Only Yesterday: An Informal History of the 1920's In the book, Only Yesterday: An informal History of the 1920's, the author Frederick Lewis Allen started the book by introducing a family (the smith's) in the year 1919. Mrs. Allen depicted the normal woman of the times, who dressed modestly (wearing a dress about 6 inches length from the ground), had long hair and basically took care of all of the household maintenance including doing chores around the house and preparing the meals. Whereas Mr. Smith on the other hand was the head of the household and the bread winner. Allen goes on to depict things that were popular among the normal folks during that time period. For example, the Chicago tribune was widely popular as a reputable newspaper. Other things that were popular during this time were certain sports (mainly baseball), the news (peace conference at Paris), and the economy (the stock market). During this time ordinary commodities such as food, transportation and normal goods were becoming more expensive which is the reason for this being the “age of inflation”. Then author goes on to talk about how the current president sends a message to the people of America saying that the war is over now and everything will return back to normal. The only problem is that the soldiers were ready to come back to America, but America’s employment was not ready for the soldiers to come back. The returning of soldiers to America sky rocketed unemployment and caused there to be massive outcry for more job opportunities. People were looking to President Wilson to do something about this crisis. Then comes the red scare where the U.S. is involved with the war going on and people are starting to panic about the revolution. Bombing were becoming ... ... middle of paper ... ... crashed and many people were left penniless and had to return to their jobs in order to survive. So basically, the 1920's or “Roaring Twenties” was a time of major change for America as a nation. Just following the Great War America was on the fast track to new times. There was the model t car, the stock market boom and crash, the banning of alcohol, the radio, jazz music, women seeking independence, Americans seeking higher education, union strikes, the red scare, the death of President Harding and many more. Many people say this was an enjoyable time of constant dancing and entertainment galore, while others would say that the hardships of racism and poverty made this time period one of struggle and hardships. While others only remember the 1920's as the creation of mickey mouse or babe Ruth. This decade truly was “The Roaring Twenties”.
Chapter two takes place on November 11th, 1918. The president of the United States, who was Woodrow Wilson would sent a message to fellow Americans relieving them by saying "The war is over". This would be the beginning of the new era, although life would still be centered around the war. The opportunity for people to make money was more obvious. With the soldiers being back from war and parades and everything in celebration, it would soon be over with much of the population looking for work. Strikes, Lay-offs would cause controversy. It was considered to be as evil as the red scare intended to be. Questions were being asked and people wanted answers after the war. Wilson had a lot of power and determined a lot of peoples lives. Henry Cabot Lodge an Intellectual leader of the Republicans who had a seat in the senate had power as well and stated that they were equal with the president in making treaties. Lodge opposed Wilson is most events that they both participated in. Wilson would later veto the senate and get reelected as president of the united states.
The 1920’s otherwise known as the roaring twenties was the era of prohibition outlawing alcohol and the era of gangsters like al Capone and Machine Gun Kelly. If it wasn’t for the outlawing of alcohol I would probably be out of work dirt poor. I would be back on my farm in Tennessee where I grew up shoveling cow shit and arguing with my drunk of a dad every night. The first chance Kelly gave me to go back to Chicago with him I took, taking full advantage of the gang life.
Throughout history, many things had a great and lasting impact on America. The Roaring Twenties was a time of great social and economic growth to the economy. Many people saw this as an ideal way to live, others thought that it was irresponsible and just a phase. Well those others were right, America has many similarities taken from the 20’s today, but also things have changed and people are more responsible now. America’s history was impacted by the Roaring Twenties because of the great economic boom, the change in how women were viewed, and also the many advances in technology that were made. The twenties will forever be an age to remember.
In the 1920’s, all these tremendous social, cultural and economic changes caused great tensions between the traditionalists and modernists, and “The Roaring Twenties” manifested all these radical changes and conflicts in a variety of ways correspondingly. Some of these were just limited characteristics of the times, while others would last for a relatively long period of time in the American society.
The 1920's was a time of change in the United States. “The Roaring Twenties” had an outstanding impact on the economy, social standards and everyday life. It was a time for positive results in the industry of consumer goods and American families, because of higher wages, shorter working hours, and manufacturing was up 60% in consumer goods. But it was also a time of adversity and opposition for others, such as immigrants and farmers. Immigrants had lots of competition when they were looking for work and they weren't treated fairly by Americans, depending on where they came from and what they believed. Farmers were paid very little because the price of food kept going down, they also had the Dust Bowl to worry about. African Americans became further infused with mainstream America during the Harlem Renaissance. They were also able to organize and elect officials who would make life better for them. The Roaring Twenties was a very exciting time to live in and we can all learn what the real world is like, and how we can prepare to be ready for it, today and in the future.
The decade of the 1920’s was a period of American prosperity, and a new role for women. As the First World War came to an end society began to change in major ways. This was a time when people began to have more fun and loosen up. Celebrities were looked up to as hero’s, writers helped people escape from real life, and women dressed as flappers and started voting. The Harlem Renaissance, the model T, prohibition, and the role of women, all helped influence many changes during the “Roaring Twenties.”
The 1920s are known as the Roaring Twenties, the Jazz Age, and the Golden Twenties. During this time, there were dramatic social changes in society. The Great War destroyed old perceived social conventions and new ones were developed. The 1920s was a decade that saw a great change in the role of women. The Roaring Twenties was a common name for the 1920s, due to the rise in consumerism and advertising at the time. Morals began to decrease during this time period. The 1920s was a period of time with great societal changes.
After the First World War America was a completely different country. The twenties was a very unusual time period in American History. The twenties were a time of fun and partying. There are many reasons why it was called the Roaring Twenties.
The Roaring Twenties, with all of its abundance and new freedoms, can certainly be described as a break from tradition of every sort. Womanhood was being redefined, music was undergoing a jazzy revolution, and new inventions were transforming day to day life. This break from tradition represented the ideals of the 1920s, but the grave experiences such as the “red scare” and the disillusioned culture also played a huge role in this era.
The additional incomes for families caused the living standard to rise for the wealthy. “From 1922 to 1929, the national income increased more than 40 percent, from $60.7 billion annually to $87.2 billion” (“The Roaring Twenties” Worldbook). The reason for this is because products were being made faster and cheaper. The items being made were household items and cars (“The Roaring Twenties”History). A lot of people could not actually afford these products on their salaries, but a new idea of credit came up. Buying on credit is when someone pays for an item over time. This was good short term, but an evil long term solution (Mr. Martin). Radios were a big hit during the Twenties because for the first time ever, families could get together and sit around the table. With this, came advertisement. Advertisement really helped businesses because it would get their product out into the public. Advertisement was actually present before the Twenties, it just was not as big as in the Twenties. The reason for the advertisement boom was because companies were competing with each other and took it too far. These companies were using new techniques that made the victim think the he/s/ needs that product (“Consumer”UShistory).
The roaring twenties were a time of cultural, artistic, and social explosion for the United States of America. This era was distinguished by several inventions and discoveries, rapid industrial growth, accelerated consumer demand and significant changes in American lifestyle. It was a time when people lived life to the fullest and pursued having a good time. The census of 1920 showed that for the first time in American history, more people lived in urban areas such as cities than out in the country. While the amount of modern technology would be somewhat lackluster in comparison to what we have today, I would be glad to live in the 1920’s.
Introductory Paragraph: The 1920s were years of political controversy and defying social. standards, this time in Canada would mark an era which would pioneer the way for those to come in. regards to daring fashion, radical opinions, progressive technologies and political changes. “ The Roaring Twenties” is a phrase often used when describing this period of time in North America. phrase is justified by the cultural and artistic diversity of the time, it was a period of glamour and prosperity for many of us.
After World War 1 had ended, Americans were happy and called for a time of celebration. Times were beginning to change and revolutionize into an era never experienced before. Many people thought that with the ending of the war, things wouldn’t look to good in the United States but the reality was that things looked way much better than they expected. The ending of World War 1 resulted in a boom of great new things in the U.S. during the 1920’s called the roaring 20’s. This era seemed as if I was a carefree era and people seemed to have more money than ever. The Roaring 20’s consisted of an era with new inventions, prohibition, jazz music, and women becoming more independent. Most of the roaring 20’s, was an uplifting time for the spirit of the United States and enhanced American life.
It was a known as a colorful time, the jazz age and the dollar decade. As World War I (WWI) came to a close many Americans wanted to simply forget about the Europeans and the war and live life to the fullest. Some chose to amuse themselves with soaring stock profits, illegal liquor, short skirts, and what many would look upon as shocking morals. This was a time of dramatic social and economic change. Many people were uncomfortable with this sometimes-racy “mass culture.” The Roaring Twenties was a time filled with youth hosting wild parties. Everything had a feeling of carelessness to it. People from all around the world were doing the same type of things as Americans were. As for the economic change, the total wealth of the U.S. nearly doubled from the year 1920 up until the great crash in 1929. Most African Americans knew this period to be the Harlem Renaissance. Many famous Jazz artists, playwrights, and sculptures came from the Harlem Renaissance. Some of which were Duke Ellington, Langston Hughes and Augustus Savage. Many other discoveries included sports legends, writers and gang life. Some of which were Babe Ruth, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Rudolph Valentino.
The 1920s in America was an exciting rise socially and economically. The economic rise of the 1920s was based on selling more and more goods.There was Prohibition and at one point selling alcohol was illegal. Speakeasies and bootleggers had alcohol illegally and flappers (a fashionable young woman intent on enjoying herself and flouting conventional standards of behavior) would drink, go out, and smoke. Also, many people went out to go see movies in theaters. Historians estimated that three quarters of the population saw a movie every week. (Source 1) It became okay for women to do this in society but they were considered rebellious. Frequent new merchandise came out so people kept on buying to excess. People had the money because of the stock they invested in and pay was high. There were more and more new objects, such as the Model T, refrigerator, dishwasher and many others. (Source 1) There was no more room for these objects so they were stored in warehouses. Eventually there was a collapse because there was more...