How Did The 1920's Shaped American Culture

America has really grown to be a great country. America has shaped from the things that have started in the past. The 1920’s is one of the decades that America has been shaped from. The literature, fads, companies, and advancements are some things that have helped to shape America. The 1920’s have made an impact on today’s American current culture.
The roaring 20’s was a fusion of music and literature. Reading was a popular recreational activity especially during the winter months when other forms of activity were limited. Prior to radio and television most people gained knowledge of the wider world and current events through printed material. Consequently books, newspapers and magazines were an important part of most people’s lives and formed
a large part of their education. A knowledge of the classics was considered an essential part of a good education. Many American classics came out of the 20’s from writers such as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Carl Sandburg, and Robert Frost to name a few. These writers captured the exciting life style of the 20’s. ("The 1920's Experience: Literature.") The 20’s still have an impact on us today. We are still reading and learning from these great writers works. The Great Gatsby captured the excessive life style of the 20’s. This reflects the excessive of today’s life style. Ernest Hemingway wrote plainly about economics and social issues. One of his ideas was the view that the loss of liberty anywhere in the world is a threat to liberty everywhere. This idea is certainly playing out on the world today. (Oracle ThinkQuest Library.) Literature today in the form of novels and short stories are very popular today. Children are being taught to enjoy reading at a very early age. One aspect of literature that has really changed is newspapers. Today many news papers are going bankrupt because people are getting their news from TV and the internet. In the near future the internet is going to become the biggest sorce for lititure.
Many fads came out of the 20’s.
Most are still popular today. Listening to radio was a big part of life. People would listen to music, sports and entertainment. In the 20’s music was getting to be very popular. Jazz was the biggest influence. Baseball was the most popular sport. People would gather around the radio in their homes to listen and be entertained. (Leinwand) Today we listen to radio in our cars, while jogging, on airplanes, and even the old fashion way, at home. Radio has become so popular today; some people even pay for it. Another fad that was popular, was watching movies. The start of 3-D movies was in the twenties. In the 1920s, there was an average of 800 film releases. In the early twenties there were silent films and people like Charlie Chaplin became household names. In 1927, the first talkie movie, “The Jazz Singer”, was released. After this first movie, all the studios started making talkie movies and the silent films were history. (1920s Movie History Timeline) Movies today have changed because of the computer technology. Movies are being copied to DVD’s. Not only can you watch it in the movie theater but now were ever. Another fad in the twenties was smoking cigarettes. One reason it became popular, is that the cigarette companies began to put ads in newspapers and magazines. In their ads they would claim that the Camel man was more successful and handsome then anyone else. Camel would also advertise to get young women customers. They
suggested that in between their tea parties and golf, classy rich women would appreciate Camel cigarettes. ("Came Cigarette Advertising in the 1920s.") Today we now know about the dangers of smoking. People don’t smoke as much as people did back then. The government has put high taxes on cigarettes to discourage smoking. Another fad is Mickey Mouse. Mickey Mouse as created in 1928 by Walt Disney. Originally he called Mickey Mouse, Mortimer Mouse, but later changed the name to Mickey Mouse because his wife suggested it. The first cartoon was entitled Steam Boat Willy, which featured Mickey and his fiancée Minnie. ("Disney Archives | Mickey Mouse Character History.") Mickey Mouse has become one of the most recognizable symbols in the world. Today millions of people visit Disney World. Disney World has places not only in the United States but in Europe and Asia as well.
There were many companies that did well in the 1920’s.
The Radio Shack Company was started in 1921 in Boston Massachusetts. Radio Shack started as a store that would supply the needs of radio officers aboard ships, as well as "ham" radio operators. Radio Shack would grow to a handful of stores clustered in the Northeast, and become a leading electronics mail-order distributor to hobbyists. (RadioShack Corporate Information) Today, Radio Shack is still supplying customers with the latest electronics. They are accessible on the internet and have locations all over the world. United Airlines was also a company that did well in the 1920’s. United is the oldest commercial airline. United Airlines was established in 1926 carrying mail. A year later United was transporting people all over the United States. A one way ticket between Chicago and San Francisco in 1927 was 204.00. In 1929, Boeing developed a bigger plane that would seat twenty people and offered more services (like serving beverages and snacks). This started the need of stewardess. (Gordon) Today stewardess are referred to as, flight attendants. Today, United Airlines carries mail and cargo all over the world not just in the United States. Also, a non stop flight will cost you 230.60 and a connecting flight is 149.20. United Airlines is still teaming up with Boeing and was the first airlines to offer 777 service domestically and internationally. Another company that did well in the twenties is Eskimo Pie. It
all started back in 1921, when school teacher and local candy shop owner Christian Kent Nelson was inspired by a little boy’s inability to decide between ice cream and a candy bar. And- Eureka!- the idea for Eskimo Pie was born. Nelson’s brilliant idea to combine the two treats was matched by his genius for discovering a way of making chocolate stick to the frozen surface of an ice cream bar. Since then, the Eskimo Pie brand has been delighting people around the globe with delicious ice cream treats.
There were a lot of advancements made in the 1920’s. One of the most significant was the assembly line. This is manufacturing process in which parts are added to a product in a sequential manner. This process enables a company to put together a product in a faster more efficient way. The assembly line progressed Ford’s motor companies Model “T” car. It enabled Ford to build many cars in one day. Ford was the first company to build factories using the assembly line process. (“Assembly line”) This assembly line process is still in effect today. A major difference today, is that robots make up a big part of the assembly line. So were able to make a car even faster today. Another improvement made in the 1920’s came from Clarence Birdseye. He invented, developed, and commercialized a method for quick freezing food products in convenient packages without altering the original taste. He was working in Northern Canada as a fur trader. There he observed the people of the artic preserving fresh fish and meat in barrels of sea water quickly frozen in the artic temperature. He concluded that it was the paid freezing at extremely low temperatures that made food retain freshness when thawed and cooked months later. Clarence Birdseye perfected a system of packing fresh food into waxed cardboard boxes and flash freezing under high pressure. ("History of Birds Eye®”) Today, frozen food is a part of everyday life. Many people of today still use frozen foods. Most people are using microwaves to cook the frozen foods, instead of using boiling water like in the twenties.
The 1920’s was a time of great progress in the United States. The USA prospered as Henry Ford developed the automobile assembly line and as mail was delivered via airplane. Many things helped to shape our current culture today. Some include the literature, fads, companies, and improvements.