The Old v. The New

Clashing Ideals of the 1920s

Changing Ways of Life & The Twenties WomenPopular Culture & The Harlem Renaissance

Sports & CultureSports of the 1920s

Baseball, Football, Boxing, more…

What is “Culture”?“The beliefs, customs, arts, etc., of a particular society,

group, place, or time.”

Baseball

Ballparks. Newspapers. Radio. The Negro Leagues.

BaseballKansas City Monarchs Chicago American Giants

The Negro Leagues

Football

BoxingJack Dempsey Gene Tunney

“Manassa Mauler” “The Fighting Marine”

1926 Dempsey v. Tunney

Tunney Wins by Decision

September 23Philadelphia, PA

1927 Dempsey v. Tunney

II

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OeeCfbahwQ

Culture of the 1920sCelebrities (and the Great Atlantic Air Derby!)

School & the TeenagerRadio & Film

Literature & the Lost GenerationJazz & the Harlem Renaissance

CelebritiesCharles Lindbergh Babe Ruth

The Babe“He was bigger than the President.”

Richard Vidmer, NYTimes

Left Handed pitcher & power hitter.Back to back 20+ win seasons in 1916 & 1917

January 5th, 1920“MLB’s #2 Worst Trade in History”

Red Sox -> NY Yankees

In six seasons with the Red Sox:Won three world series.

In 107 seasons without him:Won zero.

“The Lone Eagle”

Lucky LindyThe Great Atlantic Air Derby of 1919

$25,000 Prize

New York to Paris or Paris to New York

“First Transatlantic Flight”But it the Atlantic had been conquered

already…

Aviation

Summer of 1919

Flew through rain, hail, snow, heavy winds, and lightning.

Fog impacted flight.

Jack Alcock & Arthur Brown(GBR)

Aviation

Alcock & Brown departfrom New York

Alcock & Brown landingin Ireland

Flew 1,890 miles(Slightly more than half the distance from New York to Paris)

Aviation1920

Three American teams attempt to win the prize of $25,000 (Columbia, America, American Legion).

Their Fate?America was nose heavy. Destroyed during trial.

Columbia was damaged during a trial flight.

American Legion crash landed after failing to gain momentum. Pilots were killed on impact.

America was, at 1920, out of the running.

AviationFrancesco de Pinedo (ITA)

Atlantic crossed with seaplane.

Aviation

Charles Nungesser and Francois Coli

Missing. Presumed Dead.

Aviation

Pierre de Saint-Roman, Herve Mouneyre, Louis Petit120 miles from shore radio transmission confirms they will land in an hour.

The plane never lands.No wreckage ever found.

The Great Atlantic Derby

9 months. 11 killed.

“It was just at this point, when nothing was going right for anyone, that a gangly young man known as Slim flew in from the west and announced his

plan to fly the ocean alone. His name was Charles Lindbergh… Ten days before he became so famous that crowds would form around any building that

contained him and waiters would fight over a corncob left on his dinner plate, no one had heard

of Charles Lindbergh. The New York Times had mentioned him once, in the context of the coming

Atlantic flights. It had misspelled his name.”

Charles Lindbergh25 years old6 foot 2 inches tall128lbs

Claim to (somewhat) fame?Most successful parachutes out of crashing planes.

Chances of reaching Paris?“Generally presumed to be about zero.”

Charles Lindbergh“Maintaining your bearings by means of dead reckoning means taking close note of compass

headings, speed of travel, time elapsed since the last calculation, and any deviations… induced by drifting… Lindbergh hit all of his targets exactly… and did so while making the calculations on his lap while flying an unstable plane… All of the other flights that summer either failed, made

forced landings on water, or came down without knowing where they were. He seemed to think

that flying straight was the most normal things in the world. For him, in fact, it was.”

One Summer by Bill Bryson

School & TeenagersBefore 1900?Child -> Adult

Beginning in the 1920s?Child -> Teenager -> Adult

Courting & Dating“The single greatest factor that led to the

emergence of the independent teenager was the automobile. Teens enjoyed a freedom from

parental supervision unknown to previous generations… The automobile simply shattered

these old-fashioned traditions. Dating was removed from the watchful eyes of anxious

parents. Teenagers were given privacy, and a sexual revolution swept America.

Experimentation with sexual behaviors before marriage became increasingly common. Young Americans were now able to look beyond their own small towns at an enlarged dating pool.”

http://www.ushistory.org/us/46c.asp

Radio & FilmRadio Film

Local & National Radio

Music, politics, news, entertainment.

5 cent theatres (nickelodeons) popped up across the nation

Hollywood = HQ

Actors could make $100,000 per film

Literature

Jazz & The Harlem Renaissance

Literature, Politics, Music, Culture