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Jazz, Liquor and Bootleggers: America in the Twenties
Human life in this world has often seen transitions. These transitions have occurred in all ages, in every century. However, have the latest transitions that have been occurring in the twenty first never ever impressed me. The twentieth century was a bit better, but not the best. The nineteen nineties did see some good progress, but of course it was the nineteen twenties, which I feel each of the present age would have loved to live in. But there are very few from this period who are still alive, and most of them are in their late ninetees or hundreds. But their memories are so sharp, in spite of everything one could forget the days of America's Golden Age.
The Prelude 1918 – 1923
The period of progress and change, referred to as "roaring Twenties "or the" Jazz Age "had its origin in the optimistic and progressive thinking of a new generation of Americans who emerged from the rigors of First World War II. The Treaty of Versailles in 1919 had destroyed power of the enemy, they had so feared so much that Americans felt more secure. As a result, increased economy new heights. Their purchasing power had increased dramatically and they spent lavishly on enjoyment and clothing. This phase of progress was coeval with the adoption of the Volstead Act on January 29, 1920, as did sales of all forms of alcohol, illegal. This led to the birth of a prosperous bootlegging enterprise whose captains smuggled in alcohol beverages from Canada. For this reason, the period from 1920 and ending with 1933, when Prohibition was ended by a change that is also known as "Prohibition Era."
Another important invention which epitomizes American Thought and Culture in the 1920s was the Colt-Thomson sub-machine gun, whose inventor General John T. Thomson released a version for the public in 1919. This gun, known colloquially as "Tommy gun" was the most lethal weapons ever handled of the American public and quickly found favor with the leaders of the bootlegging business, which used them to make some of the most atrocious murders ever committed.
The Golden Age 1923 – 1929
Prosperity and development in America was at its peak between 1923 and 1929th Automobiles were the most preferred transport. Ford, Dodge Brothers, Packard, Haynes and Winton were some of the top manufacturers. Lavish lifestyle, expensive holidays and expensive jewelry was the evolution in time.
The year 1923 which saw the death of U.S. President Warren Harding was also an increase of a previously unknown gangster named Alphonse Capone or Al Capone in a remote city of Chicago. Capone quickly rose in the ranks of organized crime, and eventually oust his boss Johnny Torrio and snatched control of criminal syndicates throughout the United States. Known popularly as "Scarface" Capone was the most dreaded gangster of the time and virtually ruled Chicago until the early 1930s with his money and muscle power (at one time he even had a mayor in Chicago William "Tail" Thomson, popularly known as "Big Bill" in his salary). This period is remembered in Chicago for the time wars, night clubs where illegal booze and jazz music were served, rampant corruption in the administration and the police and the gruesome murder civilians and police encounters that took place.
Costume
A typical gentleman of the 1920s had a shirt made of cotton or silk and belts. Men belonging to the rapidly growing American middle class wore buttoned jackets over their shirts and a jacket at the top of their jackets. Not infrequently, ties or Bowtie replaced buttoned jackets. Hats, Monocle and walking sticks were fashion of the time and was used also for men who were not bald or blind or lame. Sunglasses were sported by movie stars.
In women's fashion, fell skirts in size during that time. It was a marked departure from the conservatism of the Victorian era. A typical woman of the period bopped her hair and wore short skirts and excessive makeup was known as a "flapper".
Jazz Music
Jazz emerged in the city of New Orleans in the early 1900s as a fusion of Afro-American, Jewish, Italian and post-Victorian European styles. But jazz music flourished largely during the 1920s supported by the active patronage of mafia dons like Al Capone, who roped in jazz stars to play in their clubs. Louis Armstrong, arguably one of the greatest exponents of jazz performed during this period. The fast jazz renditions seemed more glamorous and attractive to the critical and unorthodox American public than the slow pace of classics from the 18th century European musicians. Jazz marked the transition from sonatas and waltzes by Mozart and Beethoven to pop and rock music of our time.
Film
1920 saw the transition from black and white to color and from silent to talkies. The film production company in the early 1900s, was reserved for the adventurous couple, grew manifold in the 1920s. Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Greta Garbo, John Gielgud, John Barrymore, Charlie Chaplin, Spencer Tracy and Bob Hope were among the stars, whose career flourished in the 1920s. Comedian Bob Hope, who died in 2003 at the age of 100, when told his nerve-cracking experience performing for Al Capone. Toll of the Sea was the first film in Technicolor type 2 produced in 1922. The Jazz Singer (1927) was the first talkie while The Viking (1927) was the first film shot in Technicolor Type 3. On with the show done in 1929 was the first talkie produced in Technicolor. After these firsts, there were so many movies filmed in Technicolor, it was estimated that the color will replace black and white film until the year 1930th However, this was not to be As the Great Depression hit and Hollywood went back to black and white for cutting production costs.
Walter Elias Disney, he took the the first Mickey Mouse animated film in 1928. It was a milestone in the history of motion pictures. Over the next few years, many cartoons created, most of Disney, but also some of Metro Goldwyn Mayer and Paramount. Most of these early cartoons were filmed in Technicolor.
Sports
1920 saw impressive milestones set out in the various sports and field and track events of the time. Baseball legend Babe Ruth was At its peak in the early 1920s. He sat towering records have stood for decades. Finland's Paavo Nurmi set the record for long distance running (1500 m). Charles Lindbergh made the first non-stop transatlantic flight in 1927 and became a celebrity in his time. But celebrity status prove to be a path to Charles Lindbergh, when his toddler son was kidnapped for ransom in 1932 and later killed.
Wall Street Crash and the last phase 1929 – 1933
On 24 of October 1929, famous in history as "Black Thursday" Wall Street crash. Prices of shares quickly fell reduce the U.S. economy. It has spelled doom for millions of Americans and precipitated the Great Depression. Millions were left unemployed and destitute. But lasted Roaring Twenties well until 1933, when a second fall brought further ruin.
Impact of the Great Depression was widespread. Production of expensive color film was stopped. Car showrooms were full of unsold cars. There were labor movements in the U.S.. Elsewhere, communism was increasingly hailed as the best alternative to the capitalist system of economy that prevailed in the U.S.. Britain was a country that was hit hard by the Great Depression. The government of British India sharply increased the price of salt and other commodities led to widespread famine. These events indirectly led to the MK Gandhi Dandie March. In Burma there were nationalist movements calling for the separation of the colony Burma from British India and for the expulsion of extortionary Chettiar moneylenders from India.
The strength of the Labour Party has increased manifold in the UK. A number of the Roundtable was held to identify a solution to India's issues. There was general disappointment in all developed countries to the existing capitalist system of economy.
14 February 1929, hitmen from Al Capone's equipment in disguise as police officers "raid" palisades of illicit spirits, belonging to a rival gangster "Bugs" Moran. Assuming that the police, the seven members of Moran's outfit turned its back on "officers" and stood with his arms held up in the air. Immediately the "officers" opened machine gun fire killed seven of them on the spot. Forensic evidence showed that the seven victims were almost cut in two by machine gun fire. The "police" later led some men out to the car and left. This action provoked widespread condemnation and public outrage. A newspaper branded Al Capone as "public enemy number one". The expensive and luxurious lifestyle of the gangsters, while the rest of the U.S. population was in poverty at the height of the depression evoked the IRE of the general public. Al Capone, but did flee again because of lack of evidence but was arrested in 1932 on charges of income tax evasion. He was found guilty and sentenced to prison for eleven years, the longest prison sentence ever allocated for income tax evasion. Al Capone, but not serve his full term. He was released after six and a half years because of good behavior. But by the time he was out of jail, his crime empire was liquidated. Thus ended the career of one of the most dangerous gangsters of the twentieth century.
Legacy
1920s characterized the inter-war mindset of America. It marked the transition from the Industrial Revolution to the Age of Computers. Most of the gadgets that we encounter in our everyday lives today as vacuum cleaners, refrigerators, tube lights, lawn movers, televisions, washing machines and lifts gained wide acceptance in this period. There was also a rise in popularity of amusement parks and roller coasters. A series of path breaking inventions were made during that time. John Logie Baird invented television in 1927, Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in 1928. The Zippo, the first modern cigarette lighter was invented in 1932.
1920s saw a syringe in demand for cars that were available at much cheaper prices. The wagons without horses in the early 1900s with their cumbersome and expensive brass fittings and headlight was avoided for more compact, fashionable and affordable cars. Ford released its Model A in 1927. It was perhaps the first automobile, which targeted the lower middle class American people.
By the early 1930s, the road extended to the whole of America. This gradually threw railway companies out of business. The shelf life of vintage-era cars created long distances easily and comfortably.
This period also witnessed many political changes. Imperialism was universally condemned and human rights and values are respected. Monark Semitism was shunned in favor of democracy. Apparently there were many movements for democracy worldwide. There was an amazing amount of racial equality in America, where African-American artists and African-American culture was held in high esteem for the first time, despite the fact that the ultra-racist Ku Klux Klan was at the zenith of his popularity during this period. Almost all popular jazz musicians of the period were of Afro-American ethnicity and received extravagant sums of money as salary. In Europe, there were between a rise in right-wing movements such as fascism in Italy and Nazism in Germany. In India, the Montagu-Chelmsford reforms adopted in 1919. Under the provisions of these acts, free and fair elections were held for the first time in Madras province. The League of Nations was established in 1919 to mediate in disputes between different countries in the world. Drastic growth in transport and communication fostered globalization and intercultural dialogue.
1920 is seen by some as a dark age where there was widespread degeneration and immorality. For some it was a golden age in which one could aspire to the sun and the stars and still get them. America was at the zenith of its prosperity. Monarchs had lost much of their power and influence worldwide as the general inclination of popular thought was in favor of democracy only to be replaced by movie stars, bootlegs, inventors and businessmen who lived in regal splendor. But we can never chose to ignore their twenties, as nineteen twenties did America we know today. It was probably the period when the United States surpassed Great Britain in search of leadership among world nations. Above all, the 1920s more than any other period in U.S. history, exemplified the great "American Dream".
"The poorhouse is vanishing from among us. We have not reached the goal, but have a chance to go ahead with the policies of the last eight years, we shall soon … is within reach of the day when poverty will be banished from this nation …. When the war ended, the most vital of all issues both in our own country and throughout the world was whether governments should continue their war ownership and many tools of production and distribution. We were challenged by a peace-time choice between the American system of rugged individualism and a European philosophy of diametrically opposed doctrines – Doctrines of paternalism and state socialism. The acceptance of these ideas would have meant destruction of self-government through centralization of government. It would have meant undermining the individual initiative and enterprise through which our people have grown to unprecedented greatness. When connecting to the principles of decentralized autonomy, equality and freedom for the individual, our American experiment in human welfare has given some comfort unparalleled in the world. It has come closer to the elimination of poverty, the elimination of fear for, than humanity has ever achieved before. Development of the last seven years is proof of that. This alone gives the answer to our opponents who are asking us to introduce destructive elements of the system is completed. "
-Herbert Hoover, President of the United States From 1929 until 1933.
About the Author
I am a bank employee and a history buff from India. I am also a regular contributor to Wikipedia.
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