The decade of the 1920s in the US saw an unprecedented change in moral standards, interests, and popular culture, while it simultaneously saw a rise in new technologies, such as the automobile, the radio, electric washing machines, and new factory machinery that made production more efficient. The ability for manufacturing companies to manufacture more product in less time, as a result of new factory machinery, allowed for their employees to earn higher wages and more time off; Henry Ford even established a five-day, forty-hour work week for his employees. As a result of their new free time and extra money, Americans became increasingly interested in professional and semi-professional athletic events, movie productions, and music and dancing. Automobiles allowed for Americans to travel to sports stadiums, movie theaters, bars or speakeasies, or simple restaurants or small attractions miles from home, which they could not travel to before they had automobiles. Radio spread sports, entertainment, and political news across the country with ease, leading to a more interconnected society. Moreover, during the 1920s, young men and women diverged from the traditional moral standards of their parents, which can be mostly traced to their experience during World War I; millions of young men died at the command of older men during the war, and women took up manufacturing jobs previously unavailable to them that gave them a newfound independence and self-awareness. Therefore, after the war, young men and women participated in increasingly promiscuous behaviors, such as going to speakeasies and drinking (which was outlawed as a result of the 18th amendment), dancing to “scandalous” new dances such as the Charleston and the Shimmy, and participating in sexual behaviors outside of courting and marriage. In summation, the new popular culture of the 1920s is a result of the boom of new manufacturing and consumer technologies and a new ideology from the younger generation.
Changes in popular culture could be seen all throughout American life, from styles of dress to how Americans spent their time. As a part of the young and rebellious spirit that encompassed many of America’s youth at the time, dancing became increasingly popular; dances such as the Charleston, the Black Bottom, the Shimmy, and Foxtrot, and the Lindy Hop were developed at this time. Traditional women’s clothing, including corsets and pantaloons, were replaced with “step-ins,” a kind of underwear, to make dancing, playing sports, and moving around in general more easy. The “flapper” girl had a distinct style as well. She had bobbed hair (which almost no women had before), wore dresses that were hemmed to just below the knee, wore rayon stockings, and wore makeup, including blush, foundation, eyeliner, and lipstick, which “respectable” women did not wear before, as it was almost exclusively warmed by “women of ill pursuits” (prostitutes, etc.). The movie industry, especially centered in Hollywood, saw incredible success in the 1920s, as a part of the “new morality” of the nation (a people who love fun and extravagance over traditional life). Automobiles allowed families or individuals to attend movies frequently; in fact, by 1929, an estimated 110 million Americans went to the movie theater to see a movie every week. Movies became even more popular when they began being made with sound. These “talkies,” as people called them, were not only more entertaining because they could tell more complex stories better, but they helped make the country “more American” and more interconnected, because American vernacular and accents could be heard through the screen. Automobiles and radios also caused American interest in sports to increase significantly. With those two inventions, Americans could both attend games in increased numbers and listen to games that were happening on the other side of the country, making them nationally popular. Sports greats, such as Babe Ruth, became even bigger through radio promotions and advertising, which came at the latter half of the decade. So much leisure money was being poured into sports that Yankees Stadium and Madison Square Garden were both constructed in the 1920s. Music also transformed in the decade, as the Harlem Renaissance and the Great Migration introduced jazz music into mainstream America. The unconventional and seemingly unplanned sound of jazz songs enticed the new, younger Americans who could dance to the lively tunes. The popularity and distribution of music was also made better by new recording processes innovated in the decade and radio, which broadcasted music as one of its many things. Overall, popular culture in the 1920s can be defined by the desire to break away from the traditional mold of American society by the younger generations, the Harlem Renaissance, new technology, and more free time and leisure money for Americans. The automobile transformed American life and manufacturing processes, in addition to other technological advancements of the decade. A few years before the 1920s, Henry Ford innovated mass production techniques for automobile production, leading to the purchase of over 27 million cars by 1929. Automobiles allowed for Americans to travel distances farther than they usually could with ease, making everything from day trips to a movie theater to life in a suburb reasonable. It is difficult to overstate the effect of the automobile on American society. It can be seen to this day that the US is a truly automobile-dependent society, and people of the 1920s felt that in the same way. In addition to granting Americans more travel freedom, automobile purchasing caused the first large-scale instance of installment paying, or buying on credit, which spread to many other expensive products in the decade and is essential in how the consumer economy works today. Radio was another invention that skyrocketed during the 1920s. Between 1923 and 1930, 60 percent of American families bought radios, usually via installment paying. These radios allowed them to hear news from all over the country and tune into sports games and entertainment specials. Radio also exposed Americans to increased advertising, which coincided with the massive growth of the consumer economy during the 1920s. Electric washing machines, electric refrigerators, and gas stoves were also commonly purchased during the 1920s, also usually on credit. These time-saving household machines made women’s work in the house much less time-consuming, which gave stay-at-home women more time to do other things, just as shortened work hours gave working men more time to do other things. Thus, new technologies during the 1920s gave Americans more free time and an increased awareness of leisure activities and other consumer products, which transformed the way society looked and how people spent their time, which is similar to how we spend our time today. New innovations in technology allowed for the new spirit of the 1920s to transform society into a more interconnected yet individualistic society, in which young Americans could express themselves through dancing, film, and music, as all Americans were granted greater access to leisure activities. Better pay and an increased focus on competitive consumerism allowed Americans to invest in time-saving and leisure activities, such as the automobile, sporting events, movies, and washing machines. The change from a traditional, relatively disconnected society into a modern and connected society that occurred during the 1920s can still be seen today, as Americans put the same emphasis on consumer goods and leisure time as they began to do in the 1920s. In general, we believe that the 1920s was a time of continued racial and sexual tensions as a result of the subjugation of both groups, but also a time of relative economic prosperity, societal change, and political stability (not the best political leaders, but stability nonetheless). The economy during the decade, while not absolutely golden as it is often portrayed to be, was still relatively prosperous, as the GNP and GNP per capita both increased and there was a boom in manufacturing as different entertainment and manufacturing companies scrambled to fill the demand for radio, automobiles, movies, sports, household appliances, and other things. The American economy transformed as Americans became increasingly devoted to collecting material goods, leading to the mass consumer society that America is today. The 1920s also saw the birth of a new national awareness for African American people, as the Harlem Renaissance proved to themselves and white Americans that African Americans are incredibly talented and will not be silent until they are considered equal. Incredibly talented African Americans, such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Langston Hughes made their debut into the artistic world. Women also found a new sense of self in this decade; even as they lost their manufacturing jobs from World War I, women, young women especially, knew what they were capable of and broke away from traditional gender roles to show this, as best shown in flapper girls. Overall, the 1920s saw societal and economic change as Americans became more interconnected, via new technologies, and dedicated their money to more self-gratifying goods and leisure activities. "1920s Sports." 1920-30. N.p., 2012. Web. 7 June 2017. Alchin, Linda. "1920's Radio." American Historama. Siteseen Ltd., Feb. 2017. Web. 07 June 2017. Alchin, Linda. "American Sports in the 1920s." American Historama. Siteseen Lld., Feb. 2017. Web. 07 June 2017. "Automobiles." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2010. Web. 07 June 2017. The People History -- Steve Pearson. "Music Played in the 1960's Popular Music From the 60s." Music played in the 20s. The People History Where People Memories and History Join, n.d. Web. 07 June 2017. <http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/20smusic.html>. "The Rise of Hollywood and the Arrival of Sound." Digital History. N.p., 2016. Web. 07 June 2017. Rosenberg, Jennifer. "The New, Modern Woman: Flappers in the Roaring Twenties." ThoughtCo. N.p., 14 Feb. 2017. Web. 07 June 2017.
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