The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Roaring Twenties

• In 1918, Prohibition had been introduced into America. This law banned the sale, transportation and manufacture of alcohol. However, there was a ready market for alcohol throughout the 1920's and the gangsters provided it. Capone's earnings at their peak stood at $60 million a year from alcohol sales alone with $45 million from other illegal ventures.

• Notorious in Chicago, Capone achieved national celebrity status when he appeared on the front of the celebrated "Time" magazine. 

• The general intent of the this Amendment was to lower crime and improve the general status of life. But the opposite happened, crime increased as people rebelled against not being able to drink alcohol. Numerous illegal bars called “speak easies” were created to provide drinks for the people that required alcoholic beverages. This time period also included bathtub gin and other versions of homemade alcohol.

• Women received the right to vote by the 19th Amendment, but they still had little interest in politics. During this time period, women asked guys out, they wore the new flapper style of clothing and were more assertive. They took the same jobs as men and women still fought for laws against inequality.

My candle burns at both ends; It will not last the night;

But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends— It gives a lovely light.

Edna St. Vincent Millay’s famous lines from A Few Figs from Thistles (1920) express the popular sentiment of the era:

THE FLAPPERby Dorothy Parker

The Playful flapper here we see,The fairest of the fair.

She's not what Grandma used to be, --You might say, au contraire.

Her girlish ways may make a stir,Her manners cause a scene,

But there is no more harm in herThan in a submarine.

She nightly knocks for many a goalThe usual dancing men.

Her speed is great, but her controlIs something else again.

All spotlights focus on her pranks.All tongues her prowess herald.

For which she well may render thanksTo God and Scott Fitzgerald.

Her golden rule is plain enough -Just get them young and treat them

rough.

• In the 1920s, a new woman was born. She smoked, drank, danced, and voted. She cut her hair, wore make-up, and went to petting parties. She was giddy and took risks. She was a flapper.

• The 1920s was the Jazz Age and one of the most popular past-times for flappers was dancing. Dances such as the Charleston, Black Bottom, and the Shimmy were considered "wild" by older generations. As described in the May 1920 edition of the Atlantic Monthly, flappers "trot like foxes, limp like lame ducks, one-step like cripples, and all to the barbaric yawp of strange instruments which transform the whole scene into a moving-picture of a fancy ball in bedlam." For the Younger Generation, the dances fit their fast-paced life-style.

• "The music is sensuous, the female is only half dressed and the motions may not be described in a family newspaper. Suffice it to say that there are certain houses appropriate for such dances but these houses have been closed by law.”

The Catholic Telegraph

• The Flappers also went out without a man to look after them, went to all-night parties, drove motor cars, smoked in public and held men’s hands without wearing gloves. Mothers formed the Anti-Flirt League to protest against the acts of their daughters.

• Along with jazz went the ‘crazies’ when people would do crazy things for fun such as sitting on top of a flag pole for as long as possible; marathon dances that went on until everybody had dropped and wing flying when you stood strapped onto the wing of a flying plane until it landed.

• This was also the era of great sports champions such as Babe Ruth the baseball player and Bobby Jones "the greatest amateur golfer of all time."

• The decade saw the first "talkie" - "The Jazz Singer" starring Al Jolson. Many silent screen stars lost their jobs as their voices sounded too strange or their accents were difficult to understand.

• The stars lived lavish lifestyles - Beverly Hills was the place to live and they cultivated in peoples minds the belief that you could succeed in America regardless of who you were.

Monkeys and Missionaries• Amid the psychological and cultural rubble of

World War I, many Americans questioned the old faiths. Liberal Protestants preached a Social Gospel and made the first tentative gestures toward modern ecumenism. At the other extreme, Fundamentalism (the term was coined in 1921) swept much of the South and Midwest. Revivalist preachers led by the controversial Aimee Semple McPherson drew overflow crowds and huge radio audiences.

• Another, very different figure at the center of a religious storm was John Scopes, a young Tennessee biology teacher whose challenge to that state's law prohibiting classroom instruction in the theory of evolution set off a celebrated 1925 courtroom encounter between Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan. "You believe in the age of rocks," said Bryan, "I believe in the rock of ages." Scopes lost the case but won the war; Bryan, humiliated, died a week after the trial ended. On his tombstone were carved the words, "He kept the Faith."

• For the first time since the train and the bicycle, a new form of faster transportation was becoming popular. Henry Ford's innovations were making the automobile an accessible commodity to the people. Cars were fast and risky - perfect for the flapper attitude. Flappers not only insisted on riding in them; they drove them.

• Unfortunately for their parents, flappers didn't just use cars to ride in. The back seat became a popular location for the new popular sexual activity, petting. Others hosted petting parties. Though their attire was modeled after little boys' outfits, flappers flaunted their sexuality. It was a radical change from their parents and grandparents' generations.

• Authors such F. Scott Fitzgerald and artists such as John Held Jr. used the term “Flapper” to the U.S., half reflecting and half creating the image and style of the flapper. Fitzgerald described the ideal flapper as "lovely, expensive, and about nineteen." Held accentuated the flapper image by drawing young girls wearing unbuckled galoshes that would make a "flapping" noise when walking.

Slang introducedA• all wet: incorrect

ankle: to walk, i.e.. "Let's ankle!"apple sauce: flattery, nonsense, i.e.. "Aw, applesauce!“

Bbaby: sweetheart. Also denotes something of high value or respect.baloney: Nonsense!Bank's closed.: no kissing or making out ie. "Sorry, mac, bank's closed."bearcat: a hot-blooded or fiery girlbee's knee's: terrific; a fad expression. berries: (1) perfect (2) moneybig cheese: important personbimbo: a tough guyblotto (1930 at the latest): drunk, especially to an extremeblow: (1) a crazy party (2) to leavebootleg: illegal liquor

C• cat's meow: great, also "cat's pajamas" and "cat's

whiskers"cash: a kissCash or check?: Do we kiss now or later?chassis (1930): the female bodycheck: Kiss me later.clam: a dollarcoffin varnish: bootleg liquor, often poisonous.cuddler: one who likes to make out

D• daddy: a young woman's boyfriend or lover, especially if

he's rich.doll: an attractive woman.dolled up: dressed updon't take any wooden nickels: don't do anything stupid.dope: drugs, esp. cocaine or opium.doublecross: to cheat, stab in the back.drugstore cowboy: A well-dressed man who loiters in public areas trying to pick up women.dry up: shut up, get lostdumb Dora: an absolute idiot, a dumbbell, especially a woman; flapper.

E• earful: enough

edge: intoxication, a buzz. i.e. "I've got an edge."

F• fag: a cigarette. Also, starting around

1920, a homosexual.fish: (1) a college freshman (2) a first timer in prisonflat tire: a boreflivver: a Model T; after 1928, also could mean any broken down car.floorflusher: an insatiable dancer

G• gay: happy or lively; no connection to

homosexuality. See "fag."gin mill: a seller of hard liquor; a cheap speakeasy

H• hair of the dog (1925): a shot of alcohol.

hard-boiled: tough, as in, a tough guy, ie: "he sure is hard-boiled!"hooch: boozehood (late 20s): hoodlumhop: (1) opiate or marijuana (2) a teen party or dancehopped up: under the influence of drugs

I• ish kabibble (1925): a retort meaning "I should

care."  Was the name of a musician in the Kay Kayser Orchestra of the 1930s.

J• jack: money

Jalopy: a dumpy old carJane: any femalejava: coffeejohn: a toiletjoint: establishmentjuice joint: a speakeasy

K• knock up: to make pregnantL• level with me: be honest

limey: a British soldier or citizen, from World War Iline: a false story, as in "to feed one a line."live wire: a lively personlollapalooza (1930): a humdingerlollygagger: (1) a young man who enjoys making out (2) an idle person

M• manacle: wedding ring

munitions: face powderN• neck: to kiss passionately

necker: a girl who wraps her arms around her boyfriend's neck.nifty: great, excellentnoodle juice: tea

O• old boy: a male term of address, used in conversation

with other males. Denoted acceptance in a social environment.  Also "old man" "old fruit." "How's everything old boy?"on a toot: a drinking bingeossified: drunkowl: a person who's out late

P• pet: necking, only more; making out

petting party: one or more couples making out in a room or autopiker: (1) a cheapskate (2) a cowardputting on the Ritz: after the Ritz Hotel in Paris (and its namesake Caesar Ritz); doing something in high style. Also "ritzy."

R• rag-a-muffin: a dirty or disheveled individual

razz: to make fun ofReal McCoy: a genuine itemrummy: a drunken bum

S• sap: a fool, an idiot. Very common term in the 20s.

scratch: moneyskirt: an attractive femalesmarty: a cute flapperspeakeasy: a bar selling illegal liquorspill: to talkspoon: to neck, or at least talk of lovesugar daddy: older boyfriend who showers girlfriend with gifts in exchange for sexswanky: (1) good (2) elegantswell: (1) good (2) a high class person

T• take someone for a ride: to take someone to a deserted

location and murder them.tasty: appealingteenager: not a common term until 1930; before then, the term was "young adults."Tin Pan Alley: the music industry in New York, located between 48th and 52nd Streetstomato: a "ripe" femaletorpedo: a hired thug or hitman

U• unreal: special

upchuck: to vomitupstage: snobby

V• vamp: (1) a seducer of men, an aggressive flirt

(2) to seduce

W• water-proof: a face that doesn't require make-

upwet blanket: see Killjoy

Y• You slay me!: That's funny!Z• zozzled: drunk