1.4 Cultural Changes in the 20s Flashcards
Radio- Positives
-First started in 1920
-By 1930, over 40% of people had one
-Access to new types of music
-Could listen to sporting events
-Brought entertainment to people’s homes
-Helped fuel an adverting boom
Radio-Negatives
-Helped fuel a religious revival of strict protestants during the 1920s
-Aimee Semple McPherson used to send out their messages to millions of people
Cinema- Positives
-Hollywood produced 100s of films each year
-Silent until 1927
-Viewed globally
-Charlie Chaplin viewed as first celebrity
-Laurel and Hardy became popular
-1927, First talkie, “The Jazz Singer”
-Big Studios (MGM, Paramount)
-Hollywood created first celebrities (Mary Pickford)
Cinema- Negatives
-First feature length film, “The Birth of the Nation”, told the story of US Civil War. This helped relaunch the KKK
-Was shown in the White House
-Produced a code of censorship for the industry, 1930
Jazz- Negatives
-Not universally popular
-Enjoyed in urban areas but not rural
-Blues remained important to rural Black Americans
-The KKK and others saw it as responsible for a decline in US society
Clubs and Dancing- Positives
-Very popular
-Slow, formal versions of pre-war America were replaced by fast ones like the Charleston
-Speakeasies element of thrill
Car- Negatives
-Responsible for moral decline in young people
-More sexual freedom
-Crimes easier to commit
Baseball- Positives
-America’s fast pastime
-By the end of the decade, major cities had hundreds and thousands of spectators
-Babe Ruth- baseball sensation
Baseball- Negatives
MLB remained segregated
First black player Jackie Robinson only played after WW2
Jazz- Positives
-The migration of 850,000 black Americans to the north helped to increase the popularity of jazz music.
-White musicians started playing it and by 1929, it was enjoyed by whites and blacks
-Helped to fuel new dance crazes as well. i.e the Charleston and the Turkey Trot
Literature
-Known as the “Lost Generation’, artists who survived WW1.
-Their novels saw more concentration on realism, reflecting the actual experiences of individual novelists, including moral issues such as breaking the law during Prohibition
-Famous author- F.Scott Fitzgerald, captured the spirit of the rebellious youth of flappers, the new rich and those who defined prohibition. i.e The Great Gatsby
-Ernst Hemingway, wrote about the lives of Americans overseas as well as his own experiences of WW1
Art
-Greatest American designer in the 1920s was Frank Lloyd Wright. New modern ideas, belief that architects should design a building to fit its location
-American paintings grew in demand. People had more money to buy paintings. As a result, 60 new museums opened
Car- Positives
-Gave people great freedom to travel
-Streets were manure free
-Women could escape from their current surroundings
