The Jazz Age

By: Madelyn Gonzalez

TopicsI. Changing role of women

II. Cultural transformation a) Literatures b) Harlem Renaissance c) Flappers and New dance form d) entertainment

III. New inventions a)Achievements

IV. Stock Market Crash

Jazz AgeThe Jazz Age describes the period after the end of World War I, also known as the Roaring Twenties and ending with the period of the Great Depression.

The 1920s was a decade of deep cultural conflict and new changes to Americans.

The decade witnessed a struggle between an old and a new America. Which includes immigration, race, alcohol, evolution, gender politics, and sexual morality. This all became major cultural battlefields during the 1920s.

The Changing Role of the 20’s Women

The Roaring Twenties redefined womanhood and woman everywhere evolved into new and changed individuals.

World War 1 had temporarily allowed women to enter into industries such as chemical, automobile, and iron and steel manufacturing.

During the 1920s, 1 in 4 women over the age of sixteen was a part of the work force. Out of the women wageworkers, 30 % of them were involved in clerical and sale work.

The Flapper

The term flappers in the 1920s referred to a "new breed" of young women who wore short skirts, wearing excessive makeup, drinking, treating sex in a casual manner, smoking, and driving automobiles.Flappers also began taking work outside the home and challenging women's traditional societal roles. They also advocated voting and women's rights.

Harlem RenaissanceThe Harlem Renaissance refers to the flowering of African American intellectual life during the 1920s and 1930s. At the time, it was known as the "New Negro Movement", named after the 1925 anthology by Alain Locke. Though it was centered in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City, many French-speaking black writers from African and Caribbean colonies who lived in Paris were also influenced by the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance embraced African Americans in literature, history, politics, art, and music.

The 20’s Literature Reading was a popular activity especially during the winter months when other forms of activity were limited. People gained knowledge of the wider world and current events through printed material. Books, newspapers and magazines were an important part of most peoples lives and formed a large part of their education. A knowledge of the classics was considered an essential part of a good education.

Langston Hughes

One of the most famous poets in the literature times was Langston Hughes. Hughes became one of the most prodigious writers of the Harlem Renaissance. He wrote Broadway musicals, short stories, long stories, a novel, five additional volumes of prose, an autobiography, and the highly acclaimed collection, Montage of a Dream Deferred, written in 1951. Langston Hughes was truly one of the most important poets of American literature.

1920's MusicBy the mid-1920s, jazz was being played in dance halls and roadhouses and speakeasies all over the country. Early jazz influences found their first mainstream expression in the music used by marching bands and dance bands of the day, which was the main form of popular concert music in the early twentieth century.The jazz recordings were often called "race records," and were sold and played only in the black neighborhoods of large cities like New York and Chicago.

Controversial throughout its history, jazz was America's first contribution to the music world. And it all got started in the 1920s.

20’s DancesSince the 1920s was a time of celebration, there were many fads. People loved to dance, especially the Charleston, Fox-trot, and the shimmy. Dance marathons were something everyone went to every weekend. The longest dance record ever recorded was a record of 3 weeks of dancing.

Some best dance craze of the 20’s were the Charleston, the Jitterbug, the Tango, the Waltz and many more.

Charleston

Jitterbug

New Inventions of the Jazz Age

Lots of improvements were being made in technology, manufacturing, medical science, fashion and transportation. In fact, the inventions of the early 20th century have made a significant contribution in improving the life of mankind. The automobile was probably the most significant invention in the 20’s. Although an automobile, which was powered by steam, was invented in 1866, this car was moved by a fuel powered combustion engine. Invented by Henry Ford, these cars were more affordable to the public and were made by the hundreds to sell.

The radio was honed into the interesting little device that made it into such a craze during the 1920s. Once radio signals could be transmitted and received with improved clarity around 1920, the idea of public radio began to take hold in America.

20’s Achievements John Logie Baird invents the first working mechanical television n1925. In 1928 he invents and demonstrates the first color television.

Charles Lindbergh becomes the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean (May 20–21, 1927), non-stop from New York to Paris, France.

Record companies (such as Victor, Brunswick and Columbia) introduce an electrical recording process on their phonograph records in 1925 resulting in a more lifelike sound.

Robert Goddard makes the first flight of a liquid-fueled rocket in 1926.

Clarence Birdseye invented a process for frozen food in 1925.

Robert Goddard and his rocket, 1926

Prohibition in the United States

During Prohibition, the manufacture, transportation, import, export, and sale of alcoholic beverages were restricted or illegal.

Prohibition was supposed to lower crime and corruption, reduce social problems, lower taxes needed to support prisons and poorhouses, and improve health and hygiene in America. Instead, alcohol became more dangerous to consume, crimes happened more often, courts and prisons systems became overloaded, and endemic corruption of police and public officials occurred.

Prohibition began on January 16, 1920, when the Eighteenth Amendment went into effect. Federal Prohibition agents (police) were given the task of enforcing the law.

1920’s Sports

The most popular American athlete of the twenties was baseball player Babe Ruth. His characteristic home run hitting heralded a new epoch in the history of the sport and his high style of living fascinated the nation and made him one of the highest-profile figures of the decade.

The 1920s have been called the Golden Age of Sports. From the very beginning of the decade extraordinary athlete-heroes emerged in virtually every sport — baseball, football, tennis, golf, polo, and the Olympic sports. Babe Ruth, Red Grange, Helen Wills, Bill Tilden, Bobby Jones, Walter Hagen, Benny Leonard, and Tommy Hitchcock established records and, in the process, became legends.

baseball

football

1920’s Gangsters In the 20's, New York and Chicago were the major capitalist urban hubs of American society and organized crime. Both were cities of stark contrasts between extreme wealth and abject poverty.

For many in the early 1920's business was booming, and Al Capone and other famous gangsters and bootleggers ran their respective cities like puppet masters.

Al Capone

Jazz Age SlangThe twenties were the first decade to emphasize youth culture over the older generations, and the flapper sub-culture had a tremendous influence on main stream America. Many new words and phrases were coined by women. Some words of the 20’s:

bee's knee's: terrificbootleg: illegal liquor

ace: one-dollar billswell: good

sheik: one's boyfriendCash - a kissDough - money

Jazz Age MoviesFilms really blossomed in the 1920s, expanding upon the foundations of film from earlier years. Most US film production at the start of the decade occurred in or near Hollywood on the West Coast, although some films were still being made in New Jersey and in Astoria on Long Island. By the mid-20s, movies were big business with some theatres offering double features.

By the end of the decade, there were 20 Hollywood studios, and the demand for films was greater than ever. Most people are unaware that the greatest output of feature films in the US occurred in the 1920s and 1930s.

The Stock Market Crash of 1929

On October 24, 1929, later to be known as Black Thursday, the stock market began its downhill drop. After the first hour, the prices had gone down at an amazing speed. Some people thought that after that day, the prices would rise again just as it had done before. However, prices kept dropping.

On October 29, 1929, Black Tuesday, more than 16 million shares were sold, but by the end of the day, most stocks ended below their previous value, and some stocks became totally worthless. Because of that, some people became homeless and penniless. By November 13, the prices had hit rock bottom. The stock AT&T had gone from $304, to the price of $197.

Crowd gathering on Wall Street after the 1929 crash.

Web Links

reading.cornell.edu/reading_project_06/.../jazz_age.htm en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz_Age www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1564.htm www.1920-30.com webtech.kennesaw.edu/jcheek3/roaring_twenties.htm www.thepeoplehistory.com/1920s.html www.1920s-fashion-and-music.com www.buzzle.com/articles/inventions-of-the-1920s.html inventors.about.com/od/timelines/a/twentieth.htm library.thinkquest.org/C005846/categories/sports/sports.htm