Roaring Twenties
The Roaring Twenties, sometimes stylized as Roaring '20s, refers to the 1920s decade in music and fashion, as it happened in Western society and Western culture. It was a period of economic prosperity with a distinctive cultural edge in the United States and Europe, particularly in major cities such as Berlin,[1] Buenos Aires,[2][3] Chicago,[4] London,[5] Los Angeles,[6] Mexico City,[3] New York City,[7] Paris,[8] and Sydney.[9] In France, the decade was known as the années folles ('crazy years'),[10] emphasizing the era's social, artistic and cultural dynamism. Jazz blossomed, the flapper redefined the modern look for British and American women,[11][12] and Art Deco peaked.[13]
For other uses, see Roaring Twenties (disambiguation).Roaring Twenties
Mainly the United States
(equivalents and effects in the greater Western world)
The social and cultural features known as the Roaring Twenties began in leading metropolitan centers and spread widely in the aftermath of World War I. The spirit of the Roaring Twenties was marked by a general feeling of novelty associated with modernity and a break with tradition, through modern technology such as automobiles, moving pictures, and radio, bringing "modernity" to a large part of the population. Formal decorative frills were shed in favor of practicality in both daily life and architecture. At the same time, jazz and dancing rose in popularity, in opposition to the mood of World War I. As such, the period often is referred to as the Jazz Age.
The 1920s saw the large-scale development and use of automobiles, telephones, films, radio, and electrical appliances in the lives of millions in the Western world. Aviation soon became a business due to its rapid growth. Nations saw rapid industrial and economic growth, accelerated consumer demand, and introduced significant new trends in lifestyle and culture. The media, funded by the new industry of mass-market advertising driving consumer demand, focused on celebrities, especially sports heroes and movie stars, as cities rooted for their home teams and filled the new palatial cinemas and gigantic sports stadiums. In many countries, women won the right to vote.
Wall Street invested heavily in Germany under the 1924 Dawes Plan, named after banker and later 30th Vice President Charles G. Dawes. The money was used indirectly to pay reparations to countries that also had to pay off their war debts to Washington.[14] While by the middle of the decade prosperity was widespread, with the second half of the decade known, especially in Germany, as the "Golden Twenties",[15] the decade was coming fast to an end. The Wall Street Crash of 1929 ended the era, as the Great Depression brought years of hardship worldwide.[16]
Culture[edit]
Immigration restrictions[edit]
The United States became more anti-immigration in policy. The Emergency Quota Act of 1921, intended to be a temporary measure, set numerical limitations on immigration from countries outside the Western Hemisphere, capped at approximately 357,000 total annually. The Immigration Act of 1924 made permanent a more restrictive total cap of around 150,000 per annum, based on the National Origins Formula system of quotas limiting immigration to a fraction proportionate to an ethnic group's existing share of the United States population in 1920.[109][110] The goal was to freeze the pattern of European ethnic composition, and to exclude almost all Asians. Hispanics were not restricted.[111]
Australia, New Zealand, and Canada also sharply restricted or ended Asian immigration. In Canada, the Chinese Immigration Act of 1923 prevented almost all immigration from Asia. Other laws curbed immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe.[112][113][114][115]
Canadian politics[edit]
Canadian politics were dominated federally by the Liberal Party of Canada under William Lyon Mackenzie King. The federal government spent most of the decade disengaged from the economy and focused on paying off the large debts amassed during the war and during the era of railway over expansion. After the booming wheat economy of the early part of the century, the prairie provinces were troubled by low wheat prices. This played an important role in the development of Canada's first highly successful third political party, the Progressive Party of Canada that won the second most seats in the 1921 national election. As well with the creation of the Balfour Declaration of 1926, Canada achieved with other British former colonies autonomy, forming the British Commonwealth.
In popular culture[edit]
Television and film[edit]
The television show Boardwalk Empire is set chiefly in Atlantic City, New Jersey, during the Prohibition era of the 1920s.
The film The Great Gatsby is a 2013 historical romantic drama film based on the 1925 novel of the same name by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Music[edit]
For the 1987 album Bad, singer Michael Jackson's single "Smooth Criminal" featured an iconic video that took place during Prohibition in a speak-easy setting. This is also where his iconic anti-gravity lean was debuted.
For the classic album Rebel of the Underground released June 21, 2013, by recording artist Marcus Orelias, the album featured the song titled "Roaring 20s".
On September 2, 2013, musical duo Rizzle Kicks released their second album titled Roaring 20s under Universal Island.
On July 20, 2022, rap artist Flo Milli released her commercial debut album, You Still Here, Ho? which featured a bonus track called "Roaring 20s". The song was accompanied with a 1920s themed video.
Pray for the Wicked, the sixth studio album by American pop rock solo project Panic! at the Disco, released on June 22, 2018, features a song titled "Roaring 20s".
My Roaring 20s is the second studio album by American rock group Cheap Girls; it was released on October 9, 2009, and the title is a reference to the era.