An Introduction to the 1920s

Chapter # 6:Prosperity and Depression

Prosperity:• an economic state of growth with rising profits and full employment

Depression:

• a long-term economic state characterized by unemployment and low prices and low levels of trade and investment

The average yearly income was $1,236. In the year 2000 it was $28,272.

The price of a gallon of milk was $.58. Today it is $2.25.

Men lived about 54 years. Women lived about 55 years. Today men live about 78 years, and women live about 82.7 years (Stats. Canada, 2008)

A public school teacher earned about $729 a year. Today the average salary for a teacher is $42,898.

It took 13 days to reach California from New York driving on 2 lane roads. Today it takes 4 hours by plane.

Interesting Statistics

• Refers to the North American period of the 1920s, which has been described as "one of the most colorful decades in history”.

• The decade begins with the return of young soldiers from the fronts of the World War I, and includes many inventions, the growth of jazz music, the emergence of a new face of modern womanhood, and ending with the sad note of the Black Tuesday, and the Great Depression.

• The Roaring Twenties started in North America and spread to Europe as the effects of World War I diminished.

• In Europe, the years following the First World War (1919-1923) were marked by a deep recession. Europe spent these years in rebuilding and coming to terms with the vast human cost of the conflict.

• Technologies, such as trains, cars and mass communication by radio and telephone, spread the idea of modernity to a large part of the population.

• At the same time, amusement, fun and lightness were cultivated in jazz and dancing, in defiance of the horrors of World War I, which were still present in people's minds.

• The period is often called the "Jazz Age".

The War Is OverThe War Is Over

• After the First World War, Canada’s After the First World War, Canada’s economy went into decline for several yearseconomy went into decline for several years– The economy had to switch from being a The economy had to switch from being a

wartime to peacetime economywartime to peacetime economy

• The demand for food and weapon products The demand for food and weapon products fellfell– The Maritimes felt this especially hardThe Maritimes felt this especially hard

• This drove prices for everyday goodsThis drove prices for everyday goods upup

A Buoyant Economy for SomeA Buoyant Economy for Some• By 1923, the economy started to pick up in By 1923, the economy started to pick up in

many parts of Canadamany parts of Canada• Central Canada, the WestCentral Canada, the West• Mining, wheat, pulp and paperMining, wheat, pulp and paper• Electricity was widely available in urban Electricity was widely available in urban

areasareas• With electricity came new home appliances With electricity came new home appliances

i.e. stovesi.e. stoves

A Stalled Economy for SomeA Stalled Economy for Some• The boom did not reach the MaritimesThe boom did not reach the Maritimes• Shipbuilding was in decline and no Federal investments Shipbuilding was in decline and no Federal investments

were made in Maritime portswere made in Maritime ports• Increase in railway freightsIncrease in railway freights

– Because the Maritimes are farther away, they had to Because the Maritimes are farther away, they had to pay higher rates which made our products more pay higher rates which made our products more expensiveexpensive

• This was a period of high out-migration This was a period of high out-migration • A lack of electricityA lack of electricity• Increased tariffs on primary resources i.e. fish, woodIncreased tariffs on primary resources i.e. fish, wood

• In 1919, the 18th Amendment passed the Act of Prohibition, which made the making of, the transportation of, and the selling of alcohol illegal.

•The intent of the Amendment was to lower the crime rate and to improve the general way of life, but the opposite happened.

Prohibition

Crime increased as people rebelled against not being able to buy alcohol. People began making homemade alcohol using equipment called stills. This homemade alcohol was sometimes called bathtub gin.

Gangsters profited during this decade by smuggling alcohol and distributing it to different illegal businesses. Al Capone from Chicago was one of these gangsters. He made $105 million a year smuggling alcohol.

• Women received the right to vote by the 19th Amendment

• They wore the new flapper style of clothing and were more assertive.

• They took the same jobs as men, but still fought for equality in the workplace.

Flappers were considered reckless rebels. They had short sleek hair. They wore a shorter than average shapeless shift dress. They wore make-up and put it on in public. They exposed their legs in public. They put their cigarettes in long holders to smoke them. They enjoyed doing the new dances, such as the Charleston, in the jazz clubs.

Fashion

Men took their fashion ideas from the sports or gangster heroes of the day. Men wanted to appear “dapper.” Baggy pants, polished shoes, and a handkerchief in the pocket let others know that this man was someone to pay attention to. The baggy zoot suit was worn for fancy occasions.

Silent movies became "talkies" when sound was finally added. Charlie Chaplin, the Little Tramp, was one of the most famous stars in motion-picture history. He wrote and directed nearly all of his films, and composed the music for all of his sound pictures.

Amelia Earhart was the first female aviator to cross the Atlantic Ocean and the first woman to fly solo. She disappeared in 1937 in an attempt to be the first woman to fly around the world. No trace of Miss Earhart or her plane have ever been found.

Important People

Babe Ruth was the greatest slugger in baseball history. His record of 714 regular-season home runs wasn't broken until 1974 by Hank Aaron. He was named to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936.

In the early 1920s, Louis Armstrong joined King Oliver in Chicago--playing solos with Fletcher Henderson at the Roseland Ballroom in New York and making jazz history with the Hot Five. It was in Chicago that he initiated his "scat" singing -- singing nonsense syllables in place of words and vocally simulating instrumental sound.

Herbert Hoover was President of the United States from 1928-1932. He was a millionaire businessman and a successful public official. Seven months after becoming president the stock market crashed and the Great Depression began.

Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King

• Mackenzie King was Prime Minister of Canada off and on for a total of 22 years

Accomplishments of Mackenzie King: social programs such as unemployment

insurance, old age pensions, welfare, and the family allowance

Prime Minister of Canada: 1921-26, 1926-30, 1935-48