What were the Social and Cultural Developments in the 1920’s

• Since average wages rose by 11.1% and working hours fell by 5 hours a week, people, especially the young had more money to spend on entertainment
• Sport


  • Professional Sport boomed
  • Baseball became hugely popular attracting large crowds
• Cinema


  • The film industry boomed
  • Hollywood produced 800 films a year
  • 100 million cinema tickets were sold every week
  • Film actors such as Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford became stars
• Jazz


  • Very popular with the young
  • African American performers brought jazz to the cities
  • Jazz inspired new dances such as the Charleston
  • The 1920's is often referred to as the Jazz Age
  • Harlem, New York became the centre of the Black Renaissance
• Radio


  • In 1921 there had been one registered radio station
  • By the end of 1922, there were 508
  • Most homes owned a radio
• New Forms of Entertainment

  • Sport
  • Cinema
  • Jazz
  • Radio
• Restrictions on women before 1920

  • Restrictive clothing
  • Had to be chaperones
  • Leave work when married
  • Few paid jobs for middle class women
  • No right to vote
  • Makeup discouraged
  • Didn't smoke or drink in public
• Flappers


  Young urban women who cut their hair short, wore daring clothes, smoked and drank in public, went out unchaperoned, had sex before marriage
• New technologies


  • Vacuums and washing machines gave women more free time
• Women had the right to vote after 1920
• Traditional views of women continued in rural areas especially
• Women still paid less than men
• Despite the vote there were very few female politicians