Entertainment
Broadway
Music
Along with Broadway stars came the musicians who supplied the musical backbone of their shows. One of the most popular musicians of the 1920s was Irving Berlin. Never learning to read or write music, Irving Berlin could only play by ear and in one key. Nevertheless, he made his biggest debut with "Alexander's Ragtime Band," making it the biggest ragtime hit ever. With this new surge in his career, Irving Berlin soon began to write songs for big Broadway producers of all kind. He catered to every taste of music. Some of his songs were ragtime, and others were not, but his songs always had great lyrics.
More about music from the 1920s
Dancing
Accidentally falling into stardom were the newlyweds, Vernon and Irene Castle. In 1914, they appeared in the musical, Watch Your Step, when America was in its biggest dancing craze. People were dancing the grizzly bear, bunny hug, and turkey trot. When the Castles appeared with their graceful quickness, people adored their dancing so much that they gave all those dances up for the Castle Walk, and the Fox Trot. Men even paid as much as $100 to have a lesson from Vernon Castle. Irene Castle also became the ideal model for women around the country. Every woman in America envied Irene's slim uncorseted waist, and her bobbed hair. Unfortunately, the Castles' fame was short lived when Vernon died in a plane crash. Even so, Americans kept dancing to their style. More about Irene and Vernon Castle
Dancing marathons became the biggest craze. Lasting for weeks at a time, people would dance constantly in hopes of receiving a prize or a large sum of money if they won. In 1930, a marathon in Chicago lasted for 119 days. To keep their partners awake, people would kick or punch each other and use smelling salts and ice packs. Rivals would delight in slipping their opponents sleeping pills or laxatives in their drinks when they were not looking.
Radio
In the early part of this decade, the most popular, successful product on the market was the radio. It all began in 1920 when KDKA broadcast the presidential election. After that, KDKA began to schedule regularly timed broadcasting of news, church services, and music. Since it was free home entertainment, people rushed out to buy one for their own homes. There was, consequently, a soaring demand for radios. Sales rose from less than two million in 1920 to 600 million in 1929.
Games
In the 1920s, crossword puzzles made their debut with a lot of success. Everyone became crazy about them when two young publishers, Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster, brought out a collection of puzzles as their first book. Along with crosswords came the popularity of Contract Bridge, Yo-yo's, and roller-skating. People chose to compete in rocking chair derbies and dance marathons that lasted for weeks at a time, and also cross-country races. In 1922 an ancient Chinese game, mah-jongg, invaded America. In 1923, mah-jongg sets outsold radios. The demand was so great that the Chinese ran out of shinbones of calves, which was what was used to make the tiles in the game. Eddied Cantor sang a song in one of his shows called, "Playing Mah-Jongg." The lyrics of one stanza went like this:
If you want to play the game I'll tell you what to do,
Buy a silk kimono and begin to raise a queue;
Get yourself a book of rules and study till it's clear,
And you'll know the game when you've got whiskers down to here.
This stanza exaggerated on how the rules were always subject to constant change in mah-jongg.
Miss America
Miss America began in 1921 in Atlantic City as a moneymaking scheme to encourage tourists to stay. It was staged immediately after Labor Day to keep people paying for hotels, and other amusements. Despite its devious beginnings, Miss America became very popular. The pageant had appeal because it took an ordinary, pretty American girl, and turned her into a famous woman. Although Miss America only started with eight girls in Atlantic City, in 1924 it grew to 83 girls, and in 1927 it became a weeklong affair. The Miss America contest encountered opposition to the fact that it was an exhausting ordeal for its girls, and people did not like that there was no consideration for the modesty of the women who participated.
Automobiles
Cars were a huge hit among the American people when they came out. First of all, people could buy them on an installment plan, so many people got one. Second, the car symbolized freedom. Before cars, people courted in the company of their families at home, and when the car became available, dating turned into something with much more freedom and fun. The car allowed workers to live in the country and commute to city jobs, it ended the isolation of farmers, decentralized cities and created huge suburbs, and took people for Sunday outings; Consequently, church attendance decreased. It reasserted independence and let people escape to fun and new sights. In the late Twenties, the car was America's biggest industry. It became part of the American dream; people absolutely loved their cars and were willing to do more for them than for their own homes. More about cars from the 1920s...
Page last updated on March 5, 1999.
Curator: Megan Findley