Popular culture
Essential Question
How is popular culture in the 20's different than the previous decade?
There were many revolutions that changed society that took place directly after the progressive era. The automobile industry took off in the 20's with the help of Henry Ford's assembly line, along with the enhancement and popularity gain of the radio and motion pictures. In addition to these categories, aviation, advertising, and sports also had their share of growing, leading into what they are today. Before this era, all of these things were either not invented yet, or at their very infancy, and this time period was where these things really took off.
There were many revolutions that changed society that took place directly after the progressive era. The automobile industry took off in the 20's with the help of Henry Ford's assembly line, along with the enhancement and popularity gain of the radio and motion pictures. In addition to these categories, aviation, advertising, and sports also had their share of growing, leading into what they are today. Before this era, all of these things were either not invented yet, or at their very infancy, and this time period was where these things really took off.
key questions
- The Automobile. One major change that came during the 1920's was the rapid advancement of the automobile. Due to Henry Ford's pioneering in car manufacturing and making the car affordable, it was becoming more and more prominent in American society. Because more families were able to purchase these vehicles, changes were coming to American society. One of these main changes was the spreading out of cities. Because the trip was drastically shortened, people were moving away, and this created the suburbs.
- Radios and Movies. The advancement of radios and movies also had an impact on life in the 20's. As technology progressed, radio stations became easier to maintain, and they were known to "knit the nation together". These stations started out small, but then grew to become national stations. Also, movies became widely popular in the 1920's. Five cent movie theaters called "nickelodeons" started growing across the nation, and Hollywood was established as the movie capital of the country. Also during this time, color motion pictures started playing, and this made the industry even more popular.
- Aviation. Before the 20's, the progression of the airplane was in its infancy, but once the 20's hit advancements in aviation technology also spurred. Planes were becoming able to carry heavier loads and more passengers, and fly for longer distances. Charles Lindbergh made a huge impact on society with his flying of a small plane across the Atlantic from New York to Paris. The world had become smaller.
- Advertisement. The 1920's was also a time of new advertising techniques. During this time advertisement took off. With the use of magazines, newspapers, and the endorsement of popular movie stars, businesses were finding better ways to make their product known.
- Sports. Additionally, the world of sports took off in the 1920's. This was because professional leagues were being established, and along with this, newspapers and magazines covered the games and made the sports known to the public. Also, golf was becoming available to the middle class citizen unlike before. In addition to this, high schools were establishing teams so their students could participate in various sports.
comparison: 1920's vs. Progressive/ww1
Change and Continuity: Before the 1920's, there were many drastic differences in various aspects of popular culture. Major changes came with the automobile, radios and movies, aviation, advertisement, and sports. the time of the progressive era was the beginning of the car industry, and it was still difficult for the middle class citizen to purchase one. In the 20's, the assembly line helped the auto industry take off. Also in the progressive era, radio was scarce and not widely popular. Movies were being created, but the time of the 1920's was when the motion picture industry took off. In the 1920's, with technological advances, the radio became national and knitted the nation together. During the WW1 and progressive eras, aviation was another aspect of society that was at its infancy. Despite this, with the help of Charles Lindbergh, aviation took off in the 20's. This meant more area for cargo, and more space for passengers. Advertisement and Sports also took off after the progressive era. These tie in together because there was a lot of advertising dealing with the sports of this time. Most people of american society benefitted from these changes, for most made everyday tasks easier and made communication easy.
vocab
- Mass Media: Diversified media technologies meant to reach the mass public with mass communication.
- Consumerism: A movement to protect the consumer against dangerous or inferior products.
- Prosperity: A successful or thriving condition, especially in financial aspects.
- Mass Production: The production of large quantities of a standardized article, usually by means of mass production.
Primary source (apparts)
The source below is a newspaper article from the 20's. The author of the article is specifically unknown, but it was a newspaper article writer specializing in the sports category. On the newspaper, the date is April 18, but the year is not specified despite the fact that it is undoubtedly from the 20's. Our prior knowledge of this topic is that though before the 1920's sports were not as popular, but during this time the world of sports was becoming increasingly popular. One of these newly popular sports was baseball, which is what this article is about. Baseball became popular with the help of Babe Ruth, a popular baseball star. The audience of this source is Red Sox fans, or sports fans in general. If the audience was different, the article would likely be about a different sports team. The reason that this newspaper article was produced was because there was likely a game the night before, and this advertisement was the method used to let the public know the outcome of the game. The main idea of this article is that sports had become widely popular during the 1920's, and this shows because a game report had gained the front page of a newspaper article. This also shows that wide audiences of people were hearing about sports and, most likely, more and more people were becoming interested.
thinking like a historian/change and continuity
Using the Past: Using the events the occurred during the 1920's we are able to make a better sense of our world today. This time period is similar to the present in few ways, one being that the assembly line used to make cars, that was introduced in the 20's, is still widely used by car manufacturers today. Also, the boom of sports and art led into the major effect that those two things have on society today. This is because when the sports and arts boom hit in the 20's, this interest from the people carried on and is still going strong today. Despite these similarities, there are some differences between then and now. One of those differences is advertising. Back then advertising was rapidly becoming more effective, but it was nothing compared to today. Along with the newspaper, today we have methods like the internet, television, and more and more magazines. Another difference is our music taste. The worlds taste for music has changed over and over form the jazz of the 1920's to what we have today. All in all, the past is a key tool to understanding the world today.
The big idea
In this era, many cultural changes took place. This was due to advancements in technology, and magnificent minds of artistic pioneers. These changes varied from automobiles to movies to sports, and in all, progress was made toward the outcome of today's society.