Topic 5, Lesson 8: Why were the 1920s called the 'Roaring Twenties'?

Topic 5, Lesson 8: Why were the 1920s called the 'Roaring Twenties'?

Mass Sport

• Sport became very important to the lives of many US citizens in the early 1920s

• Made even more popular by the mass production of radio

• In 1924, 67,000 watched the football match between Illinois and Michigan in the Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland.

• In 1926, 145,000 people watched the boxing match between Jack Dempsey and Gene Tunney.

Topic 5, Lesson 8: Why were the 1920s called the 'Roaring Twenties'?

Baseball (Babe Ruth)

• The 1920s became known as the “Golden Age of Baseball”

• Most popular sporting star was Babe Ruth

• Babe Ruth:

Had a major influence on the younger generation because he was not shy about drinking or smoking in public (even during Prohibition)

Many historians agree the transformation of baseball was largely down to charisma associated with Babe Ruth.

• Introduction of cork-centred ball meant it was easier to hit the ball further. And, so began the fascination with home runs

Topic 5, Lesson 8: Why were the 1920s called the 'Roaring Twenties'?

Radio

• First national network, NBC, set up in 1926

• Critics argued that invisible energy flying through the air must be dangerous and cited dead birds as evidence

• For most, the radio brought a new world into people’s living rooms

• An estimated 50 million people listened to the 1927 boxing match between Gene Tunney and Jack Dempsey

• A typical model cost $150. Usually paid for on credit

• By 1927, 33% of all money spent on furniture was spent on radios

• Between 1923 and 1930, 60% of all American families purchased radios

• Sales grew from $60 million in 1923 to $842 million in 1929

• Radio brought the nation together: Americans could listen to the same songs, same sporting events and laugh at the same jokes

Topic 5, Lesson 8: Why were the 1920s called the 'Roaring Twenties'?

Cinema

• By the 1920s, the cinema industry centred in Hollywood was the 4th largest in terms of capital investment

• Cinema employed more than Ford or General Motors

• Movies were often shown in elaborate picture palaces such as The Roxy in New York, which cost the region $7 - $10 million to build and had: 3 organs, a huge chandelier, a red carpet valued at $10,000 and a 118 piece orchestra

• Actors became huge stars

• E.g. Clara Bow became the ‘It Girl’ who symbolised the modern liberated woman

• Comic legend, Charlie Chaplin

• The first “talkie” was released in 1927 and was called The Jazz Singer

• Hollywood became the centre of movie making

• Four major film companies - Paramount, Warner Bros, RKO and Colombia had studios in Hollywood

• Movie stars moved to Los Angeles e.g. Charlie Chaplin

Topic 5, Lesson 8: Why were the 1920s called the 'Roaring Twenties'?

The Age of Jazz

• Originated in Soul, The Blues…

• Became popular with the white middle-class youth especially the Flappers

• was seen as another fall in moral standards

• In 1921, the Ladies Home Journal published an article with the title ‘Does Jazz put the sin in syncopation?’

• New York and Cleveland prohibited the public performance of jazz in dance halls

• Became popular in night clubs and speakeasies