The decade of the
1920s holds a fascination because it has both the familiarity of home
and the exoticism of a foreign land.
In the years
between the First World War and the Great Depression most of the
elements of the rest of the twentieth century -- the modern world as we
know it -- reached mainstream American culture. The everyday world
became dominated by commerce, influenced by packaged entertainment, run
by machines. It was a place of easy travel, physical comfort, and many
different choices of possessions and lifestyles. For most people, these
changes were only additional resources, along with such longstanding
values as clean living and hard work, toward a comfortable, prosperous,
and respectable life.
And yet, the Jazz
Age reputation for full-fledged craziness was real. While most people
sampled this brave new world from the security of respectable family
life, some pushed the ever-stretching boundaries. The automobile could
take a family to church, or take a restless young couple into town to a
speakeasy -- with some private time in lovers' lane on the way home.
The record player brought symphonies into homes far from a concert
hall, and spread the hot notes of jazz throughout the country.
Housewives sought a couple of hours' escape from their routine chores
at the movies, made in a place with a wild reputation, called
Hollywood. Illegal gin flowed, and a constant succession of fads burst
into fashion and died overnight. It was easier than ever before for the
young and otherwise restless to follow their mad desires. The drive to
be "modern" -- the goal of both flaming youth and staid community
boosters -- provided permission to experiment, and creativity
flourished.
What Went Before
The
Real World, part 1: At Home
The
Real World, part 2: Downtown
Fantasy
Worlds:
Stage & Screen, Music, Literature,
Visual Arts & Design
Portal
to the Future: Technology
21st
Century Interpretations: Art, Stories & Poems
The Valentino Nook
Web
Links
Seasonal:
Christmas
About...
all original materials
copyright 2000, 2001, or 2002