The Culture of the Roaring 20s - Essay Example

Table of Contents Introduction 2 2.Overview of the culture of the Roaring 20s 2 2 The Jazz Culture 3 2.2 The Flapper’s and Women’s movement 3 2.3Prohibition 3 2.4 The Garvey Movement and African Americans 4 2.5 The Ku Klux Klan 4 2.6 Ant-Immigration Laws 4 3.Consumerism Culture & the Advent of Advertisements 5 3.1Consumerism 5 3.2Advertisements 5 4.Conclusion 7 Bibliography 7 1. Introduction The 1920s was a decade of deep cultural and political conflict witnessing a colossal struggle between the old traditional Americans and the new-aged Americans. The "Roaring Twenties," as it was called was the decade jazz, automobile, first transatlantic flight, bootleggers, gangsters, flappers, marathon dancers, radio, movies, processed food and insurgence. But this era was not all about fun and entertainment, great changes also took place like anti-immigration laws, the prohibition act, the rise of the republicans, movement of the Blacks, women’s rights, resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), the Scopes Monkey Trial, continuing rural poverty and many more political, social and commercial upheavals. Also in this epoch a mass popular culture developed based largely on the consumption of luxury items and mass media. It was because of this cultural change and the media that advertising became accepted as a normal part of the business process and companies began to see it as a compulsory business expense to maintain their market share presence. 2. Overview of the culture of the Roaring 20s The 1920’2 saw a dramatic change in morality and commercialism as United States emerged from the Great War as a rich and powerful nation. Huge cultural and political clashes took place between Immigrants, races, alcohol laws, democrats and republicans, gender politics, and sexual morality. Wets battled drys, religious modernists battled religious fundamentalists, and urban ethnics battled the Ku Klux Klan. (Digital History) The 1920’s was also the start of the rebellion of the younger generation against traditional and social morals of the previous generations. The youth took to drinking and throwing wild parties and premarital sex became less taboo and more of a norm. A new urban African American culture also started to become widespread, forever changing the nature of American arts and culture. 2.1 The Jazz Culture The 1920s was dominated by jazz, jazz, and jazz it was called the devil’s music, breaking all the norms, musical and social. In jazz, black culture expressed itself and spontaneous musical form derived in part from slave songs and African spirituals. The music was often associated with the “loose” morals and relaxed social codes of the time. White youth from all social classes were drawn to jazz and the seductive new dances that went along with it and it became the youth’s symbol for freedom racial, social and political. (Jazz Age Culture -Part 1) 2.2 The Flapper’s and Women’s movement Another famed symbol of this decade was the flapper, a name given to the fashionable, pleasure-seeking young women of the time. The flapper look was tomboyish and flashy with light, revealing clothing, bobbed hair, bangles and beads, and openly smoked and drank. "[The flapper] symbolized an age anxious to enjoy itself, anxious to forget the past, anxious to ignore the future." (Jacques Chastenet) With easier access to birth control, women also became more equal to men in their willingness to experiment with premarital sex and once married had a better opportunity to control reproduction. In 1920s women also finally attained the right to vote and saw significant change in the lives of working women. Women began to desire not only successful careers of their own but also families. 2.3 Prohibition The Eighteenth Amendment went into effect in January 1920, making it illegal to manufacture, sell, or transport alcoholic beverages. But enforcement of prohibition was sporadic and faced opposition in many states and cities. Bootleggers smuggled liquor from the West Indies and Canada, while speakeasies in every city provided alcohol illegally and Organized crime controlled the distribution of alcohol in major American cities 2.4 The Garvey Movement and African Americans Two prominent black movements also came into existence in 1920, Marcus Garvey a black leader and the United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) and National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Garvey urged American blacks to return to Africa and establish an independent nation and attracted many supporters. But was sharply criticized by NAACP a more conservative force for social reform called for integration and equal treatment for blacks, for being too radical. The NAACP also gathered many supporters and was quiet successful in its endeavors. 2.5 The Ku Klux Klan Intolerance by certain Americans during the 1920s resurged again with resurrection of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) in. But instead of just targeting blacks for attack, as the earlier Klan had done, the new Klan expanded its target to include all non-Protestants and called for “100 percent Americanism,” Jews also bore the brunt of Klan intimidation and murder. In some states, the Klan even exerted dominant political, as well as social, force. 2.6 Ant-Immigration Laws United States for the first time in history became anti-immigrant and the Immigration Act of 1924 was passed limiting immigration. The massive influx of Europeans that had come to America during the first two decades of the century slowed to a trickle and Asians and citizens of India were prohibited from immigrating altogether. 3. Consumerism Culture & the Advent of Advertisements The Americans sick from fighting and disillusioned by the failure of the Democrat Wilson’s plans to create a new world order, elected a conservative Republican as president. The Republican presidents gave corporations free rein, raised protective tariffs, and cut taxes for the rich and big business and wealthy businessmen especially benefited from these policies. People from all classes except the rural became rich and had more money to spend than ever before, giving rise to the great urban culture. (War, Peace, and All That Jazz) Taking advantage of this spending power and motivate sales and increase profits, businesses expanded advertising, offered installment credit, and created the nations first regional and national chains. 3.1 Consumerism Mass production made technology affordable to the middle class. New products filled the market; processed food, ready made clothes, cars, radios, TVs, refrigerators, washing machines, and vacuum cleaners were a must have for every house hold rich or poor. It suddenly seemed that everyone seemed to have a radio and by the late 1920s there were hundreds of broadcasting stations and nearly 10 million privately owned radio sets. Cars also were the symbol of the new consumer society that emerged in the 1920s; Americans began to view ownership of a car as a necessity, rather than a luxury. Cars became so cheap that by the mid-1920s, the average family owned a car.  The automobile industrys effects were widespread, giving rise to gas stations, motels, and the oil industry. 3.2 Advertisements Accompanying the rise of new consumer society there was a profound difference in the ways that businesses operated. Ad Campaigns encouraged Americans to borrow today and pay later, so they can buy what advertising convinced them they wanted for tomorrow. Before the 1920s, most advertisements consisted of vast expanses of print; there were no brand names, pictures, or catch phrases. For the first time realizing the power of mass media - radio, TV and movies, advertising agencies hired psychologists to design the first campaigns and were unscrupulous when it came to representing products. They started campaigns by building-up name brand identification, creating memorable slogans, manipulating endorsements by bogus doctors or celebrities, and appealing to consumers hunger for prestige and status. The vast reach of the newly invented radio and later in the 1920’s the movies and TV, Newspaper gossip columns, illuminated billboards, created a national market and spurred advertising to unprecedented levels. The movie industry combining with the radio, created a new style of celebrity. (http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/article digital History) Syndicated radio and wide release movies all worked toward creating a new style of mass culture, celebrities, sports idols, news events became known on a national level. The most popular products that were advertised to the hilt in 1920s were cars, cigarettes, radio and TVs electric appliances, sodas and processed foods, these ads reflected the pleasure seeking and fame hungry society that is still prevalent today. 4. Conclusion In innumerable ways American life was transformed during the 1920s, at least in urban areas, and can be called the first "modern" decade in United States history creating the platform of America of today. The influence of mass media contributed to a period of fads with jazz, flappers, dance marathons, cigarettes, and cars across America and the United States became a consumer society. In the Hunger to buy more credit and installment plans crept their way into American society and till date are enslaving the people of America. Consumption was and is still related to pleasure, power and celebs. Bibliography 1. Retrieved from Digital History, accessed on 21st November 2008 http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/article 2. Retrieved from Digital History accessed on 21st November 2008 http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/article , accessed on 3. Hakim, Joy (1995) War, Peace, and All That Jazz 4. Retrieved from Jazz Age Culture -Part 1, accessed on 22nd November 2008 http://faculty.pittstate.edu/~knichols/jazzage.html 5. Jacques Chastenet, "Europe in the Twenties" in  Purnells History of the Twentieth Century Read More