Caleb Canna

8/20/2014
Language Arts

The Spirit of the Jazz Age

The 1920s were a time of change in America. It was a time of prosperity and a
widespread feeling of discontinuity with life. City life was glorified, and droves of people
left their farms and simple lives to live and work in cities such as Chicago and New York
City. F. Scott Fitzgerald, often seen as the chronicler of the 1920s, described the period
as when "the parties were bigger, the pace was faster, the buildings were higher, the
morals looser."
Many things previously unheard of, apart from imagination, were now feasible
because of modern technology. New inventions such as moving pictures, radio, and
automobiles became a major part of American culture. The young woman shocked the
older generation new hair styles and shorter clothes that tended to expose their legs
and even knees. They became known as the Flappers quickly, and were sometimes
arrested for wearing what was considered skimpy beach wear in public.
At the same time, jazz rose in popularity, with musicians such as Fats Waller,
Benny Goodman, and Louis Armstrong paving the way. This lead to the creation of new
dances such as The Charleston, One Step, and Black Bottom which became popular
among the younger generation. The combination new music, new dances, and new
fashions were seen as outright rebellion by the older generation. As such, the period is
also often referred to as the Jazz Age, a term F. Scott Fitzgerald coined.
The 1920s also made Hollywood. Before the 1920s, movie actors were never
named, but afterwards stars were what made a Hollywood movie. A hundred million
people went to the movies every week. The 1920s also gave birth to the first talkie
called The Jazz Singer starring Al Jolson. Because of this, many silent screen stars lost
their jobs because their voices sounded too strange and difficult to understand. Many of
the Hollywood stars lived lavish lifestyles in Beverley Hills. It represented the lavish
lifestyles many wealthy people put on throughout America. Even gang bosses achieved
stardom. Al Capone, a gangster boss who controlled almost all of Chicago, achieved
fame that rivaled that of Hollywood's superstars.
But behind all the glamor, wealth, and change was a sense of disillusionment
from the senseless slaughter The Lost Generation witnessed during the First World
War (1914-17). The war opened their eyes to horrors and challenged previous ideals
that doing good will cause good to happen. When it was finished people simply wanted
to live again and forget everything they had witnessed. They did this by holding lavish
parties, drinking excessively, and having love affairs. This is sense of emptiness and

Caleb Canna
8/20/2014
Language Arts

aimlessness is marked most clearly by the writers of that time. Those included F. Scott
Fitzgerald, Erich Maria Remarque, Ernest Hemingway, and Gertrude Stein. They
explored themes such as spiritual alienation, self-exile, and cultural criticism that
represented the general feeling at the time.
In all, the 1920s changed the course of America and challenged long held ideals.