Javairia Muhammad Period 6 DBQ From horses to automobiles and the telephone to live boxing matches, the 1920s

APUSH Coach Dunn

dramatically influenced the American national culture. Mass production like the radio and automobiles and entertainment such as sports and music topped off the American society. In the mass-consumption economy of the roaring twenties, automobiles were being made every 10 seconds. The newly tapped oil fields dramatically increased the productivity of the laborer. Then the great new industries suddenly grew. Since the automobiles needed electricity, the electrical power for the cars became a huge business in the 1920s. Overall, the Henry Fords automobile became the carriage of the common citizen. By 1930, Americans owned almost 30 million cars. The radio made a contribution educationally and culturally. While the automobile was drawing people away from home, the radio was bringing them back into their homes. For almost the whole decade, families gathered around the radio to listen in and hear the voices talk. It is said that the radio brought the nation together. Millions of people tuned in to listen to their comedy favorites like Amos n Andy. Sports became another big business in the consumer economy of the 1920s. Far better known than most statesmen, George H. (Babe) Ruth was a famous baseball player. His fans listened in on the radio to find out when the next game was or they bought tickets in big

numbers that his hometown park, Yankee Stadium, became known as the house that Ruth built. Americans also listened in on the radio to hear about the heavyweight champion, Jack Dempsey. The Jersey crowds attendance had paid more than a million dollars. Father of the Traffic Jam, Henry Ford, was best known of the new crop industrial wizards. He was the creator of the Model T (Tin Lizzie). It was cheap, rugged, and reliable but it was also rough and loud. Women soon became exploited. There were no more long dresses and long sleeves, stockings were rolled, breasts were taped flat, cheeks rouged, and they held a long cigarette from their lips. The women proclaimed this new freedom as flappers, also known as prostitutes. Everything seemed more sexual. Women were always thinking about sex and they seemed not to care anymore what anyone thought about the way that they presented their self. And men were even surprised to see this happen because this was the first time that they seen so many women with short dresses, showing more than their ankles. Jazz music was born in the 1920s and it was the sacred music of the flappers. Blacks such as Handy, Jelly Roll Morton, and Joseph Joe King Oliver began the twenties with jazz music but Caucasian impresarios took the profits, even though they didnt create jazz music. I believe that the 1920s was a great experience for the United States national culture. There was so much going on and a lot of things being invented. The twenties was the decade that started off the 20th century. The roaring twenties was just the beginning.