NIGHTLIFE / ENTERTAINMENT
FUN FACT
At nightclubs, they could Job-rot, Shimmy and Heebie-Jeebie
to the music of the new jazz bands and carry on drinking,
with only the minor nuisance of an occasional police raid to
dim the lights.
SOURCE
In 1921, the wartime Licensing Act had been changed to
allow drink to be served until 12.30 am, so long as it was
accompanied by food.
But illegality only seemed to add to the excitement and sheer
naughtiness of the clubs, which were packed every night with
an eclectic mixture of the aristocratic, the rich and the
famous.
The radio airwaves saw a big increase in popularity as well.
By the end of the decade, nearly half of all homes contained a
radio. The National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) and
Columbia Broadcast System (CBS) both transmitted signals
nationwide, reaching nearly every area in the US. This made
it possible for the public to all hear the same programs, music
and news stories, allowing nearly everyone in the country to
share the same experiences.
http://www.angelfire.com/anime4/sephiro
thbadazz/Reports/entertainment.html
http://en.espnf1.com/usracing/motorsport/
story/48502.html
By the time racing resumed at the Indianapolis Motor
Speedway after World War I, the Indianapolis 500 was
already a renowned sporting event, attracting an
international entry of drivers and cars and a crowd of more
than 100,000.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speakeasy
During the Prohibition, nightclubs became speakeasies that
sold illicit alcohol. They were called speakeasies because they
were not to be spoken of.
Before Prohibition, saloons were exclusively male
institutions, so drinking was generally a sexually segregated
activity. As speakeasies exploded during Prohibition, they no
longer saw any point in discriminating.
The 1920s also gave rise to the “party,” where men and
women gathered to drink cocktails, flirt, dance to music, and
gossip about their absent friends.
People feared that Prohibition-era gangsters would sell fake
alcohol or industrial alcohol (used in aftershave, explosives,
etc.), so during this period they began to order classier, more
expensive drinks.
http://nymag.com/nightlife/features/65625
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http://nymag.com/nightlife/features/65625
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http://nymag.com/nightlife/features/65625
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FUN FACT
Guys had short sleek hair back then
TRENDS / FASHION
SOURCE
http://www.fashion-era.com/flapper_fashion_1920s.htm
The hem length got shorter
http://thegreatgatsbyreadingmap.blogspot.com/p/1920sfashion.html
The waist band got looser
http://thegreatgatsbyreadingmap.blogspot.com/p/1920sfashion.html
Fashion was referred to as the flapper style
http://womensfashion.lovetoknow.com/1920%27s_Fashion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1920s_in_Western_fashion
Skirts were shorter with pleats, gathers, or slits
Women adopted a long straight silhouette in
their skirts and dresses
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1920s_in_Western_fashion
One of the first women cut her hair and rejected
the corset, which was Coco Chanel
Younger men started wearing wide length
trousers and their clothing started getting
baggy, also no man in any class was out in
public without a wearing a hat
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1920s_in_Western_fashion
http://mensfashion.lovetoknow.com/Men's_Fashion_in_the_1920s
LITERATURE/FITZGERALD
FUN FACT
SOURCE
Copies of Great Gatsby were still in the warehouse when he Great Gatsby Book
died, contrary to the myth that they were all sold.
Fitzgerald was Second l. but never saw foreign combat,
which is one of his greatest regrets. The narrator of the
book saw combat and changed his life due to it.
http://www.shmoop.com/f-scottfitzgerald/timeline.html
In 1925 Adolf Hitler produced his first autobiography titled http://www.1920-30.com/literature/
Mein Kampf or My Struggle
http://www.shmoop.com/f-scott-
The Fitzgerald’s rented a house in Long Island. The
couple's interactions with Long Island society provide the
setting and mood for the novel germinating in Fitzgerald's
head.
fitzgerald/timeline.html
Fitzgerald wife was a flapper dancer
http://library.thinkquest.org/C005846/catego
ries/artliter/artslit.htm
http://library.thinkquest.org/C005846/catego
ries/artliter/artslit.htm
http://blog.enslow.com/2010/09/interestingfacts-about-f-scott.html
His writings included 150 stories and 5 monologues.
His full name was Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald and he was
named after the man who composed "The Star Spangled
Banner.
https://www.boundless.com/history/fromFitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is often described as the
new-era-to-great-depression-1920perfect example of the Jazz Age in American Literature. It’s 1933/culture-change/literature/
quite interesting because when one thinks of Jazz, we think
of African American musicians, and so far, the story has
only mentioned Caucasians. So how is it the perfect
example when those who were a vital part of Jazz haven’t
been mentioned?
ROLE OF WOMEN / WOMEN’S RIGHTS
Fun Fact
The Matrimonial Causes Act was passed so that in the event of a
divorce both spouses are considered equal
Source
http://library.thinkquest.org/C005
846/categories/worldnews/world
Even though women gained more job opportunities, they were still
seen as less than men. Often times, men would not trust his business
affairs in the hands of a woman.
n.htm
http://historyclass.tripod.com/id1
2.html
Because women could perform such jobs as well as men but be paid at
more than 40% less than men’s wage, more and more women are
afford jobs in business companies
http://historyclass.tripod.com/id1
2.html
Before the 1920s, women were not allowed to enter bars but in the
1920s, drinking was regarded as a more sophisticated practice so
more and more women are seen in bars
http://library.thinkquest.org/C005
846/categories/worldnews/world
n.htm
1920s saw the first generation of women college graduates
http://library.thinkquest.org/C005
846/categories/worldnews/world
n.htm
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eferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDet
ailsWindow?failOverType=&query=
&prodId=UHIC&windowstate=nor
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To an older generation of Americans the flapper symbolized a
"revolution in manners and morals.
On November 14, 1917, 30 women in Occuquan Workhouse were
beaten, threatened, and mistreated in what would be coined “Night of
http://historywired.si.edu/detail.cf
m?ID=492
Terror”. President Wilson also originally denied any resistance to the
feeding and that force-feeding or any other forceful methods wasn’t
being used. As a result of this, all suffrage prisoners were released.
The National Women’s Party was the first cause to picket in from of
the White House.
http://historywired.si.edu/detail.cf
m?ID=492
POLITICS / ECONOMY / CRIME
FUN FACT
SOURCE
The purple gang was a gang formed by Jewish immigrants
Sandlin Silverman, K. (2000). The Purple
that ran Detroit during the prohibition era. They were mainly Gang (Book Review). Library Journal,
involved in supplying liquor to “blind pigs” (establishments
125(14), 229.
that sold liquor illegally), hijacking liquor shipments and
murder. During their reign, they were largely untouchable,
until internal conflicts destroyed the group from the inside
out.
Al Capone is short for Alfonso Capone and he was born in
1899 and died in 1947. Al Capone’s nickname was scarface
because he had a knife cut on his cheek. He was known for
being the leader of the Chicago Outfit starting in 1925, which
later became known as the Capones. Throughout the years,
Capone used violence to eliminate his enemies, most notably
the Valentines Day Massacre of 1929, which cemented his
control of the Chicago underworld.
CAPONE, Al. (n.d).
http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?
vid=4&sid=f4b2767a-94fb-4962-a5c8b3846c45cf55%40sessionmgr12&hid=
125&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl
2ZQ%3d%3d#db=funk&AN=CA037900
There was a huge gap between the rich and the poor and too
Arnesen, E. (2010). STOCK MARKET CRASH.
few rich people. The spending of the rich kept the economy
intact throughout the 1920s, however on October 29th, the
stock market crashed and investor sold their devaluing
stocks in a hurry. People began to withdraw their money
from the banks leading to banks to shutdown.
Cobblestone, 31(5), 32.
Prohibition was the federal ban on the manufacturing,
transportation, and sale of alcohol in the 1920s. Prohibition
came out of the temperance movement of the early 1900s,
and by the end of World War I, prohibition became the law.
During this time, gangs took advantage for the demand of
alcohol and were able to make huge profits by selling it to
costumers. Since large scale smuggling was so impossible to
stop, and the large increase of crime, the prohibition law was
soon repealed by the twenty-first amendment.
Prohibition. (2013). Columbia Electronic
Encyclopedia, 6th Edition, 1.
The automotive industry began in the 1920s. Henry Ford
debuted his Model A in the early 1920s and later his Model T
in 1927. The mass production of these vehicles were possible
because of the assembly line. Chevy kept pressure on Ford
and outsold Ford in 1927. This decade introduced new highspeed efficient engines.
The United States signed its own separate treaty with
Germany to end World War I, but tensions between the two
countries did no cease. This was partially due to the
harshness of the treaty, which forced Germany to give up
many of its acquisitions and aid in the restoration of
"Automobiles." American Decades. Ed. Judith
S. Baughman, et al. Vol. 3: 1920-1929.
Detroit: Gale, 2001. U.S. History In Context.
Web. 14 Apr. 2013.
"The Progressive Era (1890–1930)." Gale
Encyclopedia of U.S. History: Government
and Politics. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 2008. U.S.
History In Context. Web. 14 Apr. 2013.
governments it took over. Germany was not pleased with
this, and indeed many historians consider this treaty ‘overly
aggressive.’ This was one of the many factors that eventually
led to World War II.
Warren Harding and Teapot Dome Scandal: The Harding
administration is best known for its in-depth corruption.
Between 1923 and 1927, numerous members of Harding’s
appointment were charged with various degrees of
corruption, from stealing to graft to illegal business
measures. The most nefarious of these scandals, known as
the Teapot Dome Scandal, involved the president himself. In
1921, the secretary of the Navy, Edwin Denby, managed to
get Harding to transfer control of a set of navy oil reserves
from the navy to the Department of the Interior. The next
year, the secretary of the interior, Albert B. Fall, ‘leased the
land to friends in the oil industry without competitive
bidding,’ which resulted in an alleged $400,000 gain for him.
Denby ended up resigning and being sent to prison. Though
there was no evidence that Harding knew much about the
corruption in his administration (in fact, ‘most of the
corruption was revealed after his death in August 1923), his
lack of effort to deal with the rumors of corruption that
started not long after he took office led many people to “put
the blame” on him.
John Dillinger was one of the most iconic bank robbers
during the prohibition and great depression eras. He
"The Warren G. Harding Administration."
Presidential Administration Profiles for
Students. Ed. Kelle S. Sisung and Gerda-Ann
Raffaelle. Detroit: Gale Group, 2002. U.S.
History In Context. Web. 14 Apr. 2013.
Dillinger, John. (2013). In Encyclopædia
Britannica. Retrieved from
http://www.school.ebonline.com/eb/article-
performed numerous high profile bank robberies, engaged in 9030455
gunfights with local police and the FBI and escaped from jail
numerous times, earning him the repertoire of being a
daring, and sharply dressed gunman. After escaping jail for
the second time using only a fake pistol coated in bootblack,
he was set up by his mistress and was shot and killed outside
the biograph theater in Chicago.
QUICK REFERENCE: http://webtech.kennesaw.edu/jcheek3/roaring_twenties.htm