1/30/17-2/3/17

[1Morgan]

Monday- talk politics, continue Bruns' presentations

Airplanes in the 1920's

• Mail carrying
• Transporting small groups of people
• Military
• Entertainment- Barnstorming, daredevil stunts
• Major feats- ex. first to go around the world, etc.

Rural vs. Urban Lifestyle

• 1920 Census- 51.2 people lived in cities of 2,500 or more
• 1922-1929- more than 2 million people moved from farms to the cities each year
• Rural areas tried to hold on to moral values and close social relationships
• More people living in cities than ever

Urban Scene

Largest cities

1. New York City (5.6 million)
2. Chicago (3 million)
3. Philadelphia (2 million)
4. 65 other cities had over 100,000 people

Cities tolerated drinking, gambling, and casual dating

Prohibition- "The Noble Experiment"

• Alcohol was allowed for medicinal and religious purposes
  • Prescriptions and sacramental orders skyrocketed
• At first saloons closed and drunkenness went down
• The Volstead Act created the Prohibition Bureau to enforce the law
• Prohibition failed for three reasons:
  • People despised it. Saw it as government meddling in people's lives
  • The Prohibition Bureau was underfunded. Had 1,500 people to supervise the country
  • Organized crime became commonplace- more violent crimes
• Bootlegging
  • Illegally making and transporting alcohol
  • Biggest threat was not the law enforcement, but rival gangs
• Moonshine
  • Alcohol made secretly in home made stills
  • Several hundred people a year died from drinking moonshine during the 20's
  • In 1929 it is estimated that 700 million gallons of beer were produced in American homes
  • Mixed drinks came around during this time- moonshine tasted so bad, they mixed it with other flavors
• Speakeasies
  • To obtain alcohol illegally, people went underground to secret bars called speakeasies (people had to speak easily or quietly about it)
  • Could be anywhere

High Tariffs in the 20's

Era of "Permanent Prosperity"

• "As long as everyone has faith, everything will be fine."

Cult of Domesticity

• Developed throughout 1800's
• The ideal of womanhood had four characteristics:
  • Piety (religious)
  • Purity (save yourself for marriage)
  • Domesticity (stay home and take care of the home)
  • Submissiveness (submit to husband)

Education for women

• By 1928, women were earning 39% of the college degrees given in the US
• In 1900, it was 19%
• Today, women receive 60% of college degrees

"Pink Collared" Jobs- 1920's-1970's

• Gave women a taste of the work world
• Low paying service occupations
• Made less money than med did doing the same jobs
• Examples of jobs
  • Elementary school teachers
  • Phone operators
  • Nurses
  • etc.

Tuesday- Watch America: The Story of Us- "Boom"

Wednesday- Finish "Boom" episode, continue Bruns' 20's discussion

Entertainment:

Clara Bow

• THE flapper of the '20's- the IT girl
• She appeared in 58 films between 1922 and 1933- Famous actress
• Sex symbol

Flapper

• Not all women in the 20's were flappers
• Most were traditional- stay at home, do the housework, etc.
• Flappers mostly were Northern, urban, single, young, middle-class
• 2 parts- the dress and the attitude

Flagpole Sitting- Alvin Kelly- 20's fad

Famous Actors/Actresses-

• Mary Pickford
• Greta Garbo
• Clara Bow
• Charlie Chaplin
• Rudolph Valentino

Marx Brothers- Comedians, Harry Houdini- magician/escape artist

Babe Ruth- famous Yankees baseball player, Jack Dempsey- boxer, Red Grange- football player

Louis Armstrong- Jazz horn player, Duke Ellington- Jazz pianist, Cab Calloway, Bessie Smith- Jazz singers

F. Scott Fitzgerald- Author- The Great Gatsby

W.E.B. DuBois, Marcus Garvey- Civil Rights

The Cotton Club- white club in Harlem

Causes of the Stock Market Crash- 1929

• Stock prices were grossly inflated, did not have real value- watered stock prices
• Overspeculation during the 20's
  • People buying and selling stocks for quick cash
  • Led to watered stock
• "Buying on margin", sort of like buying on credit in the stock market
  • Led to people being in debt and watered stock prices
• By the late 20's, people were buying so much on credit that they were deep in debt, so they stopped buying
• Overproduction of goods- companies making too much, no one buying anything
• Uneven distribution of wealth- the rich able to play the stock market
• Too much borrowing from banks- banks made it too easy
• Federal Reserve increased interest rates- realized all that was happening- the "bubble"- was all fake- had to come back to reality
• Lack of government regulation
  • Led to pooling- multi-millionaires buying cheap stocks, rising prices, middle class people start buying- RCA stock

Thursday- Start 30's presentations

Causes of the Great Depression

• Largest economy in the world before the depression
• The the stock market crash- people lost jobs
• Domino effect- vicious cycle, downward spiral
  • Because people stopped buying, factories produced less
  • Because factories produced less, people lost their jobs
  • Because people lost their jobs, they can't buy things
  • Stores go out of business
  • Stores don't order from factories
  • Factories don't get orders
  • Full circle- factories produced less

Entertainment

Baseball

• Favorite sport, but less fans b/c of Depression
• Negro league gained attention
• George Herman Ruth Jr. aka Babe Ruth
  • Played for Red Sox before Yankees
  • 714 home runs in 22 seasons
• Lou Gehrig
  • Triple Crown Batting title in 1934
  • 23 grand slams
  • Yankees

Basketball

• Rules were changed so games would go faster and be more entertaining
• American Basketball League fell during the depression- people couldn't afford to go to games
• Sport was 39 years old in the 30's
• National Basketball League formed in '38
• Women's basketball was popular
• Not as big as football or baseball, but still popular
• Glenn Roberts
  • Known for the jump shot- basically created it
  • Scored 2,013 points in 104 games (1931-1935)

Boxing

• 2nd most popular sport
• Heavy betting
• Joe Louis
  • African-American
  • World heavyweight title (1937)
  • Major fight against Max Schmeling and won
• Henry Armstrong
  
  • Featherweight title (1937)
  • Lightweight and Welterweight titles (1938)
• Weight Classes
  
  • Featherweight- around 126 lbs
  • Lightweight- around 135 lbs
  • Welterweight- around 147 lbs
  • Heavyweight- anything greater that 200 lbs

Football

• Not as popular as boxing or baseball
• October 22, 1939- broadcasted on TV for the first time
• NFL decreased by 10 teams
• The idea of Drafting adopted from Bert Bell- have college football players play for a professional team
• First draft took place in 1936
• Helmets made of leather with padding on the inside- not very protective
• Bill Hewitt
  • 1932-1941- Chicago Bears
  • First player in the NFL to earn all NFL honors with 2 teams
• Wayne Millner
  
  • 1936-1941
  • 2 long touchdown catches in the Redskins win over the Chicago Bears in the NFL championship game in 1937

Radio

• Comedies were broadcasted through the radio
• Soap operas
• Sports started to be broadcasted
• People could listen to horse races on the radio and bet on them
• News was also broadcasted through the radio like in modern time
• Free for people to listen to (after the bought the radio)

Music

• Popular for those who could afford it
• Musicals became big
• Talkies were a common thing
• Jazz music was common
• Bands normally consisted of 15-20 players
• Country and westerns came around- also known as hillbilly music- becoming a popular style

Movies

• Popular- gave middle-class people a glimpse into the glamorous lives of the rich
• Smaller towns had free movies
• Sound was new so it didn't always work- if the sound did work, there could be sound and even voices
• First drive-in movie was in Camden, New Jersey in June, 1933
• Drive-in movies kind of died out around the 80's
• Golden age of Hollywood
• 1937 - Disney's "Snow White" was the first full length animated feature
• "Gone with the Wind" (1939)
• Popeye came out
• "Wizard of Oz"
  • Box office winner
  • First technicolor fantasy film from MGM
  • First aired on TV in 1959
  • Fun Facts:
    • Technicolor process need so much light that the set often exceeded 100 degrees
    • The lion costume weighed almost 100 pounds and was made of real lion pelts
    • Shirley Temple was going for the lead but the director didn't think her voice was good enough- Judy Garland got the role instead
• Shirley Temple
  
  • Started acting at the age of 3
  • First major film was "Stand Up and Cheer" which was released in April of 1934
  • Won the hearts of millions with her charm and talent
  • Had roles in Little Miss Marker and Bright Eyes
  • Remembered by the song "On the Good Ship Lollipop"
  • By 1938 she had starred in many films including "Curly Top" and many others

Dancing

• Similar to the 20's
• The bands would change so the dancing would also change
• Swing
  • Originated from the African American community
  • Variations including Charleston and Lindy Hop
• Charleston
  • Traced back to an African American who lived in Charleston, South Carolina
• Lindy Hop
  • Also known as the Jitterbug
  • Characterized by the breakaways when the partners split
• Dance Marathons
  • Lasted a long time- from about 3 hours to a few days
  • When you stop dancing, you're eliminated- last couple dancing wins

Friday- Watch America: the Story of Us: "Bust" episode