Intro to the 1920s The Great Gatsby in Context

The 20s in Historical Context

1918 – World War I ends

1919-1929 – The Roaring Twenties

Oct. 29, 1929 – The start of the

Great Depression

The roaring twenties are

remembered as a time of great

technological advancement,

prosperity, and social change.

1920 – The 18th Amendment prohibits the sale, not the consumption, of alcohol

1920 – The 19th Amendment gives women the right to vote

1924 – The Scopes Trial begins and would later convict John T. Scopes of teaching Darwin’s evolutionary theory.

1927 – The Jazz Singer is the first talking motion picture

What happened in the

Twenties?

1927 – Charles Lindbergh makes the first non-stop transatlantic flight in history

1928 – Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse makes his first appearance in Steamboat Willie

1929 – In Chicago, gangsters working for Al Capone kill seven rivals in an act known as the Valentine’s Day Massacre.

1929 – Postwar prosperity ends in the 1929 Stock Market Crash, which brought about the Great Depression.

What happened in the

Twenties?

The popular image of the

1920s as a decade of

prosperity and riotous living

and of bootleggers and

gangsters, flappers and hot

jazz, flagpole sitters, and

marathon dancers is

etched in the American

mind.

What are the 1920s?

The decade witnessed a great

struggle between an old and a new

America. Immigration, race, alcohol,

evolution, gender politics, and sexual

morality--all became major cultural

battlefields during the 1920s.

What are the 1920s?

The 1920s was a decade of

profound social changes.

The most obvious signs of

change were the rise of a

consumer-oriented

economy and of mass

entertainment, which

helped to bring about a

“revolution in morals and

manners.”

What are the 1920s?

Victorian woman in

mid 19th century

Flapper in the roaring 20’s

Can you spot the differences

in these two photos?

The 1920s saw a change from

the strict moral and social codes of the Victorian age.

Women, especially, gained

more freedom and

independence than ever

before.

Many women moved out on

their own for the first time into

big cities, made their own living, and rode around in cars

with boys without chaperones.

Changes in the 1920s

Changes in the 1920s

Many parents were shocked

and appalled by their children’s fashions and

interests. They struggled to

understand and accept the changes.

They had the same worries

and concerns as parents

today. In fact they blamed

much of the problem on

movies, books, and

magazines.

This girl would have been known

in the 1920s as a flapper.

Flapper – initially described the

sort of teenage girl whose

gawky frame and posture were

“supposed to need a certain

type of clothing – long, straight

lines to cover her awkwardness.”

Stores advertised these as

“flapper-dresses.”

The Flapper

The Flapper

Webster’s Dictionary defined the

flapper as “A young girl, esp. one somewhat daring in conduct,

speech and dress.”

By the early 1920s the term

flapper described a very

notorious type of woman who

bobbed her hair, smoked cigarettes, drank gin, sported

short skirts, and passed her

evenings in steamy jazz clubs,

where she danced in a shockingly immodest fashion with

a revolving cast of male suitors.

Daisy Buchanan is Nick

Carraway’s cousin, and,

although she is married, she is

still a flapper.

Jordan Baker, a

famous golfer and

friend of Daisy’s, is a

flapper as well.

Several characters in The Great

Gatsby are flappers.

Several characters in The Great

Gatsby are flappers.

Myrtle Wilson is a

wannabe flapper. She

doesn’t have the

money or means to

be the real thing.

Led by the Anti-Saloon League

and the Women's Christian Temperance Union, the dry

forces had triumphed by linking

Prohibition to a variety of Progressive era social causes

The wording of the 18th

Amendment banned the

manufacture and sale (but not

the possession, consumption, or

transportation) of “intoxicating

liquors.”

Prohibition

Prohibition failed because it

was unenforceable.

During prohibition people

found ways around the law by going to speakeasies

(underground night clubs that

served liquor) or by making their own alcohol (moonshine).

Prohibition

Prohibition

In 1927, there were an

estimated 30,000 illegal speakeasies--twice the

number of legal bars

before Prohibition. Many people made beer and

wine at home. It was

relatively easy finding a doctor to sign a

prescription for

medicinal whiskey sold at drugstores.

Organized Crime

Prohibition led to the sharp

increase of organized crime

Successful bootleggers made

millions

Crime bosses like Al Capone

and Arnold Rothstein, the

basis of the fictional Meyer Wolfsheim in Gatsby, held

power and were called

“untouchables.”

Race in America

In the 1920’s race

issues began to escalate as the Great

Migration occurred.

Over six million African-Americans

moved to the North

from the segregated South. Most settled in

big cities, bringing

with them their culture and way of

life.

A group of Florida migrants on their

way to Cranberry, New Jersey

Race in America

Although race is not mentioned

directly in The Great Gatsby, the character Tom Buchanan,

Daisy’s husband, is a racist. He

makes several comments throughout the book about

race.

Klan funeral in Michigan, 1925

The growth of exciting new

opportunities to buy cars, appliances, and stylish clothing

made the country's cultural

conflicts seem less significant.

Consumer Economy

Consumer Economy

Americans in the 1920s were

the first to wear ready-made, exact-size clothing.

They were the first to play

electric phonographs, to use electric vacuum

cleaners, to listen to

commercial radio broadcasts, and to drink

fresh orange juice year

round.

Automobiles create a new

culture

The cost of a new Ford Model T was reduced to just

$290. This amount was less than three months wages for an average American worker; it made cars

affordable for the average family.

1920 Ford Model T

Coupe

Automobiles create a new

culture

Alfred Sloan creator of GM was convinced that Americans

were willing to pay extra for luxury and prestige. He

advertised his cars as symbols of wealth and status. He set

up the nation's first national consumer credit agency in

1919 to make his cars affordable.

Automobiles create a new

culture

Cars revolutionized

the American way of life.

Enthusiasts claimed

that the automobile

promoted family

togetherness through evening rides, picnics,

and weekend

excursions. The McKenzie family car, 1926

Automobiles create a new

culture

Critics blamed

automobiles for squabbles between

parents and teenagers

over use of the car and for an apparent decline

in church attendance

due to Sunday driving outings.

Worst of all, charged critics, automobiles gave

young people freedom and privacy, serving as

“portable bedrooms” that couples could take

anywhere.

A Stutz Bearcat, like the

car Gatsby drives

Other 20’s Innovations

Ready-to-wear clothing was

another important innovation in America's expanding

consumer economy. Since

there was no copyright on clothing designs until the 1950s,

garment manufacturers could

pirate European fashions and reproduce them using less

expensive fabrics. Coco

Chanel was one of these great designers.

Other 20’s Innovations

Even the public's eating

habits underwent far-reaching shifts. Americans

began to consume fewer

starches (like bread and potatoes) and to consume

more fruit and sugar. But the

most striking development was the shift toward

processed foods.

The nation's first

million-dollar advertising

campaign--for

Uneeda Biscuits in a waterproof box--

demonstrated

advertising's power.

Advertising

Advertising

Advertising companies

touted products by building up name brand

identification, creating

memorable slogans, manipulating endorsements

by doctors or celebrities, and

appealing to consumers' hunger for prestige and

status.

Buying on Credit

Installment credit soared during

the 1920s. Banks offered the country's first home mortgages.

About 60 percent of all furniture

and 75 percent of all radios

were purchased on installment

plans.

While Victorian society had

valued thrift and saving, the

new consumer society emphasized spending and

borrowing.

Media – The Radio

Radio drew the

nation together by bringing news,

entertainment, and

advertisements to more than 10 million

households by 1929.

Media – The Radio

Radio also broadcast

racial and cultural caricatures and

derogatory stereotypes.

Media – The Jazz Age

The influx of African-Americans into northern cities helped give rise to the Jazz Age. Born in New Orleans, jazz moved to Chicago and then New York and became the popular music of the day.

Performers such as Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington sold countless records and played to packed houses.

Media - Music

The blues craze erupted

in 1920 when an African-American singer named

Mamie Smith released a

recording called “Crazy Blues.” The record

became a sensation,

selling 75,000 copies in a month and a million

copies in seven months.

Media - Music

“Hillbilly” music broke into

mass culture in 1923 when a Georgia singer named

“Fiddlin’ John” Carson sold

500,000 copies of his recordings. Another country

artist, Vernon Dalhart, sold 7

million copies of a recording of “The Wreck of Old 97.”

Jimmie Rodgers and the

Carter Family were other popular performers.

Media - Movies

The single most significant new

instrument of mass entertainment was the movies.

Movie attendance soared,

from 50 million a week in 1920 to 90 million weekly in 1929.

The first talking movie, The Jazz

Singer, starring Al Jolson,

debuted in 1927.

Media - Movies

The popularity of the

movies soared as films

increasingly featured

glamour, sophistication,

and sex appeal. New

film genres also

debuted, including

swashbuckling

adventures,

sophisticated romantic

comedies, and tales of

flaming youth and their

new sexual freedom.

Baseball was the most

popular American sport in the 1920s. The

decade began,

however, with the sport mired in

scandal.

Baseball soon regained its

popularity, thanks to

Babe Ruth, the sport’s

undisputed superstar.

Media - Sports

Media - Sports

The 1920s were a time

of great individual athletes. Jack

Dempsey in boxing,

Bobby Jones in golf, and Bill Tilden in tennis

were the best in their

respective sports and wildly popular across

the country.

Media - Art

Artists like Charles

Demuth, Georgia O'Keeffe, and Joseph

Stella challenged the

dominant realist tradition in American

art and pioneered

non-representational and expressionist art

forms.

During the 1920s Eugene

O’Neill, the country’s most talented dramatist,

wrote his greatest plays,

and authors William Faulkner, Ernest

Hemingway, F. Scott

Fitzgerald, and Thomas Wolfe published their first

novels.

Media - Literature

Media - Literature

American poets of the

1920s, such as Ezra Pound, E. E. Cummings, Countee

Cullen, Langston Hughes,

and Edna St. Vincent Millay experimented with

new styles of punctuation,

rhyme, and form, while Robert Frost worked with

more traditional forms.

F. Scott, Zelda, and Scotty

Fitzgerald were all icons in the

1920s

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Born in St. Paul, MN, in 1896

Named after Francis Scott Key, writer of “The Star-Spangled

Banner”

Attended Princeton University

1920 married Zelda, a wealthy,

young socialite from Alabama

Daughter Scottie was born 1921

F. Scott Fitzgerald

First great success, This

Side of Paradise, published in 1920

Published The Great

Gatsby in 1924

Gatsby is his greatest

novel

Last completed novel,

Tender is the Night, 1934

Developed problems with

writer’s block and alcohol

Zelda developed mental

health issues

Moved to Hollywood to

write movies

Last novel, The Love of the Last Tycoon, unfinished

Died 1940 at age 44

F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Crash of 1929

On October 29, 1929, The New York

Stock Exchange

took a massive tumble, ending the

Roaring 20’s and

beginning the

Great Depression

of the 1930s