The Roaring Twenties.... For Some
A New Prosperity
 After the post-war recession, Canada’s economy began
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to boom
By mid-1920s, the Canadian economy was stronger
European countries starting to recover from the war,
demand for Canadian products grew
Increased demand created more jobs for Canadians
Canadians had money to spare and could afford to buy
consumer goods
Wheat on the Prairies
 The Prairie Provinces enjoyed huge wheat crops from 1925
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to 1928
Europe was hungry again for Canadian wheat as economies
began to recover
The world price of wheat moved steadily upward
Farmers began to buy trucks and mechanical harvesters.
They replaced their horses with tractors.
By 1928, Canada has a record wheat crop and a major share
of the world market
Prices of wheat remained at an all-time high through the
first half of 1929
Pulp and Paper
 In the 1920s, the production of newsprint became Canada’s
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largest industry after agriculture
From Nova Scotia to BC, vast orests of softwoods such as
spruce, pine, and poplar were used to make newsprint
Most of the American sources of pulpwood has been used
up
Giant American newspapers provided a ready market for
Canadian pulpswood
By 1929, exports of Canadian pulpwood equalled total pulp
exports from the rest of the world
The boom did have a downside, Canadian forests were
being destroyed
Canada’s economy was also becoming more and more
dependent on the export of raw materials
Hydroelectric Power
 Quebec and Ontario saw a dramatic increase in the
production of hydroelectric power in the 1920s
 More industries were using hydroelectric power
instead of coal
 People were demanding electricity for their homes,
especially as new electrical appliances became
available
 Canada’s output of hydroelectric power became the
second largest in the world
Oil, Gas and Mining
 People called the 1920s the “Oil Age!”
 With automobiles, the demand for gasoline and oils
soared
 Exciting new mining discoveries were made in the
1920s
 Large deposits of copper were found in the Canadian
Shield along the Ontario-Quebec border
 At Sudbury, ON, by 1929, Canada was producing
almost 80% of hte world’s supply of nickel
Urbanization – From the farms to the cities
 Before World War I, more than 50% of
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Canadians had lived on farms and in
rural areas
After the war, many began to move to
towns and cities
New farm machinery meant that less
people were needed on farms
Manufacturers built their plants in
urban areas
Canadian cities began to grow as
workers crowded into them
Urban and Rural Population,
1911-2006
American Influence on Canadian Economy
 American economy also became stronger
 Trade between Canada and the United States grew
 Americans needed Canada’s natural resources to
manufacture their products
 Canada’s resource industries, like forestry and mining,
expanded to keep up with the demand for raw materials
(ex. Pulp and paper industry supplied American newspaper
companies)
Estimates of Foreign Investment
in Canada, 1915-1939
American Cultural Influence
 Radio dominated by
American programming
 U.S. Radio – broadcast
music, fashion, and cultural
trends up to Canada
 Hollywood movies
 Movies, music, dance,
fashion were dominated by
American influences
Jazz
 Black American music
 Made popular by musicians such as Duke Ellington
and Louis Armstrong
 Jazz night-clubs popped up in all major cities
(Montreal)
Dancing
 New dance crazes – Charleston, Fox Trot, Lindy
 Dance of the decade, the Charleston, also emerged
out of black American culture
 It’s fast and wild pace quickly caught on with the
high-spirited younger generation
Changes in Fashion - Flappers
 Fashionable young women who defied the old
conventions of proper “feminine” behaviour. They
scandalized the public by abandoning Victorian era
clothing
 Flappers wore beaded dresses to their knees, cut their
hair short and smoked, drank and danced in public
 Young men started wearing baggy pants or “knickers,”
bright snappy hats and bow ties
 Male hair was greased down and parted in the middle
to imitate the popular movie idols of the day
Movies
 Silent until the late-1920s
 Audience treated with a written narrative that explained
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the action on screen
New technology eventually developed to attach a
soundtrack of dialogue, music, and sound effects to the
film
Known as “talking pictures” or “talkies” (first talkie 1928)
Dominated by Hollywood
Stars of Hollywood’s silent screen were idolized throughout
Canada
Charlie Chaplin, Rudolph Valentino and Greta Garbo were
major stars
Charlie Chaplin
Greta Garbo
Rudolph Valentino
Mary Pickford
 Ironic that one of the
greatest stars of the
1920s was a Canadian
born actress
 Known as “America’s
Sweetheart”
 Born and raised in
Toronto
Sports
 Increase in sports as entertainment
 First radio broadcast of hockey – 1923
 Listening to games on the radio became a national
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pastime
NHL was formed in 1917 (formerly the National
Hockey Association)
Originally consisted of only Canadian teams
Popularity spread to the US
Boston joined in 1924 and New York, Chicago and
Detroit joined soon after
Georges Vezina
 Outstanding goalkeeper of the
Canadiens, who collapsed during
an NHL game Nov. 28, 1925, and
died of tuberculosis a few
months later
Vezina Trophy
 Vezina Trophy is an annual award given to the
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goalkeeper judged to be the best at his position as
voted by the general managers of all NHL clubs.
Trophy presented to the NHL in 1926-27 in memory
of Georges Vezina
Until the 1981-1982 season, the goalkeeper(s) of the
team allowing the fewest number of goals during the
regular season were awarded the Vezina Trophy
Billy Smith of the NY Islanders was the first winner
under the current system
Jacques Plante holds the record for winning the most
Vezinas with seven, trailed by Bill Durnan and
Dominik Hasek, both of who have won six.
Hasek has won the most under the current system of
honoring the best individual goalie
MONTREAL goaltenders have won the Vezina 28
times (GO HABS GO!)
Bluenose
 Fishing/racing boat (schooner) from Nova
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Scotia
Designed to beat the Americans
Launched in 1921
Won the International Fisherman’s Trophy in
1921, after beating the American champion
Remained undefeated for 17 years
Became a national symbol
Travelled to US and Britain representing
Canada
Appears on the back of the Canadian dime
Lionel Conacher, aka “The Big
Train” (1900-1954)
 Multi-talented Canadian athlete
 Professional sports included
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football, hockey, baseball, lacrosse,
wrestling, boxing
Played on Toronto Argonauts’ 1921
Grey Cup winning team, and scored
15 out of 23 points in the winning
game
Played professional hockey for both
Canadian and American teams
Amateur light-heavyweight boxing
Champion
Named Canada’s best athlete of the
first half of the 20th Century
Edmonton Grads (1915-1940)
 All female basketball team
 The team played 522 games and lost only 20
 Undefeated in Olympics from 1924-1936
 Claimed world championship four times
 Also faced men, and beat seven out of the nine teams
they faced
 Hold North American record for highest percentage of
wins
1928 Olympics
 Women were allowed to compete in track and field for
the first time; Canadian women did very well
 Amsterdam, Netherlands
Fannie “Bobbie” Rosenfeld (1904-1969)
 Canadian track and field athlete
 Won silver and gold medals at the 1928 Olympics
 Set records in various track and field events
 Also star hockey, tennis, and baseball player
 Named Canada’s female athlete of the first half of the 20th
century
Percy Williams (1908-1982)
 Canadian Olympic sprinter
 Won gold medals in the 100
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and 200-metre races
became first non-American to
ever win double-gold in
Olympic track events
Beat American world record for
the 100m dash in 1930
Americans tried to get revenge
by hosting a series of track
events, but Williams won 19 out
of the 21 races
Was known as the best sprinter
in the world
Greeted back in Canada by
parades and celebrations across
the country
Canada's Percy Williams smiles
during an athletics event at the 1928
Amsterdam Olympics. Williams won
gold medals in the 100m and the
200m events
Canadian Art – Group of Seven
 A group of Canadian artists that came together around 1913
 Known for their paintings of rugged Canadian landscapes
 Had a very unique style
 Used strong, deep colours and heavy brush strokes
 Began exhibiting their works in 1920
 Highly influential to other Canadian artists
Tom Thompson (1877-1917)
 Inspired the artists who later became the Group of
Seven
 Died mysteriously in Algonquin Park in 1917
 Some say it was a boating accident; some say it was
murder
 His death remains a mystery
http://www.canadianmysteries.ca/sites/thomson/home/
indexen.html
Emily Carr (1871-1945)
 Fascinated with landscape of British Columbia, as well
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as Aboriginal culture
Lived and travelled with Aboriginals in the 1920s
Painted Aboriginal villages, art, and other scenes from
her travels
Her style was considered unconventional, and many
people considered her to be “an eccentric”
Was greatly inspired by the Group of Seven, although
was never allowed to join this tight-knit, all-male
group
Canadian Literature
Morley Callaghan (1903-1990)
-Canadian author, known for his novels and short stories
-His work was widely read by Canadians
-Novels were translated and published around the world
-Associated with many famous authors from the United
States and Britain
Leslie McFarlane, aka Franklin W. Dixon (1902-1977)
-wrote 21 books in the Hardy Boys series from 1927-1947
-These books were widely read in Canada and the United
States
Stephen Leacock (1869-1944)
 Canadian author
 Wrote humorous books that were enjoyed throughout
the world
 By the 1920s, he established himself as a prominent
Canadian writer
 A museum, a theatre, a literary medal for humour, and
public schools are named in his honour
Mazo de la Roche (1879-1961)
 One of the most widely read Canadian authors
 Wrote 23 novels, 13 plays, and over 50 short stories
 Gained international recognition for a novel written in
1927
 Published in many different languages and read
around the world