CHAPTER 11 SECTION 4

A NEW MASS CULTURE

• THE AUTOMOBILE RESHAPED AMERICAN CULTURE, CREATING NEW FORMS OF RECREATION AND MAKING IT EASIER FOR PEOPLE TO TRAVEL

• AMERICANS ALSO LISTENED TO THE RADIO, WENT TO MOVIES, AND FOLLOWED SPORTS

• A NEW MASS CULTURE EMERGED RESEMBLING THE ONE WE HAVE NOW

Popular Culture• ON FARMS PEOPLE WORKED FROM DAYLIGHT TO DARK LEAVING LITTLE TIME FOR ENTERTAINEMENT – FAMILIES SPENT A LOT OF TIME TOGETHER – DID NOT HAVE THE TIME OR MONEY FOR ENTERTAINMENT• CITY LIFE WAS DIFFERENT – AVERAGE WORKWEEK WAS 45 HOURS BY 1930 – ALSO WORKWEEK WAS CHANGED FROM SEVEN TO 5 DAYS – SALARIES WERE ALSO BIGGER

Movies• WITH MORE FREE TIME AND EXTRA MONEY URBAN AND SUBURBAN AMERICANS LOOKED TO NEW SOURCES OF ENTERTAINMENT – MOVIES WERE THE NEW ENTERTAINMENT

• MOVIES BECAME BIG IN THE 1920S – STUDIOS IN HOLLYWOOD ESTABLISHED MONOPOLIES THAT CONTROLLED THE PRODUCTIN, DISTRIBUTION AND EXHIBITION OF MOVIES

Movies • 1920’S – FROM 60 TO 100 MILLION AMERICANS WENT TO THE MOVIES EACH WEEK

• STUDIOS MADE SILENT PICTURES – IDEAL FOR THE TIME BECAUSE MANY IMMIGRANTS COULD NOT SPEAK ENGLISH – ALSO LET THEM SERVE MANY GEOGRAPHICAL BOUNDRIES – MANY STARS BECAME FAMOUS IN OTHER COUNTRIES

• EASILY AVAILABLE TO ANYONE – ONLY COST A FEW CENTS TO GET INTO THE MOVIES

Famous Stars of the 1920’s (pg.344)

1. CHARLIE CHAPLIN – MOST FAMOUS – MOST POPULAR CHARACTER WAS THE LITTLE TRAMP – PART HOBO AND OPTOMIST

2. DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS – ORIGINAL ROBIN HOOD

Famous Stars of the 1920’s

3. MARY PICKFORD – MARRIED TO DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS – ALSO KNOWN AS

“AMERICA’S SWEETHEART”

4. LON CHANEY – STAR OF HORROR FILMS

Famous Stars of the 1920’s

5. RUDOLPH VALENTINO – SEX SYMBOL – MOST FAMOUS ROLE WAS IN THE SHEIK – “THE LATIN LOVER”

6. CECIL B. DEMILLE – MOST FAMOUS MOVIE PRODUCER OF THE 1920’S

Famous Stars of the 1920’s

7. FATTY ARBUCKLE – FAMOUS COMEDIAN WHOSE CAREER WAS RUINED BY SCANDAL

Movies

• MOVIES CHANGED IN 1927 WITH THE RELEASE OF THE JAZZ SINGER – FIRST TALKING PICTURE STARRING AL JOLSON – FIRST WORDS SPOKEN ON FILM: “YOU AIN’T HEARD NOTHIN’ YET”

• SILENT PICTURES FADED WITH THE “TALKIES”

Radio & Phonographs• POWERFUL INSTRUMENTS OF MASS POPULAR CULTURE

• HELPED PRODUCE A STANDARDIZED CULTURE – AMERICANS IN THE EAST AND WEST AND NORTH AND SOUTH LISTENED TO THE SAME SONGS, LEARNED THE SAME DANCES AND SHARED THE SAME POPULAR CULTURE AS NEVER BEFORE

Radio & Phonograph• THE RADIO WAS DEVELOPED IN THE 1890’S BY ITALIAN INVENTOR GUGLIELMO MARCONI

• 1920 – AN EXECUTIVE OF THE WESTINGHOUSE COMPANY STARTED RADIO STATION KDKA IN PITTSBURGH – IMMEDIATE SUCCESS – WITHIN THREE YEARS THERE WERE ALMOST 600 STATIONS BROADCASTING DIFFERENT PROGRAMS – ALSO LET LISTENERS HEAR ABOUT DIFFERENT PRODUCTS THROUGH ADVERTISING

• 1927, MUCH OF AMERICA LISTENED TO A CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING MATCH BETWEEN GENE TUNNEY AND JACK DEMPSEY - BEFORE 1920s, SUCH COVERAGE OF AN EVENT HAD BEEN IMPOSSIBLE

Radio & Phonograph

• PHONOGRAPH ALLOWED PEOPLE TO LISTEN TO THE SAME MUSIC THEY HEARD ON THE RADIO WHEN EVER THEY WANTED - EARLY PHONOGRAPH EMPLOYED DIFFICULT TO USE WAX CYLINDERS; HAD POOR SOUND QUALITY - 1920s, GROOVED DISC RECORDINGS AND SUPERIOR SOUND REPRODUCTION – LISTENED TO THE SAME MUSIC EVERYWHERE IN THE U.S. - LEARNED SAME FASHIONABLE DANCES; THE FOX TROT TO THE CHARLESTON

Heroes of the 1920s• HOLLYWOOD’S RIVALS FOR HEROES WERE SPORTS STARS – BEFORE 1920’S SPORTS STARS WERE LOCAL HEROES – CHANGED IN 1920’S – CALLED THE GOLDEN AGE OF SPORTS

Heroes of the 1920s• LEADING SPORTS HERO WAS BABE RUTH – THE “SULTAN OF SWAT”

• ATHLETES WERE POPULAR BECAUSE: 1. THE GOLDEN AGE OF SPORTS WAS ALSO THE GOLDEN AGE OF SPORTS WRITERS 2. WWI SHATTERED AMERICAN’S FAITH IN PROGRESS MAKING THE WORLD CHEAP AND FLAWED – ATHLETIC HEROES REASSURED AMERICANS THAT PEOPLE WERE CAPABLE OF GREAT FEATS 3. SPORTS HEROES GAVE AMERICANS A SENSE OF HOPE

Heroes of the 1920sJohn L.

Sullivan-BOXER Jim Thorpe

All-around athlete

Red GrangeFOOTBALL

Heroes of the 1920sBobby JonesGOLFBill Tilden

TENNISGertrud e EderleFIRST WOMAN TO SWIMTHE ENGLISH CHANNEL

LUCKY LINDY CROSSES THE ATLANTICCharles Lindbergh

• THE MOST POPULAR CELEBRITY OF THE 1920S – FIRST PERSON TO FLY NONSTOP AND SOLO ACROSS THE ATLANTIC FROM NEW YORK TO PARIS IN THE SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS

• WHEN HE LANDED IN PARIS HE BECAME AN INSTANT CELEBRITY – BECAME THE GREATEST HERO OF HIS TIME

New Roles For Women• 1920’S – MANY WOMEN CHALLENGED POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL BOUNDARIES TO PROVE THAT THEIR ROLE WAS AS VITAL OUTSIDE THE HOME AS INSIDE

• THE “NEW WOMAN” OF THE 1920’S WAS MORE LIBERATED - SHE WORE DRESSES THAT WERE SHORTER, PUT ON MORE MAKEUP AND DANCED TO THE LATES CRAZES AND ASSUMED SHE HAD THE SAME POLITICAL AND SOCIAL RIGHTS AS ANY MAN

New Role For Women• THE REJECTION OF “VICTORIAN” MORALITY SEEMED SO TOTAL AND THE NEW WOMAN SO NOVEL THAT THE CHANGE AMOUNTED TO A “REVOLUTION IN MANNERS AND MORALITY

• THE SYMBOL OF ALL THESE CHANGES WAS THE FLAPPER – A YOUNG WOMAN WITH SHORT SKIRTS AND RED CHEEKS WHO HAD HER HAIR CUT IN A BOB

• THE FLAPPER WAS MORE PUBLICIZED THAN IMITATED – HER IMAGE UNDERSCORES AN IMPORTANT ASPECT OF THE 1920S – NOT ALL WOMEN WANTED TO BE FLAPPERS BUT WANTED MORE CONTROL OVER THEIR LIVES

Changes in Family Life• DURING THE 1920S WOMEN TENDED TO LIVE LONGER, MARRY LATER AND HAVE FEWER CHILDREN – FREED THEIR TIME TO PURSUE OTHER INTEREST – WORKING, CHARITY WORK, CLUBS THAT DISCUSSED BOOKS AND IDEALS – ENLARGED THE INTELLECTUAL WORLD OF WOMEN

• CONSUMER ECONOMY BENEFITED WOMEN – ELECTRIC APPLIANCES HELPED MAKE HOUSEWORK EASIER

• RURAL AMERICA – DID NOT HAVE ELECTRICITY – THEIR HOUSEHOLD CHORES WERE STILL DIFFICULT

• STILL A SPLIT BETWEEN URBAN AND RURAL AMERICANS

Modernism in Arts and LiteratureNO AREA OF AMERICAN LIVE REFLECTED THE IMPACT OF WWI MORE THAN LITERATURE AND THE ARTS – THE WAR ALTERED THE WAY WRITERS AND ARTISTS:1. VIEWED THE WORLD2. CHANGED THE WAY THEY APPROACHED THEIR CRAFT3. INSPIRED THEM TO EXPERIMENT WITH NEW FORMS AND FRESH IDEAS

Modernism in Art and Literature• WWI CALLED THE NOTION OF PROGRESS INTO QUESTION – HOW COULD A SOCIETY RULED BY THE IDEA OF PROGRESS PARTICIPATE IN A WAR THAT KILLED MILLIONS OF PEOPLE, DESTROYED MONUMENTS OF CIVILIZATION AND LEFT SURVIVORS HUNGRY AND HOMELESS

• BELIEVED THIS WAS NOT AN ACTION OF RATIONAL PEOPLE BUT THE IRRATIONAL EXPLOITS OF CIVILIZATION WITHOUT DIRECTION

Modernism in the Arts and Literature

THIS PESSIMISTIC WORLDVIEW SPARKED AN ARTISTIC MOVEMENT KNOWN AS MODERNISM

Sigmund Freud

• CONTRIBUTED TO LITERARY AND ARTISTIC MODERNISM – ARGUED THAT MUCH OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR IS DRIVEN NOT BY RATIONAL THOUGHT BUT UNCONSCIOUS DESIRES

Sigmund Freud• TO LIVE IN SOCIETY PEOPLE LEARN TO SUPPRESS UNCONSCIOUS DESIRES – BUT THE TENSION BETWEEN OUTWARD BEHAVIOR AND THE SUBCONSCIOUS COULD LEAD TO MENTAL AND PHYSICAL ILLNESS

• FREUD’S THEORIES LED WRITERS AND ARTISTS TO EXPLORE THE SUBCONSCIOUS MIND

Modern Painting• MODERNISM CLASHED WITH TRADITIONALISM MOST DRAMATICALLY IN THE FIELD OF MODERN ART

• EUROPEAN PAINTERS MOVED AWAY FROM REPRESENTATIONAL PAINTINGS THAT SIMPLY REPRODUCED REAL LIFE AND EXPERIMENTED WITH MORE ABSTRACT STYLES

Modern Painting• MOST AMERICANS GOT THEIR FIRST REAL GLIMPSE OF THE NEW EUROPEAN APPROACH AT THE ARMORY SHOW IN NEW YORK 1913 – TRADITIONALISTS WERE OUTRAGED – “LUNITIC FRINGE” – AMERICAN PAINTERS WERE INSPIRED BY THE ART

• AMERICAN ARTISTS: 1. EDWARD HOPPER – AUTOMAT, NIGHHAWKS 2. OSEPH STELLA – BROOKLYN BRIDGE

Literature

AMERICAN WRITERS OF THE 1920S WERE REFERRED TO AS THE LOST GENERATION – GIVEN THE NAME BY GERTRUDE STEIN – BECAUSE THEY NO LONGER HAD FAITH IN THE CULTURAL GUIDEPOSTS OF THE VICTORIAN ERA – WERE INSPIRED BY THEIR “LOST” CONDITION TO SEARCH FOR NEW TRUTHS AND FRESH WAYS OF EXPRESSING THOSE TRUTHS

Literature

1920S – NEVER IN AMERICAN HISTORY HAD A DECADE SEEN THE EMERGENCE OF SO MANY GREAT LITERARY TALENTS: 1. F. SCOTT FITZGERALD – EXPLORED THE REALITY OF AMERICAN DREAMS OR WEALTH, SUCCESS AND EMOTIONAL FULFILLMENT – WROTE THE GREAT GATSBY – WHICH SHOWS THE EMPTINESS OF THE JAZZ AGE WORLD OF FLAPPERS AND BOOTLEGGERS – ALSO WROTE THIS SIDE OF PARADISE IN WHICH HE SAYS HIS GENERATION HAD “GROWN UP TO FIND ALL GODS DEAD, ALL WARS FOUGHT AND ALL FAITHS IN MAN SHAKEN”

Literature

2. ERNEST HEMINGWAY – WROTE A FAREWELL TO ARMS – ABOUT A DOOMED LOVE AFFAIR BETWEEN A CYNICAL AMERICAN AMBULANCE DRIVER AND A NURSE DURING WWI

3. SINCLAIR LEWIS – WROTE MAIN STREET – SMALL TOWN LIFE IN THE MIDWEST – PAINTS A SATIRICAL PORTRAIT OF SMALL MINDED PEOPLE IN AN AMERICAN TOWN

Literature4. EDITH WHARTON – WROTE THE AGE OF INNOCENCE – ABOUT A WEALTHY YOUNG MAN PREVENTED BY SOCIAL CONVENTIONS FROM MARRYING THE WOMAN HE LOVES5. WILLIAM FAULKNER – WROTE THE SOUND AND THE FURY – ABOUT LIFE IN THE SOUTH AND USES DIFFERENT NARRATORS TO TELL THE STORY OF THE COMPLEX INNER WORKINGS OF A SOUTHERN FAMILY

Literature• MANY POETS AND NOVELISTS OF THE 1920S WERE DISSILLUSIONED – THEY WRESTLED WITH THE MEANING OF THE WAR AND LIFE ITSELF – THEIR EFFORTS RESULTED IN THE CREATION OF LITERARY MASTERPIECES