THE ROARING

TWENTIES
LIFE & CULTURE
IN AMERICA IN
THE 1920S
End of WWI & Victory Parade
• WWI ends
November,
1918
• 4 million
soldiers
return
US - Life in the 1920s
• Women won the right to vote: Role of Women
– 19th Amendment, 1920
• Change in fashion
– “Flappers”
• Change in the work place and
leisure.
Prohibition • 1919 - 18th Amendment
– Prohibition began—no
selling, making, or
buying of alcohol
• Bootlegging
• Speak-Easies
• 1933 - 21st Amendment
– Ended Prohibition
 ORGANIZED
CRIME
 Prohibition
contributed to the
growth of organized
crime in every major
city
Al Capone took
control of the Chicago
liquor business by
killing off his
competition
Al Capone was finally convicted on
tax evasion charges in 1931
– Baseball
– College Football
– Boxing

Sports
• Consumer Goods:
– Ice boxes, Autos, & radios
• Installment Plans
– Pay a little each month
(AKA Credit)
 Douglas Fairbanks Lillian Gish

Movies & Film

• Movies were
shown in theatres.
• Movie stars
became celebrities.
Clara Bow
Mary Pickford
 “The Jazz Singer”

• In 1927, The Jazz

Singer became
the first “talkie.”
New
Transportation

• From 1920-1929,
the number of
registered autos
tripled and the
amount of roads
doubled.
 Air Travel
• 1927- First Trans-
Atlantic Air Flight by
Charles Lindbergh.

Charles Lindbergh, 25 years old

 Presidents of the 1920’s
• Warren G. Harding
Harding
1920-1923
• Calvin Coolidge
1923-1928
• Herbert Hoover
1929-1933

Coolidge
Hoover
 “Teapot Dome Scandal”
• 1921 - Albert B. Fall gained control of
government oil fields & secretly leased them
to private oil companies
• Warren G. Harding died of illness August
2nd, 1923.
• Calvin Coolidge, Harding’s VP, became
President.
• He was one
not to indulge
in the
extravagance
of the 1920’s
lifestyle.
• He was
known as
“Silent Cal.”
 Herbert Hoover

– Thought hard
work made the
American
Dream possible.
– Thought the
government
should stay out
of business.
1928: Herbert Hoover vs. Alfred E. Smith