The Roaring ‘20s and theGreat Depression

Economics

The United States• Became the world’s top economic power

following WWI• German & British economies had been

wrecked by WWI• The world economy became completely tied

to the American economy

Economic Boom• A rise in the standard of

living during the 1920s led to increased sales of consumer goods which in turn created more jobs

• Mechanization of factories led to greater efficiency and a drop in prices for manufactured goods, further encouraging consumerism

Economic Imbalances• Industrialized nations were producing more goods than

were needed• Demand for raw materials dropped after WWI, hurting non-

industrialized nations and farmers• Factory workers won higher pay, causing the price of

manufactured goods to rise

Stock Speculation• A long period of growth in the

stock market convinced millions to take a risk and invest in stocks

• Investors began “buying on margin” – borrowing the money to buy stocks, believing those stocks would grow in value and allow them to easily repay the loans; but, if prices dropped, they panicked and sold quickly to avoid taking large losses

“Black Tuesday”• In late October, 1929 stock

prices began to slip, triggering a mass sell-off as investors panicked

• On Tuesday, Oct. 29 the bottom fell out – the market lost $15 billion in a single day

• The market continued to plunge for the next 3 years and didn’t recover until after WWII – a period known as the “Great Depression”

Banking Collapse• Banks had made numerous loans

to stock speculators and had also invested heavily themselves in the stock market

• When the market collapsed, banks lost big and had to stop lending

• With credit restricted, the economy went into a recession

• Many banks could not absorb their losses and closed; people who had deposited their money in these banks lost everything – this caused further panic and people began to withdraw their money from banks

Scientific Discoveries

Medical Advances• Canadian scientists

discovered how to treat diabetes using insulin

• British scientists discovered penicillin for treating infections

• French scientists discovered how to treat tuberculosis

Sigmund Freud• 1856 – 1939• Austrian doctor who pioneered

the field of psychoanalysis• Developed the “talking therapy”

for treating simple neuroses• Attempted to explain how

dreams develop• Believed that all human

motivation was driven by unfulfilled sexual desires

• Developed idea of ego & id• Almost all of his theories were

incorrect, but they led to more research into psychology

Marie Curie• 1867 – 1934• Polish-French scientist• Won Nobel Prizes in

physics and chemistry• Discovered 2 new

radioactive elements (radium & polonium)

• Unfortunately, her research also killed her – she died from radiation poisoning

Albert Einstein• 1879 – 1955• German / American• Non-practicing Jew who left

Germany for the US due to growing anti-Semitism

• Developed his theory of relativity (E=mc²) which explains the relationship between time and space

• His theories helped in the development of the atomic bomb

Visual Artistic Movements

Cubism: art made up of many broken angles and planes

Pablo Picasso• 1881 – 1973• Spanish artist• Known for painting in a

multitude of styles, but is perhaps most famous for his development of cubism

• 10 of his paintings have sold since his death for over $60 million EACH, including two for over $100 million

Abstract Art: art made up of lines, colors, & shapes with no recognizable subject

Paul Klee• 1879 – 1940• Swiss artist• Experimented with many

different forms of art, including music – he even “painted” music

• Deeply affected by the death of many of his friends in WWI

• Forced out of Germany by the Nazis, moved back to Switzerland

Dadaism: art “without discipline or morality” which is designed to shock

Hans (Jean) Arp• 1886 – 1966• French-German• Born in territory

disputed by France & Germany

• Faked insanity to avoid serving in the German army in WWI

• Fled to Switzerland during WWII

Surrealism: art that attempt to portray the workings of the unconscious mind

Salvador Dali• 1904 – 1989• Spanish artist• Eccentric, liked the

attention of fame• Kicked out of art

school• Disowned by his family

over his art, sexuality, and religious views

Bauhaus Architecture

Frank Lloyd Wright• 1867 – 1959• American architect• Also designed

furniture, stained glass windows

• Designed over 500 buildings, mostly private homes, many of which have been preserved as historic landmarks

Dorothea Lange• 1895 – 1965• Photojournalist• Lange's photographs

humanized the tragic consequences of the Great Depression and profoundly influenced the development of documentary photography

Lange’s Photos

Literary Movements

The Lost Generation• Term used to describe

the generation which reached adulthood during the 1920s

• These young people were “lost” in that they felt trapped by the corrupt, greedy society in which they lived and their own experiences in WWI

Erich Maria Remarque• 1898 – 1970• German, served in WWI• All Quiet on the Western

Front (1929)• Eventually moved to U.S. in

1930s after Nazis banned his work

• His sister was executed by the Nazis just for being related to him

F. Scott Fitzgerald• 1896 – 1940• Author of The Great

Gatsby (1925)• Wrote numerous short-

stories (including The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) and screenplays in addition to his 4 novels

• Died from a heart attack induced by alcoholism

Ernest Hemingway• 1899 – 1961• Author of novels such as

The Old Man and the Sea, A Farewell to Arms, The Sun Also Rises, and For Whom the Bell Tolls

• Rugged adventurer who liked bullfighting, hunting, mountain climbing, and other dangerous hobbies

• Committed suicide due to depression and alcoholism

T.S. Eliot• 1888 – 1965• American author,

playwright, and poet• Famous works include

the play Murder in the Cathedral, and poems The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, and The Waste Land

Eugene O’Neill• 1888 – 1953• American playwright• His plays were among the

first to include speeches in American vernacular and involve characters on the fringes of society, engaging in depraved behavior, where they struggle to maintain their hopes and aspirations, but ultimately slide into disillusionment and despair

John Steinbeck• 1902 – 1968• Author of The Grapes of

Wrath, a Pulitzer Prize winning novel about the tragedies which befell his fictional family of Oklahoma farmers during the Dust Bowl

• Also wrote Of Mice and Men, a story about the tragic relationship between two poor migrant farmers

William Faulkner• 1897 – 1962• Nobel Prize winning novelist

and short-story writer• Nearly all of his works are

set in the South• His unique style often

included using stream of consciousness and focused on a wide range of characters

Motion Pictures

1920s Hollywood

Silent Films• Motion pictures initially did

not have sound, so audiences had to be able to understand plots through entirely visual means; this forced actors to use highly exaggerated motions

• Many early films were comedies because “slapstick” provided effective visuals

• Most successful actor of the 1920s was comedic star Charlie Chaplin

Metropolis (1927)• Silent film made in

Germany which many consider to be the first significant “science fiction” film ever made

• Silent movies, since they used no spoken language, could be effectively played anywhere in the world

The Jazz Singer (1927)

• First “talkie” or film which had a synchronized soundtrack for dialogue

• This film’s success spelled the end of the silent picture era

Hollywood Escapism• As the Great Depression set

in, people desperately wanted to escape their troubles, even if only for a few hours

• Movies offered a cheap form of escapism (most theaters were also heated and air-conditioned as well, allowing people to escape the chill or swelter of their apartments!)

Marx Brothers• Popular comedic act of

the period, they starred in such films as Animal Crackers (1930), and Duck Soup (1933)

• Made feature films from 1921 to 1957

• 13 of their films were included in the top 100 comedies ever made

Walt Disney• 1901 – 1966• Created Mickey Mouse

who first achieved success in the cartoon short Steamboat Willie (1927)

• Disney would go on to grow an animation, film, and theme park empire

http://youtu.be/BBgghnQF6E4

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

The Wizard of Oz

Gone With the Wind

Dracula & Frankenstein

Sports• Many spectator sports were

extremely popular, including golf, tennis, boxing, and swimming

• Baseball had become “America’s pass time”

• Football began to gain prominence with the founding of the National Football League (NFL) in 1920

“Red” Grange• 1903 – 1991• “The Galloping Ghost”• The first American

football star, Grange played for the University of Illinois and then for the NFL’s Chicago Bears as a star running back

Jack Dempsey• 1895 – 1983• World Heavyweight

champion from 1919 to 1926

• First boxer to draw more than $1 million in ticket revenues for a fight

“Babe” Ruth• 1895 – 1948• Played for 21 years (1914 –

35), mostly for the NY Yankees

• Hit 714 home runs (still 3rd most ever)

• Lived a celebrity lifestyle – drank heavily, smoked, and womanized – a trend he started that lives on today with many professional athletes

Harlem Renaissance• African-American cultural

movement of the 1920s and 1930s, centered around the Harlem neighborhood of NYC

• Included new literary, artistic, and musical styles which would go on to heavily influence American culture of the mid and late 20th century

Claude McKay• 1889 – 1948• Writer and poet who wrote

novels Home to Harlem, Banjo, and Banana Bottom

• One of the first authors of the Renaissance, McKay represented a new African-American voice, one which rejected the ideals of Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Marcus Garvey, in favor of taking pride in his culture and pursuing full civil rights and racial solidarity

Langston Hughes• 1902 – 1967• American novelist,

playwright, short story writer, and magazine columnist

• Pioneered new form of poetry known as “jazz poetry”

• Much of his work focuses on the theme “black is beautiful” and takes pride in the diversity of African-American culture

The Cotton Club• 1920 – 1940• Famous Harlem

nightclub which featured jazz and blues music

• Catered to a mostly white audience, so marked the first significant exposure for many whites to black musical styles

The Apollo Theater• Harlem theater which

originally opened in 1914, but didn’t become a predominantly black venue until 1934

• Fell into decline in the 1960s and even became just a simple movie theater before being revived in 1983; today it has protected federal landmark status

Music

Louis Armstrong• 1901 – 1971• Nicknamed “Satchmo”• Jazz trumpeter and singer• Popularized “scat” or

singing using disjointed syllables instead of words

• Rose to fame quickly during the 1920s and was equally popular with both black and white audiences

Duke Ellington• 1899 – 1974• Orchestra leader, pianist,

and song writer• Elevated jazz from an

urban musical form to a nearly classical level with his “big band” style

• Led his orchestra for over 50 years

Billie Holiday• 1915 – 1959• Crossed jazz over to

standard “pop” (popular music)

• Also a song writer, helping write such hits as “God Bless the Child” and “Lady Sings the Blues”

• Unfortunately, she became a lifelong drug addict and died from liver failure after years of legal troubles

Josephine Baker• 1906 – 1975• Dancer, singer, and actress• Baker was the first African

American to star in a major motion picture, to integrate an American concert hall, and to become a world-famous entertainer

• Extremely popular in Europe, her exotic stage show featured her scantily clad or even nude

• In later years she became heavily involved in the Civil Rights movement

Charlie Poole• 1892 – 1931• North Carolina musician

who, along with his band the North Carolina Ramblers, became the first major national country music recording act

• When not recording, he earned money as a textile mill worker and as a moonshiner

• Died of an alcohol induced illness at just 39

Radio Serials• Many people’s chief form of

entertainment was the radio, which featured episodic programming much like television does today, including such action characters as the Green Hornet and Lone Ranger, as well as numerous “soap operas” (dramatic programming aimed at women and usually sponsored by laundry soap companies)

Flappers• Many young women

rebelled against the mores of their parents by wearing shorter skirts, shorter hairstyles, smoking, drinking, dancing, and dating without “adult” chaperones

The Charleston