1920's Decade

The 1920’s was the best decade of the first half of the 20th century. In the 1910’s there was WWI, the 1930’s the great depression, and the 1940’s WWII. So much flourished economically and industrially during the 1920’s which made it the best decade. Even though there was so much good in the 1920’s there were some problems too, but not nearly as bad as any of the other decades in the first half of the 20th century.
During the 1920’s, the economy was booming. A big factor of the economy prospering was WWI. Because America joined the war late, it was not in debt. This allowed markets to expand into other countries, which increased economic growth. There was a new thing called installment buying that was used to buy appliances and cars. Installment
buying was when you would make a small down payment on something and then pay a monthly fee. This made a lot of people buy more appliances and cars. There was also something called buying stocks on margin. When you buy stock on margin it means you are borrowing money from a broker to buy stock. If your stock is successful then you can pay the broker back with money that you made. There was also a risk to this though because if the stock value decreased, then you wouldn’t have enough money to pay back the brokers. The stock market was a bull market in the 1920’s. This means that the stock values and prices were rising which is good.
Another way the 1920’s was the best decade was because of the new fads and culture.
The American culture became much more urban. For the first time, more Americans lived on cities rather than farms. This turned America into a consumer society. A lot of young women changed their style and way of life. These women were known as flappers. Flappers were young women that had bobbed hair, wore short skirts, drank, and smoked. A fad for many people was called flagpole sitting. Flagpole sitting was when someone would go sit on a flagpole for as long as they could. They would have records and the record is 21 days. This was dangerous for obvious reasons like you could fall if there was a gust of wind. People still loved doing it
though.
Music and dance also became a huge part of the 1920’s. There was something called the Round-the-Clock dance marathon. It was an endurance contest where couples would have to dance for dozens of hours. There was a cash prize at the end for the winner so a lot of people did this because they wanted money. Another popular dance was called the Charleston dance. Jazz and blues were also very popular. Jazz artists like Louie Armstrong and blues singers like Bessie smith became very well known throughout the country. People of the 1920’s loved sports like baseball, football, and boxing. Babe Ruth was a baseball player during this time and one of the most famous baseball player of all time. Red Grange was a dominant football player during this time and Jack Dempsey was a famous boxer known for knockouts.
The 18th amendment which is prohibition was made in the 1920’s.
The amendment banned all manufacturing and selling alcohol. Prohibition was supported by some people and those people were called drys. Most drys were women. Women liked this amendment because they would be abused by their drunk husbands. The people that disproved of the amendment were called the wets. The wets’ reasonings for not liking prohibition were they either liked drinking, or the fact that more people drank and crime rates rose after prohibition was made an amendment. Because of all this conflict, the 21st amendment became ratified. The 21st amendment repealed prohibition.
The 1920’s was the best decade during the first half of the 20th century. America grew and flourished economically. America became more urban and people had more money to buy things. Businesses made a ton of money off of people buying appliances and cars. There were many new fads, fashions, and ways of entertainment. America was great during the
1920’s.