Portal:1920s

The 1920s Portal

The 1920s (pronounced "nineteen-twenties"; often shortened to the "'20s" or the "Twenties") was a decade that began on January 1, 1920, and ended on December 31, 1929. Primarily known for the economic boom that occurred in the Western World following the end of World War I (1914–1918), the decade is frequently referred to as the "Roaring Twenties" or the "Jazz Age" in America and Western Europe, and the "Golden Twenties" in Germany, while French speakers refer to the period as the "Années folles" ('crazy years') to emphasize the decade's social, artistic, and cultural dynamism.

The devastating Wall Street crash in October 1929 is generally viewed as a harbinger of the end of 1920s prosperity in North America and Europe. In the Soviet Union, the New Economic Policy was created by the Bolsheviks in 1921, to be replaced by the first five-year plan in 1928. The 1920s saw the rise of radical political movements, with the Red Army triumphing against White movement forces in the Russian Civil War, and the emergence of far-right political movements in Europe. In 1922, the fascist leader Benito Mussolini seized power in Italy. Other dictators that emerged included Józef Piłsudski in Poland, and Peter and Alexander Karađorđević in Yugoslavia. First-wave feminism made advances, with women gaining the right to vote in the United States (1920), Albania (1920), Ireland (1921), and with suffrage being expanded in Britain to all women over 21 years old (1928).

In Turkey, nationalist forces defeated Greece, France, Armenia, and Britain in the Turkish War of Independence, leading to the Treaty of Lausanne (1923), a treaty more favorable to Turkey than the earlier proposed Treaty of Sèvres. The war also led to the abolition of the Ottoman Caliphate. Nationalist revolts also occurred in Ireland (1919–1921) and Syria (1925–1927). Under Mussolini, Italy pursued a more aggressive domestic and foreign policy, leading to the nigh-eradication of the Sicilian Mafia and the Second Italo-Senussi War in Libya respectively. In 1927, China erupted into a civil war between the Kuomintang (KMT)-led government of the Republic of China (ROC) and forces of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Civil wars also occurred in Paraguay (1922–1923), Ireland (1922–1923), Honduras (1924), Nicaragua (1926–1927), and Afghanistan (1928–1929). Saudi forces conquered Jabal Shammar and subsequently, Hejaz.

A severe famine occurred in Russia (1921–1922) due to the combined effects of economic disturbance because of the Russian Revolution and the Russian Civil War, exacerbated by rail systems that could not distribute food efficiently, leading to 5 million deaths. Another severe famine occurred in China (1928–1930), leading to 6 million deaths. The Spanish flu pandemic (1918–1920) and Russian typhus epidemic (1918–1922), which had begun in the previous decade, caused 25–50 million and 2–3 million deaths respectively. Major natural disasters of this decade include the 1920 Haiyuan earthquake (258,707~273,407 deaths), 1922 Shantou typhoon (50,000–100,000 deaths), 1923 Great Kantō earthquake (105,385–142,800 deaths), and 1927 Gulang earthquake (40,912 deaths).

Silent films were popular in this decade, with the highest-grossing film of this decade being either the American silent epic adventure-drama film Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ or the American silent war drama film The Big Parade, depending on the metrics used. Sinclair Lewis was a popular author in the United States in the 1920s, with his books Main Street and Elmer Gantry becoming best-sellers. Best-selling books outside the US included the Czech book The Good Soldier Švejk, which sold 20 million copies. Songs of this decade included "Mack the Knife" and "Tiptoe Through the Tulips".

During the 1920s, the world population increased from 1.87 to 2.05 billion, with approximately 700 million births and 525 million deaths in total. (Full article...)

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Original Yankee Stadium in August 2002

The original Yankee Stadium was located in the Bronx in New York City. It was the home of the New York Yankees from 1923 to 2008, except for 1974–1975 when it was renovated. It hosted 6,581 Yankees regular season home games during its 85-year history. It was also the home of the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL) from October 21, 1956 through September 23, 1973. The stadium's nickname is "The House That Ruth Built" which is derived from Babe Ruth, the baseball superstar whose prime years coincided with the stadium's opening and the beginning of the Yankees' winning history.

The stadium was built from 1922 to 1923 for $2.4 million ($43 million in 2023 dollars). Its construction was paid for entirely by Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert, who was eager to have his own stadium after sharing the Polo Grounds with the New York Giants baseball team the previous ten years. Yankee Stadium opened for the 1923 season and was hailed at the time as a unique facility in the country. Over the course of its history, it became one of the most famous venues in the United States, hosting a variety of events and historic moments during its existence. Many of these moments were baseball-related, including World Series games, no-hitters, perfect games, and historic home runs, but the stadium also hosted boxing matches, the 1958 NFL Championship Game, college football, concerts, and three Papal Masses. Its condition deteriorated in the 1960s and 1970s, prompting its closure for renovation from October 1973 through 1975. The renovation significantly altered the appearance of the venue and reduced the distance of the outfield fences. (Full article...)

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Credit: National Photo Co.; Restoration: Michel Vuijlsteke

Siegmund "Zishe" Breitbart (1893–1925), shown here pulling a heavy weight using only his teeth, was a Polish strongman and circus performer who was known as the "Strongest Man in the World" during the 1920s. He was widely popular in both Europe and the U.S., but died at the age of 32 after an accident during a performance.

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...that bead crochet (pictured) was a popular method of creating women's fashion accessories during the 1920s?
... that in the 1920s and '30s, various countries such as Mexico, Brazil and Chile issued Art Deco stamps?
... that in 1926, Albert Einstein solved the tea leaf paradox, which states that if the tea in a teacup is stirred, the tea leaves will collect in the middle rather than at the edges?

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Fitzgerald in 1920

Zelda Fitzgerald (née Sayre; July 24, 1900 – March 10, 1948) was an American novelist, painter, writer, and socialite. Born in Montgomery, Alabama, to a wealthy Southern family, she became locally famous for her beauty and high spirits. In 1920, she married writer F. Scott Fitzgerald after the popular success of his debut novel, This Side of Paradise. The novel catapulted the young couple into the public eye, and she became known in the national press as the first American flapper. Because of their wild antics and incessant partying, she and her husband became regarded in the newspapers as the enfants terribles of the Jazz Age. Alleged infidelity and bitter recriminations soon undermined their marriage. After Zelda traveled abroad to Europe, her mental health deteriorated, and she had suicidal and homicidal tendencies, which required psychiatric care. Her doctors diagnosed her with schizophrenia, although later posthumous diagnoses posit bipolar disorder.

While institutionalized at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, she authored the 1932 novel Save Me the Waltz, a semi-autobiographical account of her early life in the American South during the Jim Crow era and her marriage to F. Scott Fitzgerald. Upon its publication by Scribner's, the novel garnered mostly negative reviews and experienced poor sales. The critical and commercial failure of Save Me the Waltz disappointed Zelda and led her to pursue her other interests as a playwright and a painter. In the fall of 1932, she completed a stage play titled Scandalabra, but Broadway producers unanimously declined to produce it. Disheartened, Zelda next attempted to paint watercolors, but, when her husband arranged their exhibition in 1934, the critical response proved equally disappointing. (Full article...)

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... that the Hollywood Boulevard Commercial and Entertainment District has 102 properties within 12 blocks and contains "excellent examples of the predominant architecture styles of the 1920s and 1930s"?
... that the Union of Assyrians's mishandling of shoe-polishing stations led to violent conflicts in 1920s Moscow?
... that a 1920s reviewer considered Hammond's Hard Lines "dangerously experimental ground for boys' fiction"?
... that Masoud El Amaratly, one of Iraq's most popular folk singers in the 1920s (recording featured), was a mustarjil?
... that despite being rivals since the 1920s, the 2010 NFC Championship Game was only the second time the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers had ever met in the playoffs?
... that in the 1920s, a guard was posted outside the New York City Subway's Clark Street station to prevent sailors from using it at night?

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General images

The following are images from various 1920s-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Babe Ruth in 1920 (from 1920s)
Image 2Robert Goddard and his rocket, 1926 (from 1920s)
Image 3Map of the world from 1920, two years after World War I (from 1920s)
Image 4Dow Jones Industrial, 1928–1930 (from 1920s)
Image 5Palacio Barolo, designed by Mario Palanti. (from 1920s)
Image 6Adolf Hitler (standing) delivers a speech in February 1925. (from 1920s)
Image 7The most memorable fashion trend of the Roaring Twenties was undoubtedly the "flapper" look. (from 1920s)
Image 8Frank Lloyd Wright, 1926 (from 1920s)
Image 9Charlie Chaplin during the 1920s (from 1920s)
Image 10F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1929 (from 1920s)
Image 11Pancho Villa (from 1920s)
Image 121920s phone (from 1920s)
Image 13The period from the end of the First World War until the start of the Depression in 1929 is known as the "Jazz Age". (from 1920s)
Image 14The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Soviet Union) is created in 1922. (from 1920s)
Image 15Buster Keaton in the 1922 short film The Frozen North (from 1920s)
Image 16From left, clockwise: Third Tipperary Brigade Flying Column No. 2 under Seán Hogan during the Irish War of Independence, 1920; prohibition agents destroying barrels of alcohol, 1921, in accordance with the 18th amendment, which made alcoholic beverages illegal in the United States throughout the entire decade; in 1927, Charles Lindbergh embarks on the first solo nonstop flight from New York to Paris on the Spirit of St. Louis; a crowd gathering on Wall Street after the 1929 stock market crash, which led to the Great Depression; Benito Mussolini and fascist Blackshirts during the March on Rome in 1922; the People's Liberation Army attacking government defensive positions in Shandong, during the Chinese Civil War; the women's suffrage campaign leads to numerous countries granting women the right to vote and be elected; Babe Ruth becomes the most famous baseball player of the time. (from 1920s)
Image 17Gabriel Narutowicz (from 1920s)
Image 18D. W. Griffith at a rolltop desk, c. 1925 (from 1920s)
Image 19Michael Collins (Irish leader) (from 1920s)
Image 20Spanish troops in San Sebastián, prior to their departure to the Rif War (from 1920s)
Image 21George Grosz in 1921 (from 1920s)
Image 22Georgia O'Keeffe in 1920, photographed by Alfred Stieglitz (from 1920s)
Image 23Paavo Nurmi in 1924 Summer Olympics (from 1920s)
Image 24Prohibition agents emptying barrels of alcohol (from 1920s)
Image 25Crowd gathering after the Wall Street crash of 1929 (from 1920s)
Image 26Benito Mussolini and Fascist Blackshirts during the March on Rome in 1922 (from 1920s)
Image 27Thompson submachine gun (1921 model) (from 1920s)
Image 28Albert Einstein, 1921 (from 1920s)
Image 292 out of 10 best-selling American books in the 1920s were written by Sinclair Lewis (1885–1951). (from 1920s)
Image 30Irving Berlin (left) and Al Jolson, c. 1927 (from 1920s)
Image 31The British and French colonial empires in 1920 (from 1920s)