2. Social/ Cultural development 1920s

• Jazz music

  • Originated in the Southern States among African Americans
  • Known for its improvisation, fast tempo, and lively rhythms
  • Appealed to young, both black and white
  • Key people: Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Bessie Smith
  • Dances: Tango, Black bottom, Charleston, One step
  • Older generation criticised Jazz due to the sexual moves
• Cinema

  • Weekly audiences grew from 35 million in 1919 to 100 million in 1930
  • Key people: Charlie Chaplin, Rudolf Valentino, Clara Bow
  • 1929, Hollywood film studios were making 500 films a year
  • The Jazz Singer was released in 1927, the first 'talkie'
  • Older generation worries about impact of sexual content of films
  • Hays Code was introduced, a strict set of rules including a pan on nudity
• Sport

  • Babe Ruth (Baseball player) was earning $80,000 a year
  • Radio broadcasts, newspapers and magazines helped bring sports to a large audience
• Women before the war

  • Couldn't vote
  • Middle and upper-class women were expected to be polite, and wear modest clothing, and relationships with men were strictly controlled
  • Poorer women had to work, terrible pay
• Women during the war

  • Took over jobs whilst the men were away at war
  • Worked just as hard and as well as men, money they earned gave a sense of independence
  • Given the right to vote in 1920
  • By 2929, 10.5 million women with jobs. 25% more than 1920
• Flappers

  • Middle and upper-class women from northern states
  • Some rode motorcycles and went to clubs with men
  • Anti-Flirt League was formed to protest against the flappers behaviour
• Social and cultural development

  • Jazz music became popular
  • Movie industry grew rapidly
  • Life changed for millions of American women, many had jobs for the first time and began to wear more daring clothing
  • Flappers were independent young women, mainly middle/upper class
  • Millions of women in Southern states and poorer areas, life didn't change much