Page 6 - 2020: The New Decade emag dummy

2020 : The new decade
a look back at
The roaring
Twenties
OA decade of immense change 100 years ago
Charles Lindbergh
ne hundred years ago, we were on the verge of a dec- ade that became known to many as
The Roaring Twenties.
The First World War was
still a clear memory for many, but across the globe there was an air of optimism.
in Europe the period is sometimes referred to as the “Golden Age Twenties” be- cause of the economic boom following the war.
French speakers refer to the period as the “Années folles” (“Crazy Years”), empha- sising the era’s social, artistic, and cultural dynamism.
The economic prosperity experienced by many coun- tries during the 1920s - espe- cially the United States - was similar in nature to that expe- rienced in the 1950s and 1990s.
The 1920s saw foreign oil companies launch operations throughout South America and Venezuela became the world’s second largest oil pro- ducing nation.
In some countries, the 1920s saw the rise of radical political movements, espe- cially in regions that were once part of empires
Communism spread as a consequence of the October Revolution and the Bolsheviks’ victory in the Russian Civil War. And the fear of the spread of Communism led to the emergence of far right politi- cal movements and fascism in Europe which would ultimate- ly see the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany and the Second World War.
The period of prosperity was brought to an end by the Wall Street Crash in October 1929.
The Roaring Twenties brought about several novel and highly visible social and cultural trends.
These trends, made possible by sustained economic prosperity, were most visible in ma- jor cities like New York, Chicago, Paris, Berlin and London.
somed, and Art Deco peaked. For women, knee-length
skirts and dresses became socially acceptable, as did bobbed hair. The women who pioneered these trends were frequently referred to as flap- pers.
The era also saw the large- scale adoption of cars, tel- ephones, motion pictures, radio and household electric- ity, as well as unprecedented industrial growth, accelerated consumer demand and aspira- tions, and significant changes in lifestyle and culture.
The media began to focus on celebrities, especially sports heroes and movie stars.
Most independent coun- tries passed women’s suffrage
after 1918, especially as a reward for women’s
support of the war
effort and endurance of its deaths and hardships.
There were also some major technological advance- ments during the decade.
John Logie Baird invened the first working mechani- cal television system (1925). In 1928, he invented and demon- strated the first colour televi- sion.
Warner Brothers produced the first movie with a sound- track. Don Juan in 1926, was followed by the first Part- Talkie The Jazz Singer in 1927 and the first All-Talking movie Lights of New York in 1928. The the first all colour all talk- ing movie On with the Show arrived in 1929 as silent films started giving way to sound films.
Record companies such as Victor, Brunswick and Colum-
Jazz blos-