Popular Entertainment of the 1920s

Popular Entertainment of the 1920sMoviesSilent FilmsTalkiesRadioAviationSportsJazzLiterature

The first movie with sound, or talkie was called The Jazz Singer. It starred Al Jolson who was a white Lithuanian immigrant who put on black make up and acted as a black minstrel singer. Before talkies, theaters had a piano player who would play musical scores to go along with the action.Movies1920's PowerPoint2

Charlie Chaplin made it big in the movies as a comedian.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JF38g4z_l_4 Rudolph Valentino was the man all the girls were swooning over.

Clara Bow was the woman all the boys were swooning over.

1920's PowerPoint3Censorship of Films

In 1922, the MPPDA (Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America) was formed and lead by a former Republican politician, William H. Hays.Mae Wests hips were censored. They say love is blind...and marriage is an institution. Well, I'm not ready for an institution for the blind just yet. --Mae West Nude scenes were censored.4In 1922, the MPPDA (Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America) was formed and lead by a former Republican politician, William H. Hays. He teemed with a prominent lay Catholic, Martin Quigley to form the basis for the standard of censorship of films named the Motion Picture Production Code. When the document was printed in its entirety in 1934 in the Motion Picture Herald, the names of its composers were strategically left out since the MPPDA and Hays did not want to expose the code's Catholic origins. The three general principles of the code were as follows: 1. No picture shall be produced which will lower the moral standards of those who see it. Hence the sympathy of the audience shall never be thrown to the side of crime, wrongdoing, evil, or sin. 2. Correct standards of life, subject only to the requirements of drama and entertainment, shall be presented. 3. Law, natural or human, shall not be ridiculed, nor shall sympathy be created for its violation. However, the code did not have any legal authority because producers submitted scripts to the Production Code on a volunteer basis. For the first few years, the code did not have much of an impact on films being produced as only a small portion of studios agreed to comply with the standards. This upset many of the religious reformers of America and the Catholic Church decided to take action.The world's 1st fully synchronized sound cartoon, Walt Disney's Steamboat Willy, (Mickey Mouse) premiered.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBgghnQF6E4

In 1920 the first radio program was broadcast. For the next 30 years the radio was the major mass media tool. By 1930 there were over 30 million radios in the U.S. They were used for advertisements, entertainment, music, and sporting events. Serial programs (soaps) were very popular.Radio was the key source of information and entertainment in the 1920s.RADIO

Vacation Trailer Show1920's PowerPoint6AviationGlenn CurtissFounder of the US Aircraft industry.

LINDBERGHS FLIGHT Americas most beloved hero of the time wasnt an athlete but a small-town pilot named Charles Lindbergh

Lindbergh made the first nonstop solo trans-Atlantic flight

American Heroes in AviationCharles LindberghWas the first to fly his airplane, the Spirit of St. Louis, across the Atlantic Ocean, from New York to Paris non-stop, in 1927.Lucky Lindy made his flight in 33 hours.

Sports - In the 1920s people went to watch sports in greater numbers, such as football, baseball, & boxing.

Harold "Red" Grange10Harold "Red" Grange is known more for being the player who put professional football on the map, but the reason the Chicago Bears made so much money and were so successful was because of the popularity and fame that Grange attained in college. Nicknamed Red because of his fire-color hair, Grange was a high-school star in several sports earning a total of sixteen letters in baseball, basketball and track, but his real talent was on the football field scoring 74 touchdowns. Among the greats of the time was Grange who was also known as the Galloping Ghost (and the Wheaton Iceman because he got so strong from his summer job carrying ice) and was one of college football's greatest breakaway threats. BaseballIn the 1920s & 1930s, Babe Ruth & Lou Gehrig were a part of the Yankees Murders Row because of their powerful hitting.In 1927 Ruth hit a record 60 home runs, which accounted for 14% of all home runs in the American League that year (this record stood until 1961 with Roger Maris). In 1939, doctors at the Mayo Clinic diagnosed Gehrig with a very rare form of degenerative disease: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), which is now called Lou Gehrigs disease.But even baseball was segregated. In 1920 the Negro National League was formed.11Babe Ruth is the only player ever to hit three home runs in a World Series game on two separate occasionsGame 4 of the 1926 Series and Game 4 of the 1928 Series.In 1920, an organized league structure was formed under the guidance of Andrew Rube Fostera former player, manager, and owner for the Chicago American Giants. In a meeting held at the Paseo YMCA in Kansas City, Mo., Foster and a few other Midwestern team owners joined to form the Negro National League.

Lets Go Yankees!

Satchel Page, pitcherhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uS7Iq_I0i6MBabe Ruth

"Shoeless" Joe Jackson George "Buck" Weaver The players on the Charles Comiskey's 1919 Chicago White Sox team were a fractious lot with plenty to complain about. The club was divided into two "gangs" of players, each with practically nothing to say to the other. Together they formed the best team in baseball--perhaps one of the best teams that ever played the game--, yet they were paid a fraction of what many players on other teams received. Comiskey's contributions to baseball were beyond question, but he was both a tightwad and a tyrant. The White Sox owner paid two of his greatest stars, outfielder "Shoeless" Joe Jackson and third baseman Buck Weaver $6000 a year, despite the fact that players on other teams with half their talent were getting $10,000 or more. On road trips, Sox players received a $3 a day allowance, even though almost all other teams gave their players $4. For Sox pitcher Eddie Cicotte, there was another source of irritation: in the fall of 1917, when Cicotte approached a 30-win season that would win him a promised $10,000 bonus, Comiskey had his star pitcher benched rather than be forced to come up with the extra cash. So, by the end of the 1920, there were rumors about a fix and 8 White Sox players faced charges of (1) conspiring to defraud the public, (2) conspiring to defraud a Sox pitcher, (3) conspiring to commit a confidence game, (4) conspiring to injure the business of the American League, and (5) conspiring to injure the business of Charles Comiskey (then-owner of the White Sox). They were all found not guilty, but the next day, the new Commissioner of Baseball, Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, released a statement to the press: "Regardless of the verdict of juries, no player who throws a ballgame, no player that undertakes or promises to throw a ballgame, no player that sits in conference with a bunch of crooked players and gamblers where the ways and means of throwing a game are discussed and does not promptly tell his club about it, will ever play professional baseball." Landis was true to his word. Despite the best efforts of some of the players, especially Buck Weaver, to gain reinstatement, none of the Eight Men Out would ever again put on a major league uniform.

The 1919 Chicago White Black Sox Scandal: 8 White Sox players (including arguably 2 of the best in baseball, Shoeless Joe Jackson and George Buck Weaver) faced charges of conspiring to throw the World Series in order to make money. They were all found not guilty, but the next day, the new Commissioner of Baseball, Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, kicked them out of the MLB permanently. 13

In the 1920s everyone loved baseball, even Capone.1920's PowerPoint14Swapping autographsBoxing: Jack Dempsey

15This was a re-match fight in September of 1927 where Dempsey knocked Tunney down for the count, but Dempsey felt the count was longer than 10 seconds (he thought it was 15 seconds). Some say that the count was longer because Dempsey did not go back to his corner quickly & the ref would not start counting until he did this wasted 4-5 sec. - Tunney got up before the end of the count, and later won the fight. People still argue this fight today on sports talk shows.Swimming: Gertrude EderleSwam across the English Channel

First Miss America Pageant (1921): The bathing suit competition

17Bathing Suit contest (Margaret Gormanthe winner is on the far right)Created in Atlantic City in 1921, the contest was to promote a seaside resort; not a make a woman an overnight celebrity. The first winner was 16 year old Margaret Gorman. Back then, the contest consisted of 8 women who represented cities, not states. They qualified by winning a hometown popularity contest. Once they reached Atlantic City, they competed in a "bathing revue" which even the all-male orchestra wore bathing suits. The next year in 1922, there were 57 cities, and one of the judges were Norman Rockwell. The evening gown competition was added in 1924. Games and Fads

Endurance Crazes Flagpole Sitting: Alvin Shipwreck Kelly made $ by sitting in front of businesses & attracting patrons.His best recorded sit was for 49 days on a flagpole over the boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey.Games and Fads

Endurance Crazes Dance MarathonsPrize money might be $1000, but the real reason to get involved was because it was the thing to do!One lasted for 119 days and contestants only stopped to use the bathroom.Rules: Keep in perpetual motion.Problems: Dancers became ill and even died.Popular Dance: The Charleston

Since the 1920s was a time of celebration, there were many fads. People loved to dance, especially the Charleston, Fox-trot, and the shimmy. Dance marathons were something everyone went to every weekend. Extremely popular during the great depressioncompete for money prizes, as well as stars seeking fame, basically anyone could enter. A marathon consisted of a emcee, band and or Phonograph, Nurses, Doctor, Cots, Dance floor and Contestants, Manicurists, Barbers, Podiatrists etc. The dance marathon did not display humanity at its best. After the 6th or 7th day of straight dancing the women would grow to hate their partners, and would scratch, and scream at the men, while the men resorted to more physical violence. Sleeping was permitted, but it had to be done on the dance floor, and only one partner at a time. Some contestants were professional dancer/actors longest running marathon lasted for 22 weeks, 3 1/2 days. A Dance Marathon is not crazy, but to dance for two weeks is. There was a dance contest in 1928. Mary Promitis was on the news because she "Pickled" her feet in vinegar and salt water to help her dance for two weeks nonstop. A quote from New York World stated "Of all the crazy competitions ever invented, the dancing marathon wins by a considerable margin of lunacy." Basketball players learn the Charleston in the hope it will help their game Credit: National Photo Co. "The Charleston as an aid to the game." Created between 1920 and 1932. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress.

19Games and Fads

Mah-Jongg: a game with pictured ivory game tiles that need to be matched up (somewhat similar to dominoes) But, people would dress up in kimonos and have parties where ancient Chinese etiquette would be followed (very exclusive). Crossword Puzzles also became popular.

Introduced to the United States in 1922, the Chinese game of mahjongg took hold of Americans within a year with millions of enthusiastic followers. Women of mahjongg clubs wore silk kimonos to play in proper attire while the game became the concrete form of entertainment within fraternity houses and dormitories. By 1923, mahjongg sets were outselling radios, and American entrepreneurs quickly jumped on the bandwagon. Chicago meat packers sent bones to China for carving. Sets were sold at prices ranging from a few dollars to $500. American novices paid for rulebooks and Chinese Americans to teach them the ritziest game of the 20's. Mention that once the tiles were made into plastic game pieces and anyone could afford them, they lost their popularity.20

J A Z ZOriginated in New Orleans from African American Blues and West African rhythms. Jazz was so popular that the 1920s era was called the Jazz Age. Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong were two famous jazz musicians of the era.1920's PowerPoint21Louis ArmstrongLouis Armstrong was one of the greatest jazz musicians of all time. He introduced jazz to Chicago, and he made jazz his own by playing solos rather than ensembles.

Duke EllingtonDuke Ellington introduced his own blend of jazz in New York. Famous hits were Mood Indigo and Sophisticated Lady.

The Cotton ClubThe Cotton Club was one of the most famous Harlem nightspots where many black entertainers got their start by performing to an all white audience.

The BluesBessie Smith was known as the Empress of Blues for her emotional singing style and commanding voice.She was one of the highest paying black artists of her generation.Josephine Baker was a well known singer and dancer. She not only performed on Broadway in NYC but in Paris, France.

The Lost GenerationGertrude Steins term for the young poets and writers who listened to jazz, went to speakeasies, and became disillusioned with American materialism.By this she meant that the struggles and footholds of the previous generation no longer existed for the current oneA group of American writers who felt out of place and disillusioned in the aftermath of WWI.

1920's PowerPoint26LiteratureLiterature often spoke of shallow relationships and the fascination with material wealth, and the emotional distress that followed.F. Scott Fitzgerald, pictured here with his wife Zelda, was the leading voice of the lost generation.

Quotes from the Lost GenerationSo we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.-F. Scott Fitzgerald, from The Great GatsbyWe grew up founding our dreams on the infinite promise of American advertising. I still believe that one can learn to play the piano by mail and that mud will give you a perfect complexion.-Zelda Sayre FitzgeraldMy candle burns at both endsIt will not last the night;But ah, my foes, and oh, my friendsIt gives a lovely light.-Edna St. Vincent MillayGeorgia OKeefeAn artist know for her use of intense colors.Often used Southwestern themes.George Gershwin was an American composer.Ira Gershwin often wrote lyrics for Georges music.The Gershwin Brothers

Leisure TimeThe average work week decreased from 60 hours to 46 hours in the 1920s.As a result, money spent on amusement and recreation increased by 300%!Entertainment can take various forms.In the 1920s, people entertained themselves with spectator sports, games, movies, and the radio.