Popular Culture in the 1920s

Popular Culture in the 1920s

The 1920s saw a revolution in American popular culture. New technologies, growing prosperity, and changing social attitudes combined to create a vibrant, exciting decade of entertainment, music, sport, and fashion.

The Cinema

The film industry became one of America's biggest businesses during the 1920s:

• By 1929, 100 million cinema tickets were sold every week (out of a population of 123 million).
• Hollywood, California, became the centre of the global film industry. The major studios — MGM, Paramount, Warner Bros, Fox — produced hundreds of films a year.
• Early 1920s films were silent (accompanied by live music). The first major "talkie" was The Jazz Singer (1927), starring Al Jolson.
• Major stars included Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and Rudolph Valentino.
• Cinema created national celebrities for the first time — fans across America followed the lives of their favourite stars.

The Radio

Radio transformed American entertainment and communication:

• The first commercial radio station, KDKA in Pittsburgh, began broadcasting in November 1920.
• By 1929, there were over 800 radio stations and 10 million households owned a radio.
• Families gathered around the radio to listen to music, comedy shows, news, sport, and political speeches.
• Radio created national culture — for the first time, Americans across the country could share the same entertainment experiences simultaneously.
• Radio also boosted advertising — companies paid to sponsor programmes and broadcast commercials.

Jazz and the Jazz Age

Jazz music defined the decade — the 1920s are often called the Jazz Age:

• Jazz originated in the African American communities of New Orleans, blending blues, ragtime, and gospel music.
• Key musicians included Louis Armstrong (trumpet), Duke Ellington (bandleader and composer), and Bessie Smith ("Empress of the Blues").
• Jazz spread north during the Great Migration as Black Americans moved to cities like Chicago, New York, and Detroit.
• The Harlem Renaissance — a flowering of African American culture in the Harlem district of New York City — produced great literature (Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston), art, and music.
• Jazz was controversial: older, more conservative Americans saw it as immoral and associated it with drinking, dancing, and racial mixing.

The Changing Role of Women — Flappers

The 1920s saw significant changes in the lives of some American women:

• Flappers were young women who challenged traditional expectations. They:
• Wore short skirts (above the knee), short hair ("bobbed"), and make-up
• Smoked and drank in public
• Danced new dances like the Charleston and the Black Bottom
• Drove cars and went out without chaperones
• Some had jobs and their own income

• The 19th Amendment (1920) gave women the right to vote for the first time.
• New consumer goods (washing machines, vacuum cleaners) reduced the time spent on housework.
• However, the flapper lifestyle was mainly limited to young, urban, middle-class white women. Most American women, especially in rural areas and the South, continued to live traditional lives.

Sport

Sport became a major part of American popular culture in the 1920s:

Sport	Key Figure	Achievement
Baseball	Babe Ruth	Hit 60 home runs in 1927 season (a record that stood until 1961)
Boxing	Jack Dempsey	Heavyweight champion 1919-1926; fights drew crowds of 80,000+
Swimming	Gertrude Ederle	First woman to swim the English Channel (1926)
Aviation	Charles Lindbergh	First solo transatlantic flight, New York to Paris, May 1927

• The growth of radio meant millions could follow sports events live.
• Spectator sport became big business — Yankee Stadium ("The House That Ruth Built") opened in 1923 with a capacity of 58,000.

Key Exam Points

• Popular culture in the 1920s reflects the prosperity and confidence of the boom years.
• There was a significant divide between urban and rural America, and between those who embraced modern culture and those who resisted it.
• The Harlem Renaissance is important for understanding both African American culture and the broader theme of inequality.