Flappers of the Roaring Twenties

By: Catherine Kehlenbeck

HUM1020 – Online Class

Table of Contents1. Title Page2. Table of Contents3. Brief History4. “The Flapper” Poem5. Definition of a Flapper6. Life of a Flapper7. The Flapper Look8. The Flapper Look Part 29. Entertainment – Drinking10. Entertainment – Dancing11. “In the 1920’s…”12. Famous Flappers13. Paper14. Bibliography

History of the Roaring 20’s

WWI has just ended and the people of America are rejoicing. Women style has been very uptight and very proper. Women wore floor length dresses, long hair, no make up and corsets… it was time to break out of the conservative style. The twenties was all about youth.

It was also the most explosive decade of the century. Jazz music was created and all the hot celebrities were young and in high fashion. This was the age of prohibition and the age of prosperity. Some of the major inventions of the time were the automobile, the radio and the airplane. Some famous people of the twenties were: Herbert Hoover, Al Capone and Henry Ford. Some of the worlds most amazing literature was created in the twenties. Some literary artists were F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway and Robert Frost.

When you think of the twenties, jazz music comes to mind. Some of the most amazing musicians came from the roaring twenties: Bessie Smith, the “Empress of Blues”, George Gershwin, who created some amazing pieces for Broadway, Hollywood and Carnegie Hall, and Duke Ellington, The “King of big jazz band”.

Movies were also a big hit in the twenties. Gold Rush, The Kid, The Circus, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and The Jazz Singer are all infamous silent movies from the twenties.

www.angelfire.com/co/pscst/index.html

“The Flapper”The playful flapper here we see,

The fairest of the fair.

She’s not what Grandma used to be,

You might say, au contraire.

Her girlish ways may make a stir,

Her manners cause a scene,

But there is no more harm in her

Than in a submarine.

She nightly knocks for many a goal

The usual dancing men.

Her speed is great, but her control

Is something else again.

All spotlights focus on her pranks.

All tongues her prowess herald.

For which she well may render thanks

To God and Scott Fitzgerald.

Her golden rule is plain enough –

Just get them young and treat them rough.

By Dorothy Parker

Definition of a Flapper“Flapper” first started in Great Britain after WWI. It was used to describe young girls that were awkward and have not yet entered womanhood. Author F. Scott Fitzgerald describes flappers as “Lovely, expensive and about 19”. He drew the girls wearing unbuckled galoshes that made a “flapping” noise when they walked.

The Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins describes a flapper as a “Giddy, attractive, slightly unconventional, somewhat foolish girl full of wild surmises and inclined to revolt against the precepts and admonitions of her elders”.

History1900s.about.com/od/1920s/a/flappers.htm

Flappers had the image and the attitude to match.

Life of a FlapperThe life of a flapper was a lot of fun!

It consisted of constant partying.

Flappers smoked cigarettes and drank alcohol – all of which were unheard of if you were a woman!

They lived very reckless lives and would cling to their youth.

Flappers were the first of the women to flaunt their sexuality.

Their lifestyles were shown in the way that they dressed and danced.

The Flapper Look

Flappers were the first to show off and get a little crazy in terms of fashion. They wore heavy make up with scarlet lips and heavy eye make up. Before the flappers, only “loose” women wore make up.

Their clothes were a lot different than those of the past. They usually wore a dress that went just below the knee, stockings, heels and step ins (a one piece suit that was used as underwear instead of a corset).

The look was created by Coco Chanel (the world famous Chanel that we have now) and it was all the rage.

Women tried to look more like men in the twenties. They would tightly wrap their chest with strips of cloth to flatten it. They were trying to look around the age of a 15 year old boy.

“The tube” was a fashion icon. This was when fashion focused less on the physical form. The hemlines dropped to the knees and the hiplines were lowered. The “Tube” look was straight from the shoulders to the hem.

The Flapper LookPart Two

The twenties changed the way the world looked at hair styles. “The Bob” is the infamous hair style that was everywhere in the 20’s.

Most women haircuts were very short in the back and 20 % longer in the front.

The Cloche Hat was a must during the day. This was a hat that fit snuggly over short hair and reached the eyebrows.

www.clarabow.net

EntertainmentDrinking

Drinking was a favorite pastime of the flappers. Prohibition was in effect, and the women were breaking the law. Before this, only men would drink. The women were seen as “Giddy Flappers” due to drunkenness.

Many carried a flask, which was extremely unheard of – even for men!

www.silentladies.com

EntertainmentDancing

Dancing was a flappers favorite pastime. They would dance the Charleston, Black Bottom and the Shimmy.

The May 1920 edition of Atlantic Monthly said that “flappers trot like foxes, limp like lame ducks, one step like cripples, and all the barbaric lawp of strange instruments which transform the whole scene into a moving picture of a fancy ball in bedliam”.

“In the 1920’s, a new woman was born. She smoked, drank, danced and voted. She cut her

hair, wore make-up, and went to petting parties. She was giddy and took risks. She was a

flapper.”History1900s.about.com/od/1920s/a/flappers.htm

Famous Flappers

Anita Page Colleen Moore

Louise Brooks

www.silentladies.com

I obtained all of my research from the internet. I found so many web sites on the roaring twenties… I found allot of interesting things on this decade. I found that web sites on flappers was most helpful because they were more specific.

I was excited to do this project, I have always been interested in the flapper fashion and way of living. All my research came along really easily. The websites were very easy to navigate and understand and there was a lot of information given. I feel that the pictures were the most valuable, because like they say “A picture is worth a thousand words”. I feel you can really get a sense of the flapper life when you look at the pictures. This project was easier than I expected… but that might also be because I was very interested in the subject.

The lifestyle of the flappers appealed to me the most. It’s amazing how carefree they lived. I think that it is important to study their lives because it is important to see what our country used to be like. This is the time when your great grandmothers and grandmother lived and I think it helps you understand them a little bit more.

Educationally, this project is important because it shows what the world was like and how people lived. This gives us a sense of history. The radio, automobile and airplane was invented in this time... This was a time of great living and thinking. I think it is important to know about each generation and how they lived.

I think it is just neat how these women stood up for what they believed in and they just wanted to have fun. They didn’t think about tomorrow or the future… they lived in the right now. They lived amazing and full lives. They all were so beautiful and so graceful. Their glamorous lives will be a part of history forever.

Bibliography• Hajnal, Alex. The Roaring Twenties. 2001. 28 Oct 2005

http://alephnull.net/20s/.• “James Madison College.” American Culture in the 1920’s.

Michigan State University. 28 Oct 2005 www.msu.edu/course/mc/112/1920s/.

• Pearson, David. Silent Ladies and Gents. 30 June 2005. 21 Nov 2005 www.silentladies.com.

• The Clara Bow Page. 21 Nov 2005 www.clarabow.net.• “Tribe Orlando.” The Bob. 16 June 2005. Cultures and

Community Tribe. 21 Nov 2005 <thebob.net>.• Wang, Gotterba and Wu, . “Kingwood College Library.”

American Cultural History 1920 – 1929. May 2002. 28 Oct 2005 http://kclibrary.nhmccd.edu/decade20.html.