THE ROARING TWENTIES
"Two Constitutional amendments went into effect in 1920, turning the nation upside down. The 18th Amendment prohibited the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages, and the 19th gave women the right to vote. A federal highway system was organized, and the number of automobiles nearly tripled. Spreading electrification spawned the golden age of radio.
"The Roaring Twenties, as the decade came to be known, was an age of thrill seekers and heroes. In 1926, Gertrude Ederle swam the English Channel faster than any man had. The following year, Charles Lindbergh flew nonstop across the Atlantic alone and Babe Ruth hit 60 home runs.
"The first feature-length film with talking parts, The Jazz Singer, appeared in 1927, and the first Academy Awards were presented in 1929. The prosperous times ended with the stock market crash of Thursday, October 24, 1929. Many new words -- such as motel, robot, fan mail, and teenage -- became part of the American lexicon."
RADIO ENTERTAINS AMERICA
By the end of the 1920s, radio had become a national obsession. Families crowded around their sets to listen to newscasts, comedy and children's shows, variety hours, and presidential speeches. The stamp art is based on a photograph of a 1923 Atwater Kent radio.
Question 1:
In the 1920s, Atwater Kent manufactured radios in many styles, including
"breadboard" radios. What was a breadboard radio?
The Web site: http://www.radiohistory.org
You can find the answer to that question on the Radio
History Society Web site. Check out the Atwater Kent exhibit.
JAZZ FLOURISHES
Created in the United States, jazz was spread by radio and recordings in the 1920s. Among the leading performers were Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Joe "King" Oliver, Fletcher Henderson, and Bix Beiderbecke.
Question 2:
In what year did Louis Armstrong record the poem "The Night Before
Christmas" in the den of his Corona, Queens home?
The Web site: http://www.satchmo.net/
You can find the answer to that question on a Louis
Armstrong biography page. Be sure to click on Biography once the page
loads.
19th AMENDMENT
The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified August 26, 1920. The fight for women's suffrage was over, ending a struggle that had begun in the mid-19th century.
Question 3: What State was the 36th State to ratify the 19th amendment?
Why was the 36th state so important?
The Web site: http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/woman-suffrage/ratification-tn.html
You will find that answer on the
The
19th Amendment Web page, which is part of the National Archives and Records
Administration's Web site.
BABE RUTH
Babe Ruth hit 54 home runs in 1920. He went on to hit 59 home runs in 1921 and 60 in 1927. Twice he hit three home runs in a single game of the World Series. One of his nicknames was the "Sultan of Swat."
Question 4:
How did George Herman Ruth get the nickname "Babe"?
The Web site:http://www.baberuth.com/biograph.html
The answer to that question can be found in the
Babe
Ruth Biography.
ART DECO STYLE
The Art Deco style in architecture and the decorative arts combines sleek elegance, geometric shapes, and varied materials.
Question 5:
What is, perhaps, the most famous example of an Art Deco building?
The Web site:
http://architecture.about.com/library/weekly/aa111900b.htm
You can find the name of those that building by visiting the
Art
Deco site at About.com.
LINDBERGH FLIES ATLANTIC
On May 20 and 21, 1927, Charles Lindbergh made the first nonstop, solo, trans-Atlantic flight aboard the Spirit of St. Louis. He left from Long Island and flew 3,600 miles to Paris in 33½hours.
Question 6:
How much money did Lindbergh win for being the first to make
the trans-atlantic flight? How did he carry enough
fuel?
The Web site:
http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/aerosim/LessonHS97/historicalplanes.html
You can find the answer to that question when you click on
the picture of the Spirit
of St. Louis which appears on the NASA Web site.
FLAPPERS DO THE CHARLESTON
Caricaturist John Held Jr. portrayed the fun-loving, escapist lifestyle of the Roaring Twenties. His drawings of young women called "flappers" symbolized the decade.
Question 7:
The look we regard
as 'the Flapper look' only lasted about 3 years. What were those years?
The Web site:
http://www.rambova.com/fashion/fash4.html
Find the answer to that question on the Women's
Fashions of the 1920's.
STOCK MARKET CRASH 1929
Stock market prices plummeted on Black Thursday, October 24, 1929, and collapsed on October 29. Banks and businesses closed and the Great Depression soon followed.
Question 8:
On what date did stock prices drop to their all time low?
The Web site:http://chantal_pitcher.tripod.com/
To find the answer to that question, go to the Stock
Market Crash of 1929.
AMERICAN REALISM
Painter Edward Hopper (1882-1967) is possibly the most important American realist of the period. The detail from the Automat (1927), at the Des Moines Art Center, typifies his attention to the human feelings of alienation, lonliness, and introspection.
Question 9:
Take a look at the ten pictures from Edward Hopper's famous street-scene paintings.
How many people are there in all of the paintings combined?
The Web site: http://metalab.unc.edu/wm/paint/auth/hopper
To find the number, click Street scenes on WebMuseum:
Edward Hopper. You will have to click on each painting individually in order
to see them enlarged.
MARGARET MEAD, ANTHROPOLOGIST
Anthropologist Margaret Mead explored the effect of culture on the behavior and personalities of children and adults as well as the differences between men and women.
Question 10:
In her lifetime, Margaret Mead wrote 26 books. What is the title of her
best-known book?
The Web site:
http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/expeditions/treasure_fossil/Treasures/Margaret_Mead/mead.html
To find the answer to that question, take a look at the American
Museum of Natural History's Margaret Mead page.