The Roaring Twenties was a period of economic prosperity and social, artistic, and cultural opulence which occurred in the wake of World War 1. The Roaring Twenties witnessed large-scale development of technologies such as the automobile, telephone, movies, and radio.
The Roaring Twenties saw the rise of jazz, the blues, and dance clubs. There was a break away from the more traditional Foxtrots and Waltzes, to the more eccentric and novel Breakaway and Charleston, based on African American musical styles and beats.
Flappers were the generation of women in the Roaring 20s who wore short skirts, bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and broke away from all traditional societal norms. Flappers were renowned for their makeup, drinking, smoking, driving, and casual sex.
“In all countries, the First World War weakened old orthodoxies and authorities, and, when it was over, neither government nor church nor school nor family had the power to regulate the lives of human beings as it had once done. One result of this was a profound change in manners and morals that made a freer and less restrained society. Women benefited from this as much as anyone else. Time-worn prescriptions concerning what was or was not proper behavior for them no longer possessed much credibility, and taboos about unaccompanied appearances in public places, or the use of liquor or tobacco, or even pre-marital sexual relationships had lost their force. … [W]omen were no longer as vulnerable to the tyranny of society as they had been [before].” — Historian Gordon A. Craig
The Roaring Twenties also saw the Harlem Renaissance, the intellectual, social, and artistic movement that took place in Harlem, NY. Although the movement is said to have begun in 1918, it hit its zenith in 1924 with the publication of the academic journal published by the National Urban League entitled, Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life.
During the Harlem Renaissance, African Americans used art as an expression of their humanity, demand equality, and lay the foundation for the Civil Rights Movement. The Harlem Renaissance brought the ‘black’ experience into the lexes of American cultural, and sociological, history.
Overall, the Roaring Twenties were marked by a spirit of novelty and modernity. The Wall Street Crash of 1929 ended the era, and so began the Great Depression.
Bee Jackson, the World Champion of the 1920s dance craze the Charleston. Photo- Hulton-Deutsch Collection: Corbis Expand PhotoCouturier Jacques Fath takes the party out on his lawn, accompanied with Gene Tierney, dressed as a flapper. Photo- Bettmann: CorbisLouise Brooks. Photo- Bettmann: CorbisDancing at a cabaret. Photo Sygma: CorbisModel Claudia Dell poses semi-nude in nothing but feathers and fringed silk. Photo- CorbisGermaine, a twenties model, wears a turban and pearl necklace. Photo- Hulton-Deutsch Collection: CorbisJosephine Baker once graced the Moulin Rouge stage with her famous banana dance, which is still performed by solo dancers today. Photo- Julio Donoso:Sygma: CorbisA photographic montage of the Charleston. Photo- Hulton-Deutsch Collection: CorbisActress Nancy Carroll reclines fashionably in silk fringe. Photo- John Springer Collection: CorbisRebel with a garter flask, 1926. whizzpast
A couple of fashionable women, 1920s. whizzpastMiss Universe Ella Van Hueson, circa June 16, 1928. whizzpastDancing the Charleston on a railing in front of the US Capitol. whizzpastSilent film star Evelyn Brent, 1924. whizzpastWashington Cat Show at the Wardman Park Hotel in Washington D.C. whizzpastCambridge undergraduates, 1926. whizzpast
1920s amusement park. whizzpastConey Island beach, July 1922. Photo from NYC Municipal Archives via the Atlantic Cities.Flappers drinking bootleg alcohol during prohibition, summer 1925. Photo via the New Yorker.Celebrating the repeal of Prohibition at the Casino in Central Park in 1933. Credit Bettmann: CORBISThe Central Park casino became a hot nightspot after Mayor Jimmy Walker pledged to revamp it when he took office in 1926. The New YorkerSome solid advice during the July 4, 1921, anti-prohibition parade. Photo via MCNYLooking dapper during the July 4, 1921 prohibition parade. Photo via MCNYMore signs in the July 4, 1921, anti-prohibition parade. Photo via MCNYFlapper girls, summer 1920s. Photo via Beautiful Little FoolsJazz showgirls at the $7,000,000 home of Senator William A. Clark, on Fifth Avenue. 1927. Getty ImagesNew York City prohibition agents dumping liquor into the gutter. allthatisinterestingThe Cotton Club on 142nd Street. allthatisinterestingTimes Square illuminated during the 1920s. allthatisinterestingHarlem became a cultural hub for dynamic jazz and blues as well as a platform for rising jazz artists like Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith, Coleman Hawkins and “King” Oliver. allthatisinterestingModel Hannah Lee Sherman dressed in a Chanel coat, brimless hat, fox stole, suede bag, and snakeskin shoes is helped out of a car on Park Avenue. Getty Images
