About
The Roaring Twenties refers to the North American historical period of the 1920s, which has been described as "one of the most colorful decades in American history." The decade encapsulates a fascinating story, beginning with the return of young soldiers from the fronts of the Great War and emergence of a new and confident face of the modern womanhood, and ending with the sad note of the Black Tuesday, harbinger of the Great Depression. The years of the Roaring Twenties are marked by several inventions and discoveries of far reaching consequences; emergence of unprecedented industrial boom and accelerated consumer demand and aspirations, coupled with significant changes in the lifestyle; and a series of events, national as well as the international, which shaped a large part of the history of the 20th century.The Roaring Twenties started in North America and spread to Europe after the aftereffects of the first world war ceased. In Europe, the period after the First World War was marked by a deep recession and many years of rebuilding and coming to terms with the vast human cost of the conflict. Unlike after World War II, the United States did little to try and rebuild Europe, and retreated to an isolationist stance. In Canada, an important economic transformation accelerated as Great Britain was wholly supplanted as Canada's main economic partner. At the middle of the decade economic development started to soar in Europe and the Roaring Twenties broke out in Germany, England and France, where the second half of this decade was termed "The Golden Twenties". In France and Canada they were also called the "Crazy Years" (années folles).
The spirit of the roaring twenties was marked by a general feeling of discontinuity associated with modernity, and a break with traditions. A new and different era was felt to be coming up. Everything seemed to be feasible through modern technology, the limits ecology and sustainability pose to economic and technological growth were yet unknown. Technologies like trains, cars and mass communication by radio spread the idea of modernity to a large parts of the population. Formal decorative frills were shed in favor of practicality, in architecture as well as in daily life. At the same time amusement, fun and lightness were cultivated in jazz and dancing, in defiance of the horrors of the First World War, which were still present in people's minds.
thanks+more useful information
1920s fact file
Library
The links open in a new window.Books
» The 1920s (Decades of the 20th Century)
» The Modern Temper : American Culture and Society in the 1920s
» 1920s Fashions from B. Altman & Company
» The Art Deco House: Avant-Garde Houses of the 1920s and 1930s
» Decorative Arts 1920s
VHS
» The 1920s: A Decade of Contradictions
DVD
» Avant Garde - Experimental Cinema of the 1920s & 1930s
Music
» The Charleston Era
» Original Dance Music of 1920s & 1930s
