Daily Life in the 1920's

Daily Life In the 1920’s

Cat, Patrick & Meg

Index…

• Food

• Fashion

• Fads/Trends

• Slang

• The Economy

• The Yo-Yo

Food-

Drinks include hard liquor, wines, lemonade (very popular) and the introduction of Coca-Cola

Manufactured foods introduced in the 1920s include - Baby Ruth Candy Bar (1920). Wonder Bread (1920). Yoo-Hoo Chocolate Drink (1923).

Reese's Peanut Butter Cup (1923). Welch's Grape Jelly (1923). Popsicles (1924). Wheaties (1924).

Hostess Cakes (1927). Kool-Aid (1927). Peter Pan Peanut Butter (1928). Velveeta Cheese (1928).

And just like today there was debate over brown bread vs. white.

Refrigerators

The introduction of refrigeratorsproduced healthier and longer

storage of perishable foodstuffs. This lead to more health benefits as well as time saved due to less frequent

purchases. Refrigeration also permitted the transport of perishable

foodstuffs over much longer distances by road and sea. Smaller

farms were absorbed by larger farms who could afford the expensive farm

machinery that lowered costs and improved profitability while

increasing production.

Ad for a Refrigerator

Gas stoves, electric refrigerators, and other labor-saving kitchen devices enabled ready

preparation and storage of food and beverages, making possible the introduction

of greater varieties of foodstuffs into the American diet, and condiments introduced by

immigrants added new flavors.

Food was plentiful and cheap thanks to the large quantities produced by American farms. The American diet in the early part of the century

consisted for a large part of meat and potatoes. A lot of time was taken up in preparing and cooking

meals. Data from 1920 reveals that 44 hours were spent on preparing meals and cleaning up after them each week. As vitamins began to be discovered from 1912 on, fruit, vegetables and

milk became much more important than they had in the earlier years. For the first time people

could drink fresh orange juice year round due to improvements in storage and transport.

The public's eating habits changed as Americans ate fewer starches (like bread and potatoes) and increased

consumption of fruit and sugar. However, the most striking development was the shift toward processed foods. Where housewives had previously prepared

food from scratch at home (peeling potatoes, shelling peas, plucking chickens, or grinding coffee beans) an

increasing number of Americans purchased foods that were ready-to-cook. World War I brought about new

methods of food processing as manufacturers streamlined production methods of canned and frozen

foods. Processed foods reduced the enormous amounts of time that had previously been taken up in

peeling, grinding, and cutting.

Fashion-

1920s fashion ushered in the modern era of

fashion design. Women put aside the formal attire and opted for

shorter skirts and pants for added comfort. Men

also relaxed on the formalwear though many continued to

wear less formal suits.

The Fashionable Changes-

The 20s saw changes in many aspects of fashion. Bouffant hairstyles where the hair is piled high up on the head were replaced with the short bobs. In 1923 the waistline normally sitting

around the natural waist moved down to the hips and in some cases, women began to alter

men’s clothes for a more androgynous look.

Flappers-Typically fashion of the 1920s is associated with

the flapper dress and jazz music. Flappers were women who listened to

unconventional jazz music and were often looked down upon for their brash style

including heavy makeup, excessive drinking, casual sex, cigarette smoking, and flaunting their contempt at true “lady-like” behavior. Flappers had their own language including terms like “barney-mugging” meaning sex. Some phrases like “bee’s knees” and “the

cat’s pajamas” are still used today.

The Flapper Dress-

The flapper dress was lose and straight with a waistline at the hips. Silk stockings were held

up by garters. These flapper dresses were short (by their standards) and often came up

just above the knees. A round bell-shaped hat called a cloche was pulled down over the ears to frame the face. Considered by many to be more scandalous than the attire was the use of heavy makeup that was previously worn

only by prostitutes and actresses. But despite this public backlash, the flapper style of the 1920s became very popular even among the most respectable older women, although it

was toned down quite a bit.

Coco-

Shoes of the 1920s that featured heels rose to over two inches high and the two-town shoe by Coco Chanel

gained wide acceptance. For those of you who don’t know, “Coco” whose formal name was Gabrielle Bonheur

Chanel was a famous French fashion designer and is considered by TIME Magazine to be one of the top 100

most influential people in the 20th century. She focused on elegant simplicity and her Chanel suit, launched in 1923, was a ground-breaking knee-length skirt with a boxy wool-woven jacket with gold buttons and black

trim. She popularized the “little black dress” which is still a MUST HAVE in every wardrobe today.

The Trends & Fads

Jazz Age-

• The main idea of this time was “There’s nothing surer; the rich get richer and the poor get poorer”.

• Jazz was meant to be happy, up-beat music that was fun to dance to.

Games- • Included mah-jongg, Ouija boards & crossword puzzles

• was one of the biggest fads of the 1920’s.

– It was easy to learn, but it looked complicated.

– The main idea was to get rid of one’s hand, which consisted of 4 sets of 3 tiles.

– This was a game played by everyone-it brought people together and allowed them to interact with many people around them.

Endurance Races-

Marathons

Marathons were mostly Dance-a-thons. Couples

would walk, dance, shuffle and do anything else they

could to stay in the competition. One of the

longest ever record was 3 weeks straight! Audiences could watch these for as

long as they liked.

Flagpole Sitting

This fad was is believed to have started when a friend

dared actor Alvin “Shipwreck” Kelly to sit on

top of a pole. He spent 20,000+ hours sitting on top

of the pole-at least 210 hours in freezing

temperatures and 1,400 hours in the rain!

The Language-

With the time of the flappers, and a more relaxed society-came a whole new language…

Some of these words are still used today, though there are many more than those that are just

listed here…

• “And How”-I strongly agree!

• “Attaboy” or “Attagirl”-job well done!

• “Balled Up”-Confused

• “Bearcat”-fiery girl

• “Bee’s Knees”-extraordinary person/idea

• “Beef”-to complain

• “Bell Bottom”-Sailor

• “Berries”-something attractive or pleasing

• “Bimbo”-tough guy

• “Carry a Torch”-have a crush

• “Cat’s Meow”-stylish/greatest/wonderful

• “Cheaters”-eyeglasses

• “Check”-kiss me later

• “Clam”-a dollar

• “Daddy”-a young woman’s boyfriend/lover (especially if he’s RICH!)

• “Dapper”-a Flapper’s dad

• “Dogs”-feet

• “Don’t know from nothing”-don’t have any information

• “Don’t take any wooden nickels”-don’t do anything stupid!!

• “Drugstore Cowboy”-a guy that hangs around on a street corner trying to pick up girls

• “Dry up”-shut up and/or get lost

• “Ducky”-VERY GOOD

• “Earful”-Enough

• “Egg”-a person living the big life

• “Fire Extinguisher”-a chaperone

• “Flat Tire”-disappointing date

• “Fly Boy”-aviator

• “Get a Wiggle on”-get going!

• “Glad Rags”-”going out on the town” outfit

• “Goofy”-in love

• “Handcuff”-an engagement ring

• “Hard Boiled”-tough & strong guy

• “Hotsy/Totsy”-pleasing

• “Iron”-Motorcycle

• “Jake”-okay (like, “it’s all Jake”)

• “Keen”-Appealing

• “Kisser”-mouth

• “Level with me”-be honest

• “Line”-insincere flattery

• “Moll”-a gangster’s girl

• “Nifty”-great, excellent, wonderful

• “Now you’re on the trolley!”-you’ve got it!

• “On the level”-legitimate

• “Owl”-someone who is out late

• “Pill”-a teacher or unlikeable person

• “Pipe Down”-Stop talking

• “Pushover”-easily convinced

• “Real McCoy”-the real deal

• “Ritzy”-Elegant

• “Sap”-a fool

• “Sinker”-a doughnut

• “Stuck On”-to crush on someone

• “Swanky”-ritzy

• “Swell”-Wonderful and/or a rich man

• “Take for a ride”-To drive off with someone in order to kill them off

• “Tomato”-a female

• “Upchuck”-to vomit (especially when one has drank too much alcohol)

• “Wet Blanket”- a killjoy

• “What’s eating you?”-What’s wrong?

• “Whoopee”-To have a GOOD time

• “You slay me”-that is funny!!

The EconomyThe NYSE after the crash

The EconomyPart 1: The Good

• The economy in the 1920’s was very strong.

• Goods were cheaper because incomes went up and prices went down

• Families started buying big items like cars and refrigerators.

• Installment payments were invented, which means the customer only had to pay for part of the product at a time.

• The first Chain stores opened

The EconomyPart 2: The Bad

• The farmers did not have as many benefits from the growing businesses as those living in the city.

• The 1920’s started migration from rural communities to cities around America, a trend which continues to this day.

• During 1919, farm produce’s made $21.4 billion, which dropped to $11.8 billion by 1929

• In 1929 alone, 435,000 farmers were forced off of their land.

The EconomyPart 3: The Ugly

• On Thursday, October 24th, 1929, the stock market crashed.

• What happened was that many investors tried to get out of the market at the same time. First, the ticker fell behind on the transactions being recorded, and second, other share holders tried to get out of the market. This multiplied the effects, causing the crash to snowball.

Right After the Crash, many people were astonished and tried to remove their money from the bank, further worsening the situation.

The Yo-Yo

• The Yo-Yo was not by any means a new toy in the 1900’s. It is thought to go as far back as 500 BC

• The first USA patent for a Yo-Yo was given in 1866 to James L. Haven and Charles Hettrick of Cincinnati, Ohio

Pedro Flores

• In 1928, Filipino American Pedro Flores started the Yo-yo Manufacturing Company in Santa Barbara, California

• His business started with just 12 handmade Yo-Yo’s

• By 1929, he had 2 more factories, 600 workers and made 300,000 Yo-Yo’s a day

Pedro Flores Continued

• In November, 1929, he sold Flores Yo-Yo for $250,000

• In the 1930’s, he started Bandalore Company, another Yo-Yo company

• After World War 2, he helped start Chico Yo-yo company

• In 1954, he started Flores Corp. of America, and made Yo-Yo’s for a few years

Duncan Toys Company

• Duncan Yo-Yo’s started in 1929 when Donald Duncan bought Flores Yo-yo Corporation.

• Duncan then marketed it as a fad, leading him to make Millions

Yo-Yo types

Imperial Butterfly Modified