Mass media and entertainment is what brought the name “The Roaring Twenties”, and it helped the progress american exceptionalism. Media was relevant to all people during this time, because there were new and useful technologies being introduced. One of the popular forms of media at this time, was the radio. Radios were first sold as cheap sets left over from World War I, but it would soon spread across the nation as a massive entertainment business. For a large amount of Americans, specifically in small towns, radio provided an exciting link to the larger areas of consumption (Faragher, John Mack). It was a massive help, because it drew the nation together by bringing news, entertainment, and advertisements to more than 10 million households …show more content…
by 1929 (Digital History). Frank Conrad of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, first started experimenting with the recently invented medium of radio in 1912. At the time, the technology primarily functioned as a means of naval communications; a lesson learned from the sinking of the Titanic. ("History of American Journalism”).The radio greatly improved the economy, but because of the advance in radio technology, there were tensions between old and new traditions of Americans (Modras, Megan, and Jolie Mills). Even though the radio provided access to entertainment and updates, the newspaper industry was also a critical factor of media, and set a change in the world of communication.
Newspapers, and magazines both helped people stay and touch, and know what’s going on around them. The shift from print-based journalism to electronic media began in the 1920s. Competition between newspapers and radio was minimal, because the latter was not yet an effective news medium ("History of American Journalism”). A lot of the newspapers gave foreign and domestic news weekly. They gave more diversity by featuring poetry and religious sections, since most writers had those views. There was a new way of presenting newspapers during this era, and that was the tabloid format. Tabloids were half the size of a regular newspaper, and they were soon to be known as magazines. Some of the popular magazines were Reader's Digest, Time, Vanity Fair, and even Vogue. Magazines like Time were informational magazines with detailed current events, while magazines like Vogue set fashion trends ("Mass Media”). These forms of media were essential to the nation being open to new ideas, and knowledgeable to everything that was …show more content…
happening. The film industry was one of the biggest highlights of The Roaring Twenties, because not only was it the most popular way of entertainment, it was a huge step forward in technology.
Filmmaking began in 1908, but as soon as the 1920’s hit, it was recognized as a widely known pursuit that took hold of the American people "The Rise of Hollywood and the Arrival of Sound”). Films were shown in just black and white, and no sound. Around the late 1920’s, a new technology was included into film: sound. Theodore Case developed this sound-on-film system, which were then called “talkies”. The success inspired other studios to produce competing newsreels, and became popular enough to have them be shown in theaters in major cities around the country ("History of American
Journalism”). This whole process demonstrated how America was moving forward with technology at a fast pace, and also improved the economy. Before the Roaring Twenties, in 1914, there were 18,000 theaters, 7 million daily admissions, and $300 million in earnings. The higher costs related to talkies also increased the reliance on investors and banks for working capital (Faragher, John Mack). Even though media and technology might’ve been one of the starting points in American exceptionalism, there were a lot of downsides in the 1920’s. The major disadvantage about the entertainment era was the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). This group was hateful towards people of all races other than white, yet they mostly targeted African Americans. The Klan promoted fundamentalism and devout patriotism along with advocating white supremacy. They blasted bootleggers, motion pictures and espoused a return to "clean" living. Appealing to folks uncomfortable with the shifting nature of America from a rural agricultural society to an urban industrial nation, the Klan attacked the elite, urbanites and intellectuals.
There are many ways the media influences society, but in the 1920’s the main source was newspapers. The New York Times was one of the most popular and prestigious papers of this time and also one of the most influential. Many people had fait in what they read and never second gu...
Entertainment in the 1920s began changing after World War I. Because people had more money and were more prosperous, they were able to go to theatres, clubs, and sporting events. Although the greatest form of entertainment had been motorcars, it was a form of freedom that people had never experienced. Sports began to become more popular. “Baseball became popular with the great mass of people for the first time”(Fischer). Because of another form of entertainment gaining popularity, the radio made it easier for fans to keep up
Similar to businesses standardizing in making and advertising consumers goods, the practice of mass-producing culture standardized and sped up in the 1920s. Radio became a national obsession. What started out as only a few independent stations soon evolved into huge networks and sponsored programming became popular. Movies during this time became accepted by all social classes with the expansion from rowdy nickelodeons to uptown theaters. With audiences nearing 80 million people a week, the corporate giants Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Warner Brothers, and Columbia made the ...
This increased attention caused change in the industry, allowing the experience of the movie goer to massively change for the better. Many new genres, ideas and technologies emerged in the 1920s that would later dominate the industry. The 1920s saw massive changes happening in the movie industry that would help it to get one step closer to what it is today. The decade was largely dominated by silent films, but the creation of movies with sound followed afterwards. These innovations greatly improved the movies and made them more immersive and exciting for the viewer.
The Roaring Twenties was a period of intense tension towards the numerous barriers of tradition. Unlike the gradual fluctuations in modern day society which lead tension in its wake, the 1920’s was a bombardment of radical change ranging from societal norms to economic consumption. The end of World War I led to the end of idealism, and evolving values began to escalate towards the 1920’s. The surge of immigrants allowed for greater and greater economic booms, including the use of credit and involvement in the stock market. Thus, increasing racial tensions surfaced, heightening as economic booms amplified. Such a deep shift in American culture conflicted with traditional mentalities. The rising tension between new and changing attitudes was led by emerging racial tensions, economic shifts, radical religious beliefs, and the divergence of the role of women in society.
In the early 1930’s entertainment started to become popular. The reason for that was due to the Great Depression. Entertainment took people’s minds off of the struggles that were being faced. Country and blues were forms of music that were introduced during this time, but the 1930’s was mainly a time of jazz. Broadway and movies became more advanced and more popular then too. “Movies, music, and Broadway all combined to provide as an escape from the dreary life of the depression.”(Walker n.pag.) Throughout the 1930's people would turn to entertainment to forget about the hard times.
“The Roaring Twenties were the period of that Great American Prosperity which was built on shaky foundation”. This quote came from an anonymous person describing the great life in the 20’s. It’s very true because it was a great time of social and economic growth, but it was a very unstable and random way of living, which didn’t end up lasting as long as some had hoped. As time goes by in history, many things make America what it is today. The roaring twenties were the most important years contributing to the change in America. First off, the twenties made such an important impact because this was a time for the economy to boom and reform, also during this time women’s rights became more focused on, and lastly due to the many advancements in technology the twenties was a time of great prosperity and wealth. The twenties made life seem so easy, until reality sets in.
The 1920’s was a decade that changes American life. Frederick Lewis Allen describes the twenties as a “revolution in manners and morals.” The twenties has been named all types of nicknames, such as: “The Roaring Twenties”, “The Era of Wonderful Nonsense”, “The Decade of the Dollar”, “The Period of the Psyche”, “ Dry Decade” and the age of “Alcohol and Al Capone” (Gales Research, 1998). During the twenties, the way Americans lived had changed. The 1920’s was a time in history that has been remembered for its great prosperity but also for its great loss. The Great Depression is what ended the Roaring Twenties.
Watching a movie in the 1920s was a cheap and easy way to be transported into a world of glitz and glamour, a world of crime, or a world of magic and mystery. Some of these worlds included aspects of current events, like war, crime, and advances in technology; while others were completely fictional mysteries, romances, and comedies. Heartbreakers, heartthrobs, comedians and beautiful women dominated movie screens across the country in theaters, called Nickelodeons. Nickelodeons were very basic and small theaters which later transformed into opulent and monumental palaces. When sound was introduced into film by Warner Bros. Pictures, “talkies” took top rank over silent films. “Movies were an art form that had universal appeal. Their essence was entertainment; their success, financial and otherwise, was huge” (1920-30, 3/19/11). Films offered an escape from the troubles of everyday life in the 20s, and moviegoers across the country all shared a universal language: watching movies.
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 Roaring Twenties was a time of confidence for all Americans, and this confidence affected them both culturally and socially. Culture in America at the time could have been described by words, such as baseball, the radio, patriotism, and even music. At the time, the radio swept the nation, bring people the sweet sounds of music everywhere at any time. Radio shows sprang up and introduced people to new ideas, and new ways of thinking. Some radio stations brought radical ideas and malicious attacks on many people, manily politicians. In fact, Robert P. Shuler was a pastor in Los Angeles whom was kicked off the radio for slandering the government and public officials. The radio also broadcasted America’s favorite pass time, baseball. Baseball was apart of every household in the 1920s, and it brought joy to millions of people across the nation. “He honestly believed that he loved baseball… the game was a custom of his clan, and it gave an outlet for the homicidal and side-taking instincts which babbit called ‘patriotism’ and ‘love of the sport’ (H). The sport baseball gave hope to many Americans. Coming out of this gruesome war, the people needed something to turn their heads towards to forget about all the atrocities that the war brought with it. The passion Americans had for baseball was unlike any other, and anything baseball related… all of America was watching. This brought Amer...
The magazines were one form of mass media that influenced that US involvement in World War 1. Magazines such as Collier’s, Cosmopolitan, Ladies Home Journal, Saturday Evening Post, and McCall’s would publish copies in the millions. The increase in magazine production restructured the entire media industry, creating competition between newspapers. This caused an increase of newspapers to leave the old and bring in the new a lot faster. This competition created a motivation to get the new news faster and more efficiently than ever before and also the decrease in value between the newspaper and also the magazine. This decrease in value emerged the advertisements within newspapers and magazines.
Zeitz, Joshua. "The Roaring Twenties." The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. Web. 24 Feb. 2014.
The introduction of sound to film started in the 1920’s. By the 1930’s a vast majority of films were now talkies. ‘If you put a sound consistent to visual image and specifically human voice you make a “talkie”’ (Braun 1985 pg. 97). In 1926 Warner Brothers introduced sound to film but, other competing studios such as FOX, didn’t find it necessary to incorporate sound to their motion pictures production, as they were making enough money through their silent movies. Warner Brothers decided to take what was considered a risky move by adding sound to their motion picture, a risk taken, as they weren’t as successful in the silent movie department. But this risk paid off with the hit release of ‘The Jazz Singer’ in 1927. Though sound in films was then acceptable and successful it wasn’t until the 1950’s that it became feasible to the public as sound was introduced to cinema by the invention of Cinerama by Fred Waller. The Cinerama used 35mm film strip and seven channels of audio.