
as well. Although farmers were facing hardship, they still appreciated the new inventions, such
as radio and private automobiles because they were so helpful. These inventions allowed
farmers in remote regions to be connected with the world. All the new forms of entertainments
were also appealing to farmers as well, such as Jazz music, talkies which were talking movies,
and so on. Therefore I believe that the 1920s weren’t so bad for farmers as well since they have
gained a lot during 1910s, and farmers also were influenced positively with the new inventions.
The “Roaring 20s” were golden times, especially when compared with the war times
during 1910s, and the great depression, “Dirty Thirties” which the Canadians will soon face. The
new fascinating and significant discoveries and inventions, multimedia revolution, new forms of
entertainment, and lastly gradual increase in the industrialization economy and services made
the 1920s to be successful. Although some visible minorities has faced hardship, it was their
sacrifice which made the boom of the economy possible. It was reasonable for the government
to support the majority if they had to choose only one group to set their focus in order to
develop the country’s economy. I believe that 1920s were a lot more than just a golden year. I
believe that 1920s were the corner stone of the revolutionary development which has helped
us reach the society which we currently live in. We should never forget about the efforts and
sacrifices that people have contributed for us, and we should also contribute with our best
effort to create better society for our future generations.