The 1920’s in America were an iconic time for fashion, music, and culture. It’s known as the Jazz Age, the Roaring 20s, and the era of Prohibition. Learn more about what defined this era of excess, flappers, and jazz with these facts.
5 America in the 1920s Facts
1. The term “roaring” refers to America’s robust economy at the time. (Source)
America’s GDP more than doubled between 1920 and 1929, giving Americans access to a new consumer culture laden with advertisements, excitement, and access. For the first time, more Americans lived in cities and suburbs than on farms.
2. Booze was banned, yet it was still flowing. (Source)
Although there was a prohibition on production and consumption on alcohol, this didn’t stop the hard partying Roaring Twenties lifestyle. Alcohol was secretly distributed and brewed in speakeasies around the country. Membership cards granted access to these secret dens.
3. Jazz was born in the 1920s. (Source)
The lively and exciting Jazz style was pioneered by Louis Armstrong in the 1920s. Jazz was the most popular music at speakeasies, enjoyed by flappers and other young people.
4. The most popular names in the 1920s were John and Mary. (Source)
Despite 1920s culture being viewed as immoral and too modern by older generations, it seems that these biblical names were still the most popular.
5. Flappers aspired to a boyish look and fashion sense. (Source)
“Flapper” was a term for fashionable young women of the 1920s who wore a certain modern style. Flappers took on a daring short haircut never before seen on women in the U.S. They also made the controversial move to forgo corsets and wear “step-ins” which were meant to flatten the chest. Flappers shocked further with knee length dresses relaxed waistlines that allowed them to display their legs and dance freely.
