Roaring 20s Flashcards
What are the “Boom Years”? /6
Mid 1920s
Production is HIGH
Road and house construction
Consumption is HIGH
Unemployment was LOW (1927 under 3%)
By the late 1920s, US was the richest country
What caused the Boom Years? /3
War time manufacturing
Advertising + Credit
New products
How did wartime manufacturing one of the causes of the Boom Years? /2
U.S firms made profits selling weapons to the allies
Factory production increases due to manufacturing of weapons and sending soldiers as support = PROFIT
How did advertising + credit one of the causes of the Boom Years? /2
Credit is HUGE: introduced in the 1920s
Allows those who could not afford it right away actually buy it, BUT can lead one into debt = owe money
How is migration in the 1920s? /3
Urbanization is accelerating
More North Americans live in cities than in rural areas
Immigration: limited from Europe and Asia
What is the 1920s lifestyle? /4(13)
Product and appliances
People are more mobile, possible for people to move either to the cites or the country side
Young people found freedom in: LACK OF RULES
- Jazz
- Ragtime
- Dancing
- Smoking
- Motoring
- Cinema
Influence from Hollywood film stars:
- Way people dressed
- Perfume women used
- How men combed their hair or wore a moustache
What is prohibition in the 1920s? /5
The 18th Amendement to the US Constitution
The manufacturing, sale or transformation of alcohol is prohibited
The age of speakeasies and bootleggers
Protection rackets: mob and gang warfare
Corruption
Why did women fight for the prohibition of alcohol? /2(3)
Wages/pay checks men earn is spent on buying alcohol instead of supporting the family
Men can become abusive and offer I’ll-treatment (rape, assault) to their partners
|-> Women don’t have the right to divorce, so they must suffer that consequence
What are women temperance unions?
Women who fight for the ban of alcohol
What are speakeasies? /2
Underground club/bars that sell alcohol (illegal)
Only accessible through knowing a code
What are bootleggers? /2
People who smuggle alcohol
Term used for people who hide alcohol flasks (hence the curve) in their boots
Why was alcohol prohibition corrupted?
Law enforcement officers involved in trade bribed local governments to stay open
Why did alcohol prohibition fail? /4
Not enough money spent on enforcing the law
Officers weren’t paid much, so they were bribed to avoid arresting bootleggers
People still want to drink alcohol
Alcohol was a sign of masculinity
What is a consequence of the 1920s alcohol prohibition?
Black market explodes
Why did alcohol become a concern in the 1920s? /2
People started drinking (hard) liquor
Results in incapitation
What is the 1920s leisure industry? /4
Invention of new forms of entertainment
Radio changed everyday life as much as the automobile
Brough entertainment into the household
Conflict between cinema and at-home entertainment
What was the conflict between cinema and at-home entertainment?
Cinema managers complained were staying at home than going out to the movies
What did film producers introduce to counter at-home entertainment?
Bring in the first “talkies” (movies with sound and dialogue) in 1927
Is conflict between the cinema and at-home entertainment a continuity? /2
Yes.
Cinema managers continue to receive a decrease in sales due to platforms like Netflix, Crave, Amazon Prime, Disney+, etc
How did women change in the 1920s lifestyle? /7
Wore lighter clothes that were easier to move in —garçonne look
No more petticoats
Smoke/drank/danced/VOTED
Cut their hair
Wore makeup
Wine to party often
First birth control clinics open in NYC (shut down multiple times)
Who is Margaret Sanger?
Argued women should have control over how many kids they have
What is the Harlem Renaissance? /3
An intellectual/social/artistic Mecca in the 1920s
Focus in redefining and celebrating the black experience in America
Langston Hughes: a black poet
What are Jim Crow laws? /3
Jim Crow: popular character in theatre
Segregation between the black and white population
Normal in the South Segregation in schools/transportation/housing/public spaces
What are the consequences of the Jim Crow laws? /5
No access to the professions
|-> professions limited: can’t be a doctor, lawyer, etc
No vote (changed and evaluated)
Lynchings still occurs in the 1920s
In Canada, discrimination in hotels/restaurants/public spaces
Klu klux klan also get involved in Montreal, BC, Manitoba and Saskatchewan
What are lynchings? /2
People who take the law into their own hands
Klu klux klan is an example of this
Who did not experience the Roaring 20s in the 1920s? /2
Farmers
Small businesses
Why did farmers not experience the Roaring 20s in the 1920s? /3
Agriculture became a struggle (consequence of WWI)
Demand decreased following WWI, results in prices to fall
Demand is low, but production is still high
Why did small businesses not experience the Roaring 20s in the 1920s? /2
Small businesses fail as huge corporations grow and expand
Wages were fine, but not high
What problems started appearing near the mid 1920s? /2
Construction industry begins to decrease
By 1929, 80% of Americans were living close to subsistence
Subsistence: survival, nothing more
