By: Tadd Hopkins

The 1920’s were an interesting time, full of change and rebellion. People made more money and were willing to spend it. The economy was booming and the entertainment industry grew rapidly due to new ideals and inventions. The invention of the radio made broadcasting simple, spreading news and sports nationally. Motion pictures represented advances in art and technology. Automobiles revolutionized travel, and allowed people to flock to plays and dancehalls. Many new crazy games and fads developed. The 1920’s was a time of enjoyment, and this was clearly shown in their forms of entertainment.

Cinema in the 1920’s was very interesting. They were silent, often unrealistic, and good always triumphed over evil. There were many popular movie stars including: Charlie Chaplin Rudolph Valentino Douglas Fairbanks Most present day production companies were

formed in the 20’s, such as: Paramount, Metro, and Warner Brothers.

Here is part of a Charlie Chaplin Film

Click to watch

The 1920’s is known as the Jazz age, because of the quickly growing popularity of Jazz Music. Jazz was mainly popular because of how different it was from previous music genres.

Some popular Jazz musicians in the 1920’s were: Bessie Smith- a best-selling vocalist George Gershwin- a pianist Duke Ellington- the “King of Big Band” Louis “Sachtmo” Armstrong- A very popular trumpeter

The song in background is Hello Dolly! By Louis Armstrong

Dancing was an enormous part of pop culture in the 1920’s. Dancehalls were flooded with people and many new dances were invented. The dances were very energetic, fast-paced, and were an escape from the troubles of daily life. Popular dances include the: Charleston Foxtrot Shag Waltz Lindy Hop

Shown here is an excerpt from the movie Hellzapoppin and the dancers are dancing the Lindy Hop

Click to Watch

The automobile industry revolutionized the twenties, not only because it made transportation much easier, but because it created jobs and greatly helped the economy.

Here are some general facts about the automobile industry: Henry Ford cut the production time for making

a car from 12 hours to 1 ½ hours Ford’s new cars cost $290 which is a little less

than 3 months of wages for the average worker

In 1919 there were about 6.7 million cars. By 1929 there were more than 27 million cars

1 in 5 Americans owned a car, while only 1 in 37 English and 1 in 40 French owned a Car

Alfred Sloan made General Motors and split it into 3 companies based on price and luxury

Games became immensely popular in the twenties. The games were fairly simplistic and some of them now seem very strange. Some of these fads and games include: Mahjongg Flagpole sitting Yo-yo's Goldfish eating Pogo sticks Roller-skating Card Collecting

FLAGPOLE SITTING YO-YO’S

The 1920’s was a fun enjoyable time. It was a time full of dancing and games, to forget all of their troubles and the horrors of World War 1. All of the forms of entertainment; dance, games, movies etc. show the ideals and careless, fun attitude of the people. In an era so revolutionary and hardworking, people still found a way to go out and enjoy themselves.

"Henry Ford: Motorizing America." American History. 2008. ABC-CLIO. 25 Oct. 2008 <http://www.americanhistory.abc-clio.com>.

“The Consumer Economy and Mass Entertainment.” www.digitalhistory.uh.edu. October 25, 2008. 23 Oct. 2008 http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/article_display_printable.cfm?HHID=454

Morgan, Kathleen, and Drowne, Patrick Huber. The 1920’s. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2004.

All videos taken form youtube.com

All pictures taken from google images