The Roaring Twenties

The Roaring 20s

• Overview of the Era

  • The 1920s, also known as the Roaring Twenties, was characterized by a booming culture of excitement and change in American society.

  • Notable aspects included rapidly changing fashion, music, and societal norms.

• Cultural Trends

  • The Charleston Dance

  • A dance that gained popularity during this period, symbolizing the liberating social atmosphere of the decade.

  • Ladies adjusted their hemlines to allow freedom of movement in dance.

  • Women's Fashion

  • Women bobbed their hair and adorned themselves with cloche hats reflecting a break from traditional styles.

• Prohibition and its Consequences

  • The Noble Experiment

  • An attempt to eliminate alcohol consumption in America through Prohibition.

  • Despite the intentions, speakeasies (illegal bars) became widespread.

  • Bootleggers emerged as both heroes and villains during this time, providing illicit alcoholic beverages.

  • Scarface Al Capone: A notorious figure embodying the lawlessness of the Prohibition era.

• Political Landscape

  • President Warren G. Harding

  • Involved in the Teapot Dome scandal which highlighted corruption in government.

  • Calvin Coolidge

  • Preserved a sense of calm and stability during the era’s upheavals.

• Aviation Milestone

  • Charles Lindbergh

  • A young pilot who made a non-stop transatlantic flight, symbolizing technological advancements and shrinking the world.

  • Received adulation for this remarkable achievement, affecting national pride.

• Cultural Icons

  • Babe Ruth

  • A iconic baseball player who became a global star, solidifying America's love for sports and entertainment.

• The Automobile Revolution

  • Impact of Automobiles

  • The automobile emerged as the most transformative invention of the 1920s, altering American lifestyles.

  • Henry Ford’s development of the assembly line revolutionized production, leading to increased employment and wages.

  • This industrial revolution fundamentally changed American society by enhancing accessibility and personal freedom.

• Labor Conditions

  • Workers often felt dehumanized within the industrial system, regarded merely as extensions of machinery rather than valued individuals.

  • Poor working conditions, autocratic supervision, and minimal labor benefits were the norm in many factories and sweatshops.

• Case Study: Hawthorne Works

  • Location: Chicago, Western Electric.

  • During the 1920s, employed approximately 40,000 individuals who benefited from several progressive policies:

  • Company-paid pension plan established in 1906.

  • Vacation benefits after five years of employment.

  • Sickness and disability pay.

  • This plant was seen as a prestigious and desirable workplace, greatly respected within its community.

• Hawthorne Studies

  • Initial Experiment by the National Academy of Sciences

  • Aimed to determine how improved lighting conditions affected worker efficiency.

  • Surprisingly, productivity increased even when lighting was worsened, leading to inconclusive results and cancellation of the study.

  • Relay Room Experiment

  • Conducted at Western Electric after initial findings; involved young women assembling electromagnetic switches.

  • Various break routines were tried, revealing increased output and engagement among workers.

  • The study recorded a productivity increase of 30% in this setting over five years.

• Further Explorations and Findings

  • Investigators expanded to explore employee attitudes, initiating the first formal employee interviewing program, with approximately 20,000 employees sharing views about their jobs and workplace.

  • Studies provided insight into social dynamics at work, revealing that organizational culture had a significant effect on productivity beyond management practices.

  • The perspective from these studies illustrated the importance of viewing a business as a social system.

• Contributions of the Hawthorne Studies

  • Highlighted the need to recognize and address employee satisfaction and dissatisfaction's relationship to production and productivity.

  • Paved the way for future studies and organizational practices focusing on employee welfare and social aspects in business.