Lesson 3: Roaring Twenties Culture Flashcards
Expatriate Definition
a person who leaves his own country and takes up residence in a foreign land
Fad Definition
an activity or fashion that is taken up with great passion for a short time
Flapper Definition
a young woman in the 1920s who adopted unconventional fashions, including short hair and short skirts
Jazz Definition
a music style developed by African Americans in early 1900s that developed from blues, ragtime, and other earlier styles
What were fads? In the 1920s, what were the fads of flagpole sitting, dance marathon, crossword puzzles, and mah-jongg?
Fads caught on, then quickly disappeared. A fad is an activity or a fashion that is taken up with great passion for a short time. Flagpole sitting was one fad of the 1920s. Young people would perch on top of flagpoles for hours, or even days. Another fad was the dance marathon, where couples danced for hundreds of hours at a time to see who could last the longest. Crossword puzzles and mah-jongg, a Chinese game, were other popular fads of the 1920s.
How influential were dance crazes during the Roaring Twenties? What was the Charleston? When and where was it created? Which group created it? By what year had it become a national dance craze?
Dance crazes came and went rapidly. The most popular new dance was probably the Charleston. First performed by African Americans in southern cities such as Charleston, South Carolina, the dance became a national craze after 1923. Moving to a quick beat, dancers pivoted their feet while kicking out first one leg, and then the other, backward and forward.
What were flappers? What activities and fads did they practice?
Perhaps no one pursued the latest fads more intensely than the flappers. These young women rebelled against traditional ways of thinking and acting. Flappers wore their hair bobbed, or cut short. They wore their dresses short, too—shorter than Americans had ever seen. Flappers shocked their parents by wearing bright red lipstick.
How did the behavior of flappers, not their looks, concern older Americans?
To many older Americans, the way flappers behaved was even more shocking than the way they looked. Flappers smoked cigarettes in public, drank bootleg alcohol in speakeasies, and drove fast cars. “Is ‘the old-fashioned girl,’ with all that she stands for in sweetness, modesty, and innocence, in danger of becoming extinct?” wondered one magazine in 1921.
Were many young women flappers? How did flappers establish ideas of freedom for women?
Only a few young women were flappers. Still, they set a style for others. Slowly, older women began to cut their hair and wear makeup and shorter skirts. For many Americans, the bold fashions pioneered by the flappers symbolized a new sense of freedom.
Created in the 1920s in New Orleans, what were the roots of jazz?
Another innovation of the 1920s was jazz. Born in New Orleans, jazz combined West African rhythms, African American work songs and spirituals, and European harmonies and band music. Jazz also had roots in the ragtime rhythms of composers such as Scott Joplin.
How was Louis Armstrong an integral part in the creation of jazz? How about “Jelly Roll” Morton and singer Bessie Smith?
Louis Armstrong was one of the brilliant young African American musicians who helped create jazz. Armstrong learned to play the trumpet in the New Orleans orphanage where he grew up. Armstrong had the ability to take a simple melody and experiment with the notes and the rhythm. This allowed his listeners to hear many different versions of the basic tune. Other great early jazz musicians included “Jelly Roll” Morton and singer Bessie Smith.
How did jazz spread all across the United States? How about to Europe?
Jazz quickly spread from New Orleans to Chicago, Kansas City, and the mainly African American section of New York City known as Harlem. White musicians, such as trumpeter Bix Beiderbecke, also began to adopt the new style. Before long, the popularity of jazz spread to Europe as well.
What did many older Americans think about jazz? What is the influence of jazz on American culture, even today?
Many older Americans worried that jazz and the new dances were a bad influence on the nation’s young people. Despite their complaints, jazz continued to grow more popular. Today, jazz is recognized as an original art form developed by African Americans. It is considered one of the most important cultural contributions of the United States.
How did radio, movies, and newspapers create celebrities? Who were some of the most beloved sport’s heroes during the 1920s?
Radio, movies, and newspapers created celebrities known across the country. Americans followed the exploits of individuals whose achievements made them stand out from the crowd. Some of the best-loved heroes of the decade were athletes. Each sport had its stars. Bobby Jones won almost every golf championship. Bill Tilden and Helen Wills ruled the tennis courts. Jack Dempsey reigned as world heavyweight boxing champion for seven years. At the age of 19, Gertrude Ederle became the first woman to swim across the English Channel.
What was the influence of College Football during the 1920s? Who was Red Grange of the University of Illinois?
College football also drew huge crowds. Many Americans who had never attended college rooted for college teams. They were thrilled to watch the exploits of football stars like Red Grange, the “Galloping Ghost” of the University of Illinois.
How did baseball play an important part in Roaring Twenties Culture? Who was Babe Ruth, or “the Sultan of Swat”? What records did he set?
Americans loved football, but baseball was their real passion. The most popular player of the 1920s was Babe Ruth. He became the star of the New York Yankees. Fans flocked to games to see “the Sultan of Swat” hit home runs. The 60 home runs he hit in one season set a record that lasted more than 30 years. His lifetime record of 714 home runs was not broken until 1974.
Who was Charles A. Lindbergh, the most celebrated hero in Roaring Twenties Culture? What amazing feat had he accomplished?
The greatest hero was Charles A. Lindbergh. On a gray morning in May 1927, he took off from an airport in New York to fly nonstop across the Atlantic Ocean—alone. His was the first solo, nonstop transatlantic flight. For more than 33 hours, Lindbergh piloted his tiny single-engine plane, the Spirit of St. Louis, over the stormy Atlantic. He carried no map, no parachute, and no radio. At last, he landed in Paris, France. The cheering crowd carried him across the airfield. “Lucky Lindy” returned to the United States as the hero of the decade.
How did World War I and other factors influence the celebrated young writers of the 1920s? What was an expatriate?
A new generation of American writers earned worldwide fame in the 1920s. Many of them were horrified by their experiences in World War I. They criticized Americans for caring too much about money and fun. Some became so unhappy with life in the United States that they moved to Paris, France. There, they lived as expatriates, people who leave their own country to live in a foreign land.
Who was Ernest Hemingway? What was his experience with war? What did he often write about?
Ernest Hemingway was one of the writers who lived for a time in Paris. Still a teenager at the outbreak of World War I, he traveled to Europe to drive an ambulance on the Italian front. Hemingway drew on his war experiences in “A Farewell to Arms”, a novel about a young man’s growing disgust with war. In “The Sun Also Rises”, he examines the lives of American expatriates in Europe. Hemingway became one of the most popular writers of the 1920s. His simple but powerful style influenced many other writers.
Who was F. Scott Fitzgerald? What topics did he mainly write about? What made him appealing to young adults?
The young writer who best captured the mood of the Roaring Twenties was Hemingway’s friend F. Scott Fitzgerald. In “The Great Gatsby” and other novels, Fitzgerald examined the lives of wealthy young people who attended endless parties but could not find happiness. His characters included flappers, bootleggers, and moviemakers. Fitzgerald became a hero to college students and flappers, among others.
Who was Sinclair Lewis? What topics did he often write about? In 1930, he became the first writer to win what?
Sinclair Lewis grew up in a small town in Minnesota and later moved to New York City. In novels such as “Babbitt” and “Main Street”, he presented small-town Americans as dull and narrowminded. Lewis’s attitude reflected that of many city dwellers toward rural Americans. In fact, the word babbitt became a popular nickname for a smug businessman uninterested in literature or the arts. In 1930, Lewis was the first American to win the Nobel Prize for literature.
Who was poet Edna St. Vincent Millay? What did she often write about?
Poet Edna St. Vincent Millay was enormously popular. She expressed the frantic pace of the 1920s in her verse, such as her short poem “First Fig.”
True or False: Edna St. Vincent Millay wrote poetry about youth, rebellion, and romantic ideals.
Edna St. Vincent Millay wrote poetry about youth, rebellion, and romantic ideals.
Who was Eugene O’Neill? What topics did he often write about? How were his plays unique during the Roaring Twenties?
Another writer, Eugene O’Neill, revolutionized the American theater. Most earlier playwrights had presented romantic, unrealistic stories. O’Neill shocked audiences with powerful, realistic dramas based on his years at sea. In other plays, he used experimental methods to expose the inner thoughts of tortured young people.
