Tag: 20th Century

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The Beatles’ Final Performance Was the Same Year as Woodstock

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The Beatles played their last official live concert on August 29, 1966, at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, but it wasn’t their final public performance. That came in January 1969, when the Fab Four played their now-iconic rooftop concert on top of Apple Studios in London. The impromptu gig was the last show of their career, and later that year they released their 11th and final studio album, Abbey Road. While one era was coming to an end, across the pond a plethora of bands were either breaking into the big time or solidifying their star status at one of the most famous music festivals in history: Woodstock. More than 400,000 people showed up to the event, many without tickets, and the whole thing looked destined to descend into chaos, especially with a lack of security in place and heavy rainfall that turned the festival site into mud. The audience didn’t seem to mind, however, and they ended up witnessing now-legendary performances from the likes of Jimi Hendrix, The Who, the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, and Jefferson Airplane.

Nixon Made His Famous “Silent Majority” Speech About the Vietnam War

By the end of 1969, about 45,000 Americans had been killed in action in Vietnam. Criticism of the war was growing stronger, culminating in the Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam, a massive nationwide demonstration that took place on October 15. With an estimated 2 million participants, it remains one of the largest protests in American history. In response, President Richard Nixon addressed the nation on November 3. He called for national solidarity for the war effort, famously asking the “great silent majority” of the American people for their support as he worked for “peace with honor” in Vietnam. He also outlined a program of “Vietnamization” that would see a gradual withdrawal of U.S. troops and hand over operations to South Vietnamese forces. Despite widespread anti-war feelings, polls taken after the speech found that 77% of the American public was in support of Nixon’s policy in Vietnam. A month after the speech, the U.S. conducted its first draft lottery to determine who would be called up for military service in Vietnam.

The Age of the Jumbo Jet Began With the First Boeing 747 Flight

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On February 9, 1969, the Boeing 747 made its first flight, heralding a new age of the wide-body jet. After almost a year of further testing, the 747 flew its first commercial flight on January 22, 1970, carrying 335 passengers and 20 crew members from New York’s Kennedy Airport to Heathrow Airport in London. The commercial jet opened up the airways to middle-class passengers, and soon airports around the world were adapting and growing in size to accommodate the 747 and the hordes of passengers each flight could carry. Airport boarding lounges, customs and immigration areas, and ground crews all had to be expanded and upgraded to facilitate the dawn of the jumbo jet.

Project Blue Book Left 701 UFO Cases as “Unidentified”

In the 1940s, a spate of UFO sightings across the U.S. — many of which are now considered the archetypes of alien encounters — resulted in a U.S. Air Force investigation called Operation Sign in 1948. This operation expanded and, in 1952, Project Blue Book was born. It went on to become the federal government’s longest-running UFO investigation, with reports compiled on 12,618 UFO sightings. When Project Blue Book came to an end in 1969, the vast majority of these strange events were officially marked as “identified,” and their causes attributed to known astronomical, atmospheric, or artificial (human-made) phenomena. Not everything was neatly cleared away, however, as 701 sightings remained officially “unidentified,” providing plenty of fodder for ufologists and budding Fox Mulders.

What Did a House Cost During the Baby Boom?

1950s housing development

Author Mark DeJoy

April 24, 2024

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The baby boom was a global increase in the number of births in the years following the end of World War II. In the United States, the time frame is generally defined as between 1946 and 1964, when around 76 million people were born. It coincided with a period of economic prosperity that also saw a boom in home ownership. Census data shows that 43.6% of Americans owned a home in 1940; by 1960, that number rose to 61.9%, an increase of more than 18%. We took a look at the average cost of a house during this boom time, using data from the U.S. Census Bureau and inflation calculations from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Consumer Price Index.

The 1950s

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At the onset of the baby boom, the housing stock was still in a state of stagnation due to the wartime conservation of building materials. As a result, in 1947, 6 million households saw families sharing living space with extended relatives, and approximately 500,000 households were living in make-do spaces such as detached garages, trailers, or otherwise temporary housing. But a few key programs reshaped the housing market: the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act (better known as the GI Bill), Veterans Administration (VA) home loans, and the already-established Federal Housing Authority (FHA).

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In the prewar era, mortgages were commonly structured as “balloon loans,” which were relatively short-term loans (five to seven years, on average) with a substantial down payment (normally 20% to 50%). The VA and FHA programs flipped the convention to long-term loans with low down payments. The ability to spend less up front and pay back the loan over 25 to 30 years significantly eased the barrier to home ownership for many Americans, though not everyone: The practice of redlining meant that a vast majority of Black veterans were shut out from receiving home loans.

In 1950, some 1.53 million new homes were built, and VA and FHA loans comprised 51% of buyers. Another 2.4 million new homes were started between 1953 and 1957, using a total of $3.6 billion in loans. According to U.S. Census data, the national median price of a single-family detached home in 1950 was $7,354. That equates to $97,740 in today’s money, though it’s worth pointing out that the average house in 1950 was much smaller: 983 square feet and an average of 4.6 total rooms, as opposed to 2.264 square feet and seven to eight rooms today. The average family income was $3,300, the equivalent of $43,859 today, which goes to show how much the housing market has outpaced regular inflation in the 21st century: Though the value of the average home in 1950 equates to $97,740 today, data from 2018 to 2022 shows the modern-day median home value is almost triple that, at $281,900. The price of a home in 1950 was approximately double the median household income; considering today’s median household income of $74,755, the price of a home is now nearly four times the median household income.

The 1960s

The development of the Interstate Highway System with the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 made the areas surrounding cities more easily accessible than ever before. This, along with the wide availability of empty land for developers to build on, and the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation discouraging mortgage lending for central urban properties by identifying those areas as “hazardous,” contributed to the creation of the suburbs as we know them. By 1960, 15 million U.S. homes were under construction, and 75% of them were in suburban areas.

The median single-family home size in 1960 rose to 1,500 square feet and gradually increased throughout the decade to just under 2,000 square feet. The median number of rooms increased from the 1950s average of 4.6 to six rooms in the 1960s, and that number held steady throughout the decade. It’s tempting to attribute the increased home size to the space that was available in the suburbs, but the numbers don’t exactly bear out that explanation: The median lot size throughout the 1950s and ’60s was steady at just over .20 acres, and it didn’t significantly increase until the 1970s.

As home sizes increased, so too did home prices: In 1960, the median value of a single-family detached home was $11,900 — that’s $126,852 today. However, the median family income kept pace, increasing to $5,600 ($59,695 today), so the median annual family income still comprised approximately half the cost of a home. The least expensive state for home ownership was Arkansas, with a median home value of $6,700, while the most expensive state was Hawaii, with a median home value of $20,900 — or $71,4210 and $222,790 today, respectively.

Life in 1960s America, By the Numbers

American couple, 1960s

Author Mark DeJoy

April 16, 2024

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The 1960s were some of the most significant years in American history. The decade saw the Civil Rights Movement and a rising counterculture that reimagined the shape of the American social fabric. Pop music exploded like never before with the British Invasion led by the Beatles and Rolling Stones, but the ’60s were also an intense era of war and political violence.

The decade’s most monumental moments tend to be widely covered, and the sheer number of historic events during this time almost create the impression that every moment was imbued with turbulence. But while the tumult of the decade played out on the evening news in homes across America, many people were still living normal everyday lives — albeit lives that looked quite different from our modern lifestyle. The following numbers offer a snapshot of day-to-day life in 1960s America.

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42% of Adults Were Smokers

Smoking was still widespread in the middle of the 20th century. The smoking rate in the U.S. reached a peak of 47% of adults (including 50% of doctors!) by the end of 1952. Though cigarette sales declined somewhat in 1953 and 1954 amid growing health concerns, the introduction of the filtered cigarette created a rebound. Through the early years of the 1960s, the smoking rate held steady at 42% of adults. On January 11, 1964, Surgeon General Luther L. Terry published the first report of the Surgeon General’s Advisory Committee on Smoking and Health, a landmark event that brought the link between smoking and disease front and center in the American consciousness. Smoking has been on an overall downward trend ever since: As of 2021, smoking has declined to 11.5% of adults.

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The Average Price of a Haircut Was $2.05

In 1966, the national average for the price of a men’s haircut was $1.95 ($19.03 in today’s currency). For women, it was $2.16 ($20.79 today) — unless an extravagant “permanent wave” was desired, which cost an average of $12.15 ($118.57 today). The permanent wave (or “perm”) was a multi-step process to make long-lasting curls, which required additional materials and could take between six to eight hours to complete, hence the premium cost. Chicago was the most expensive city for men to get a haircut in; the average price there was $2.48 ($24.20 today), while Dallas was the least expensive at $1.79 ($17.47 today). But interestingly, Chicago was the cheapest city for women’s haircuts — $2.08 ($20.30 today) for a conventional cut, and $11.27 ($109.98) for the permanent wave. The most expensive city for women was Washington, D.C., at $3.31 and $18.19 ($32.30 and $177.51, respectively).

72% of Adults Were Married

At the beginning of the 1960s, marriage was still a fairly unquestioned rite of passage into adulthood. The median age for brides in 1960 was 20.1, while the median age for grooms was 24.2, and the percentage of adults who were married was a large majority: 72% in 1960. But the decade brought about sweeping social changes in attitudes toward divorce, sexuality, and parenthood, creating a downward trend in marriage that persisted into the 21st century. Data collected in 2023 shows that the current median age at first marriage is 28 for women and 30 for men, and 53% of American adults are married.

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The Average Price for Most Groceries Was Under $1

A single dollar bill had a lot of buying power throughout most of the 20th century. The national average price for most grocery staples in the ’60s was less than a buck: A 5-pound bag of flour was 61 cents; a dozen eggs cost 66 cents; a pound of ground beef (which was broadly referred to as “hamburger” even when not formed into a patty) was 55 cents; and a box of generic corn flakes was 32 cents. In today’s dollars, these prices equate to $5.95, $6.44, $5.37, and $3.12, respectively. With the notable exception of eggs (which have infamously inflated in cost since 2020), these equivalent prices are right in line with what we’d expect to see at a grocery store today.

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A Three-Minute Phone Call to Someone Across the Country Cost $2

Though many aspects of daily life are more expensive today than they were in the past, phone service is one item that’s actually more affordable today than it was in the 1960s. During most of the landline era, phone calls to different regions incurred long-distance charges, based on the duration and distance of the call. In 1960, the cost for a three-minute call from New York to San Francisco was $2.25; it dropped to $1.75 by the end of 1967. With inflation, the $2 average for that three-minute call would be the equivalent of $19.89 today. A lengthier conversation could easily incur enough long-distance charges to surpass the cost of an entire month of cellphone service today.

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75% of Typewriters Sold Were IBM Selectrics

For most of the 20th century, the typewriter was the quintessential office item. In 1946, leading manufacturer IBM set out to improve the typewriter design that had been standard since the late 19th century. IBM engineer Horace “Bud” Beattie developed a mushroom-shaped type element to replace the basket of individual typebars that manual typewriters were equipped with; it solved the problem of typebars jamming if keys were pressed in too rapid succession. Beattie and a team of engineers refined the “mushroom printer” to a spherical shape about the size of a golf ball, which allowed for a pivoting motion that made the page more stable and less prone to small shifts that could result in unwanted slanted text.

In 1954, the team at IBM developed a prototype of the new design. The type sphere was designed to be easily replaceable, allowing for switching out typefaces, thus giving the machine its name: Selectric. The Selectric was capable of printing 186 words per minute and accommodating keystrokes as quick as 20 milliseconds apart with no risk of jamming. It included ergonomic keys, and was available in eight color combinations. It took seven years from the completion of the prototype for the product to go to market, but when the Selectric went on sale on July 31, 1961, the buzz around it was instant. First-year sales hit 80,000, topping projections by 400%. For the rest of the decade and beyond, it became the new standard in offices, comprising 75% of all typewriters sold, and eventually a 94% market share for electric typewriters.

What Did People Eat for Dinner in the 1920s?

Upside-down cake, 1920s

Author Nicole Villeneuve

April 10, 2024

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Family dinner has been a mainstay of U.S. households since the mid-19th century, when men increasingly began to work and eat lunch — once considered the main meal of the day — outside the home. By the 1920s, the food rationing of World War I was a thing of the past, and the “Roaring ’20s” brought economic prosperity for many Americans.

When families sat down for dinner in this era, they could expect a menu typically consisting of a meat, a starch, and a side dish. The 1920s also saw an increase in the availability and variety of foods, including canned fruits, as well as innovations such as iceboxes and, later, refrigerators, which began to make their way into family homes over the course of the decade.

All of these factors played a part in what was served for dinner. From hearty mains to unique salads and decadent desserts, here’s a peek into dining rooms across America in the 1920s.

Baked Ham

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby focused on the wealthy elite of New York’s Gilded Age, describing buffet tables overflowing with hors d’oeuvres and spiced baked hams. But meats weren’t just for the rich, and in the 1920s, a baked ham or other large cut of meat was a common sight at family meal time, especially during holidays or as the centerpiece of a Sunday dinner.

A popular glazed ham recipe involved studding the outside with cloves, canned pineapple rings, and maraschino cherries. With the invention of Wonderbread and the proliferation of sliced bread in the same decade, leftover ham sandwiches were also a lunchbox fixture.

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Chicken à la King

The origins of this recipe, like those of many classic food and drink concoctions, are unclear, but its regular appearance on dinner tables in the early 20th century is an undisputed fact. At its most basic, the dish consists of cubed chicken and mushrooms in a creamy white sauce, garnished with pimentos and served over toast, pasta, or flaky puff pastry pieces.

The rich sauce, made with cream, butter, and flour, was also often seasoned with sherry or other spirits for added flavor. Over time, ingredients such as green peppers or peas also began appearing in recipes. The beloved comfort food grew even more popular in later years, reaching its peak during the 1950s. While it fell out of favor in subsequent decades, it can often still be found as a canned or frozen entrée in grocery stores.

Stuffed Celery

Hors d'oeuvres enjoyed immense popularity in the 1920s. The Prohibition era fostered more informal social gatherings and cocktail parties at home, where finger foods were often served. Stuffed celery was a regular choice not only for entertaining, but also as a side at the dinner table.

The recipe began appearing in cookbooks and women’s magazines in the early 1900s and gained popularity throughout the ’20s and ’30s. The basic premise remained simple: chilled celery stalks filled with cream cheese, which was mixed with toppings such as tuna, lobster, crab, or, more commonly, olives and pimentos. Olives and pimentos were also used in cheese and olive salad, which was served on leaves of lettuce.

Waldorf Salad

Originally created in 1893 at New York’s prestigious Waldorf Hotel by the executive chef Edouard Beauchamp and maître d’hôtel Oscar Tschirky, this timeless salad was a staple of family dinner menus in the early 20th century, when sweet salads became a favorite.

The first recipe was published in 1986 in Tschirky’s own The Cook Book, by “Oscar” of the Waldorf. This original incarnation called only for diced apples and celery to be “dressed with a good mayonnaise.” Over time, the salad evolved; throughout the 1920s, recipes also began calling for walnuts and seedless red grapes. As recently as 2017, the Waldorf — short for the Waldorf-Astoria — still featured an elevated version of the salad on the menu, made with Granny Smith and Fuji apples, halved grapes, and candied walnuts.

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

Thanks to advancements in canning and a boom in the Hawaiian pineapple industry, canned pineapple enjoyed newfound popularity in the U.S. in the 1920s. The sweet golden rings were used not just as a garnish for baked hams, but in baked goods, too — most notably, in the pineapple upside-down cake.

The all-American dessert was an adaptation of already-popular skillet cakes, previously made with fruits such as apples or cherries. It gained a new audience after Dole — then known as the Hawaiian Pineapple Company — held a pineapple recipe contest in 1925.

Dole received 2,500 recipes for pineapple upside-down cake alone, and the published recipe, which appeared in a Dole cookbook as well as in magazines, helped it find a whole new audience. The syrupy-sweet tropical dessert has remained a family dinner favorite for decades, through the 1960s and beyond.

Icebox Cake

This no-bake dessert was named for the then-ubiquitous icebox, a precursor to the electric refrigerator that held a large ice block and was often made of wood and lined with tin. Iceboxes helped preserve fresh food in a way that canning or drying could not, and in the case of the icebox cake, it helped soften it to decadent perfection.

To start, crisp wafers or cookies were layered in a dish with whipped cream. After being left to sit in the icebox for a few hours or even overnight, the cookies softened and melded with the creamy filling. While the simplicity of the dessert was part of its appeal, other ingredients such as custard, fruit, gelatin, or chocolate were sometimes used as well.

Surprising Dating Etiquette From the 1950s

Couple sharing a soda pop

Author Nicole Villeneuve

March 7, 2024

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The world of dating has undergone significant changes throughout history, from arranged couplings in ancient Egypt to medieval courtship to the modern-day use of technology to find a partner. In the 1950s, dating was governed by a set of traditions and rules that reflected a postwar society that emphasized stability and conformity, and was largely influenced by the era’s adherence to traditional gender roles. Men were expected to take the lead, covering the bills and demonstrating chivalry, while women were held to standards of modesty and femininity.

Though they may feel antiquated compared to more recent moves toward gender equality, independence, and a rejection of rigid cultural norms, the conventions that defined dating in the ’50s are fascinating to look back on. Here are some of the rules that defined dating etiquette in the 1950s.

Women Didn’t Order for Themselves

The dynamics of a dinner date were markedly different in the 1950s. In a recovered ’50s article from British magazine Woman’s Own, a guide titled “How To Behave in a Restaurant” outlined a number of rules that applied to all male-female relationships, “whether he is your father, brother or boyfriend.” Women were expected to be demure and reserved, telling their male counterparts — the protectors and providers — what they wanted and allowing the man to place the order with the wait staff on their behalf.

Going out for dinner, while it did happen, wasn’t the default date at the time, especially for younger people: Group dates at sporting events, dances, or movies were the preferred way to get acquainted without spending too much time in private or spending too much money.

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Men Were Expected To Pick Up the Check

Given various advancements in gender and socioeconomic equality throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, it’s no longer assumed that a man will pay for everything on a date. And while some old-fashioned opinions on the matter linger today, in the 1950s, it wasn’t even a discussion — the man was expected to foot the bill.

Men were seen as the primary breadwinners, as far fewer women were employed outside the home. The act of paying for a date symbolized their role as providers and proved their financial stability, and it was considered the gentlemanly thing to do. In her 1989 dating history book From Front Porch to Back Seat: Courtship in 20th-Century America, author Beth L. Bailey concluded that for young girls at the time, a date “was not the event, was not the companionship, was not even being seen with the boy. A date meant being paid for.”

Family Approval Was of the Utmost Importance

In modern dating, seeking approval from friends and family doesn’t usually happen until things begin to transition from the “casual” stage to the “exclusive” stage. But 1950s dating was less of a private affair; it was a social event that often involved spending time with friends, and, most importantly, introducing a date to the girl's family.
Familial approval was imperative at the time; as Marion S. Barclay's 1950s Teen Guide to Homemakingstated, “It is a good idea to have your family meet and approve of the people you know.” The guide also stated that a potential date should be “punctual,” typically coming to the home and ringing the doorbell before departing on a date. Consistent with the etiquette of the time, this common ritual added a layer of formality to dating — one that contrasts sharply with contemporary practices.

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Women Were Discouraged From Eating Certain Foods

The arbitrary gendered ideals men and women were expected to uphold during 1950s courtship extended even to what women should and shouldn’t eat. If a date took place at a restaurant, women were encouraged to eat foods that wouldn’t make a scene.

"Fruits cause some embarrassment in restaurants,” read a ’50s dating guide from Woman's Own. “Cherries should be put in the mouth whole, and the stones carefully placed on to a spoon. Plums and other large fruits with stones should be dissected in the dish and the stone placed at the side."

Other potentially problematic foods, such as celery and cheese, could be eaten by hand as long as they were cut into small pieces first. These prescriptive recommendations reflected the broader cultural idea of a refined woman and served to reinforce the gender norms that characterized the era.

“Going Steady” Was the Ultimate Goal

“Going steady” was a hallmark of 1950s dating. This term meant that a couple had agreed to date each other exclusively, taking a major step toward a more serious relationship — often with the intent to marry. Couples abided by specific rituals to symbolize their commitment, often exchanging class rings or letterman jackets if of school or college age.

Despite the era’s formalities, the concept of going steady wasn’t exactly beloved by all: Parents often worried their teenagers weren’t dating around enough and were settling down too quickly by committing to one person exclusively. They also feared that going steady would cause teenagers to become physically intimate more quickly than if they were going on one-off casual dates. As average marriage ages gradually rose and attitudes toward sex and dating shifted throughout the 1960s and 1970s, “going steady,” like many of the decade’s dating rules, began to fall out of favor.

What 6 Major State Capitals Looked Like 100 Years Ago

Nashville street in 1933

Author Mark DeJoy

February 14, 2024

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One hundred years is a long time in the life of a city. New technologies emerge and wane, people come and go, cultural factors ebb and flow. But not all cities change at the same rate; some stay comparatively similar to their older incarnations, while others become drastically different. Here’s a glimpse at what a few iconic state capitals looked like a century ago.

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Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta was named after the Western and Atlantic Railroad, for which it was a terminus. In the early 20th century, the city was well established as a major railway hub, and the downtown was built around its first train station. Hotels were concentrated in an area near the station (called, fittingly, Hotel Row) in order to serve train travelers, and by the 1920s, masonry high-rises created the city’s skyline.

Like many cities during this period, Atlanta was beginning to expand its roads in order to accommodate increasing numbers of cars. In the 1920s, the city built three major viaducts to allow traffic to bypass the high number of railroad crossings. The Central Avenue, Pryor Street, and Spring Street (later renamed Ted Turner Drive) viaducts not only improved vehicle safety, but also led to development outside the city’s downtown core.

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Boston, Massachusetts

Though Boston was established as a colonial port city as early as 1630, a wave of immigration between 1880 and 1921 fueled a population boom and a sense of transition similar to what many younger cities were facing at the time. An expanding population created a need for a building boom, and changes wrought by the Industrial Revolution were at the forefront. The industrialization of nearby Springfield, Massachusetts led to a high population of mechanics and engineers in that city, and it became a hub for the nascent automotive industry. Rolls-Royce selected Springfield as the site of its U.S. factory, and many other early auto manufacturers were based in the area. In fact, Massachusetts claimed to have manufactured more cars at the beginning of the 20th century than Detroit, Michigan. Cars were particularly popular in Boston — more so than in many other cities — and 1 in 8 Bostonians were car owners by 1913. This led to the construction of a large number of buildings dedicated to automobiles, including garages, repair shops, car dealers, and more.

In terms of architecture, the city’s affluent Beacon Hill neighborhood appears very similar today to how it looked in the 1920s, with well-preserved colonial-style and Victorian buildings. However, little remains of Boston’s once-abundant theater district, which reached a peak count of 40 theaters by 1935.

Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville has a storied history as a center of American popular music, but that history was in its very infancy 100 years ago. The famous Grand Ole Opry didn’t begin until the middle of the 1920s, first broadcasting as “the WSM Barn Dance,” and at the time, it was hardly the institution it would become later. In those days, it was purely a radio show broadcast out of the WSM studio on the fifth floor of the National Life and Accident Insurance building, with only as many spectators as could fit in the limited confines of the station’s Studio A.

Unlike other major capitals, Nashville wasn’t a city of high-rises — the 12-story Stahlman Building was the tallest building from the time of its completion in 1908 until the L&C Tower was built in the 1950s — and much of the low-rise brick and masonry buildings from the last century are preserved today. This is particularly true along the First Avenue front of the Cumberland River, and along Second Avenue, formerly known as Market Street.

Austin, Texas

Though Austin’s population began steadily growing around the end of the 19th century, in 1920 it was only the 10th-largest city in Texas, with a population just under 35,000. Its visual focal point was the Texas State Capitol Building (the UT Tower didn't exist yet), and the surrounding downtown consisted of low- and mid-rise buildings with brick or stone facades — an aesthetic that was more “Main Street” than “metropolis.” Cars weren’t quite as dominant in Austin as in larger cities of the time, and horse-drawn carriages were still seen on the streets.

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Phoenix, Arizona

Phoenix is another city that had a relatively small population in 1920 — just around 29,000 — but it was still the largest city in a state that had existed for only eight years. Because of this, Phoenix had the flashiness and bustle of an up-and-coming city, despite its small size. The city’s first skyscraper, the Heard Building, was even the site of a stunt climbing performance shortly after it was built. Nonetheless, the Heard Building’s height of seven stories might not pass for consideration as a skyscraper in larger cities. The 10-story Luhrs Building surpassed it in height when it opened in 1924, and the 16-story Hotel Westward Ho became the city’s tallest building in 1928. It held that title for more than 30 years, as the vast availability of land surrounding Phoenix disincentivized vertical construction, in favor of outward land expansion.

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Sacramento, California

Sacramento is often overshadowed by other iconic California cities, but 100 years ago it boasted a downtown of ornate classical architecture, was home to the largest manufacturing train yard in the western United States, and served as a major retail hub for the region. Vital downtown structures of the time — such as Sacramento City Hall, Memorial Auditorium, the California State Life Building, and the Federal Building — were all built during a construction boom that occurred between 1912 and 1932. But there isn’t much evidence of this architectural period today, as even some surviving buildings, such as Odd Fellows Hall, have been remodeled with simpler midcentury-style facades.

The Story of the Harlem Renaissance, in 6 Facts

Marcus Garvey in Harlem

Author Nicole Villeneuve

January 25, 2024

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Throughout the 1920s, New York City’s Harlem neighborhood served as the vibrant headquarters of a transformative period in African American art, literature, music, and social justice leadership. This movement, known as the Harlem Renaissance, was a catalyst for celebrating African American culture and heritage, giving the Black community newfound ownership of their experiences and pride in how their stories were told. It also sought to challenge racial stereotypes and forge social and political equality, planting ideas that would be meaningful for years to come. Here, told in six facts about the movement, is the story of the Harlem Renaissance.

It Started With the Great Migration

From the 1910s until the 1970s, approximately 6 million Black Americans made their way from the Southern U.S. to Northern, Midwestern, and Western states, fleeing racial discrimination and economic hardships, and seeking better work and education opportunities. Known as the Great Migration, this mass movement transformed the country’s demographic landscape and was a major impetus for the Harlem Renaissance. By the 1920s, some 200,000 newcomers had made the New York City neighborhood of Harlem home; at just 3 square miles in size, the neighborhood had the largest concentration of Black people in the world, with people from all backgrounds, including artists, laborers, scholars, and writers. By the early ’20s, a vibrant cultural community was blossoming in this small corner of Upper Manhattan.

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Magazines Were Crucial to the Movement

In March 1924, a dinner party at Harlem’s Civic Club brought together a group of emerging and established writers and publishers. That gathering is now widely regarded as kicking off the Harlem Renaissance. The movement encompassed a wide variety of creative arts, but at its core was the literary scene. Two publications in particular emerged as crucial platforms for burgeoning African American writers at the time. One was The Crisis, founded in 1910 as the official magazine of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) by renowned civil rights activist and sociologist W.E.B. Du Bois. It initially focused on social and political issues but expanded its content to include a wider representation of African American life and ideas. The magazine provided space for then-unknown writers such as Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, and Jean Toomer to share their literary works, and by the start of the 1920s, The Crisis was distributing 100,000 copies a month. Another magazine, Opportunity, emerged in the early 1920s, and also amplified creative Black voices, including that of Zora Neale Hurston.

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The Movement Produced Many Enduring Black Icons

Some of the 20th century’s most important African American creatives and activists emerged during the Harlem Renaissance. In literature, leaders such as Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes, as well as Countee Cullen, among others, sought equality while celebrating Black identity and heritage. Meanwhile, jazz and blues maestros such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Bessie Smith became powerful musical voices reflecting the social climate of the time. The Harlem Renaissance was also a battleground for social justice, with activists such as W.E.B. Du Bois and Marcus Garvey advocating for equal rights and laying crucial groundwork for the civil rights movement. Today, the era’s vibrancy is immortalized in celebrated visual art from painters Beauford Delaney, Archibald Motley, and sculptor Augusta Savage. The collective impact of these icons continues to reverberate today.

The Harlem Renaissance Music Scene Was Boosted by Prohibition

While jazz music predates the Harlem Renaissance, its popularity soared during the 1920s “Jazz Age” — and one of the genre’s unlikely benefactors was Prohibition. In January 1920, the United States banned the manufacture and sale of “intoxicating liquors,” and the law quickly spurred the creation of underground bars known as speakeasies. By the mid-1920s, thousands of New York speakeasies were competing for business, and to attract more of the predominantly wealthy, white crowds, entertainment was brought in regularly — jazz music legends such as Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington were among the most popular performers at the time. Speakeasy culture led to ample and well-paying opportunities for Black musicians, and it introduced jazz music to a broader audience beyond Harlem.

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The Renaissance Reverberated Across the Country

Despite its name, the Harlem Renaissance wasn't confined solely to Upper Manhattan. While Harlem was the symbolic capital, this revival of Black culture resonated as a nationwide movement in urban centers such as Chicago (whose own movement was known as the Chicago Black Renaissance) and Los Angeles, while also finding its way to smaller pockets throughout the country. In Texas, African American poet Bernice Love Wiggins had several works published in local papers, and self-published a poetry collection that has drawn comparisons to some of the era’s literary greats, including Hurston and Hughes. Short story writer and poet Anita Scott Coleman, from New Mexico, was considered one of the American West’s most important Harlem Renaissance contributors. Her work was published in the influential magazine The Crisis, and she eventually published more than 30 short stories in other periodicals. Aaron Douglas, one of the most renowned visual artists of the Harlem Renaissance, began his career in Kansas, but was eventually convinced by Opportunity magazine founder Charles S. Johnson to bring his talents to the movement’s epicenter in Harlem, extending his influence even further.

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It Ended With the Great Depression

The 1929 stock market crash and the onset of the Great Depression plunged the United States into economic turmoil, and as a result, most of the Harlem Renaissance’s patronage and financial support — not to mention its artistic energy — waned. The end of Prohibition in 1933 dealt a final blow to the remaining nightlife scene, and by the mid-1930s, many of the onetime pillars of the community had moved on in search of other work to make ends meet. By 1935, the initial optimism and empowerment fostered by the Harlem Renaissance withered in the face of deep-rooted racial prejudices and inequalities that persisted despite the era’s advancements. In March of that same year, the tensions culminated in a defining event, when rumors about the arrest and police treatment of a Latino teenager accused of shoplifting spread throughout Harlem, sparking a deadly riot that has come to be seen as the official end of the Harlem Renaissance. But while the era was over, its influence lived on. African American thinkers, artists, and activists gained recognition and validation like never before during the Harlem Renaissance, and the consciousness that the movement cultivated helped fuel the Civil Rights Movement throughout the 1950s and ’60s.

Vintage Photos of 1960s Air Travel

Airport passenger entry

Author Anne T. Donahue

January 12, 2024

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The 1960s marked an exciting new era in air travel. The inclusion of jet engines on commercial planes led to the emergence of larger, faster vessels such as the Boeing 707, and made flying a more affordable and accessible way to travel. It was also a luxury experience: The golden age of air travel cultivated an in-flight atmosphere akin to a cocktail party as guests dined, drank, and smoked en route to their destination.

These glamorous flights were a far cry from the buslike airplanes of the 21st century. Aircraft interiors in the 1960s were more roomy and colorful, and boasted a cultivated aesthetic that applied to everything from flight attendants’ uniforms to dining utensils. Between 1958 and 1972, almost half of all Americans had taken to the friendly skies. Here’s a glimpse of what they would have experienced.

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Airports Were Bright, Spacious, and a Testament to Midcentury Design

In the middle of the 20th century, airport guests were treated to state-of-the-art architecture. Features such as floating staircases, designer seats, and minimalist accents made terminals warm and comfortable; bars and lounges were bright and capacious. Today, some travelers can still live like it’s the 1960s: In 2019, JFK Airport in New York City opened the TWA Hotel, an homage to the airport’s original TWA terminal. The refurbished terminal was updated to accommodate overnight guests and diners; the retro space incorporates design elements from the terminal’s original rooms and lounges.

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Flight Attendants Were at the Forefront of Fashion

In 1964, advertising executive Mary Wells Lawrence worked with Braniff International Airways to launch the airline’s new identity, a rebranding dubbed “End of the Plain Plane.” The stylish campaign started a movement. Airlines quickly began adopting Braniff’s approach to pops of colors and bold prints, and flight attendant uniforms became canvases for fashion designers such as Emilio Pucci and Jean Lewis.

Airlines Encouraged On-Flight Smoking and Served Gourmet Meals

Airline passengers in the 1960s could expect the full restaurant experience, including access to cigarettes. Smoking was only discouraged when on the ground (for fear of igniting refueling fumes), but guests were free to smoke cigarettes, pipes, and cigars while in the air. Gourmet food was just as available: Lobster, ham leg, and caviar were regularly served and even prepared tableside midflight, creating a fine dining experience.

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Many Passengers Passed the Time Drinking

The combination of free alcohol and a lack of smartphones led to an abundance of onboard drinking in the ’60s. Champagne was offered to first-class passengers, and upper-deck lounges were equipped with walk-up bars. In 1964, in-flight movies were introduced using closed-circuit technology, offering a necessary alternative to partying at 30,000 feet.

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Airport Security Was Almost Nonexistent

In the 1960s, there was no need to show up to the airport two hours before a flight, as security was much more lax than it is today. In fact, an ID wasn’t even needed to board an airplane until the early 21st century, and you were basically guaranteed to make a flight if you showed up 30 minutes before departure. Friends and family members could escort departing guests right up to their gate, and security screenings weren’t implemented until 1973, when passengers began submitting to metal detectors and bag searches.

Space and Luxuries Were Plentiful

In the golden age of flight, even passengers in economy experienced today’s business-class legroom and complimentary sustenance. First-class guests, meanwhile, had access to cocktail lounges, reclining seats, six-course meals, and fashion shows put on by flight attendants. Flying in the 1960s was also a much more social experience. Onboard, passengers could schmooze with fellow guests, including celebrities.

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Air Travel Was Even More Expensive

Passengers paid premium prices to experience air travel in the 1960s. Before the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, the federal government controlled ticket rates and set fees high to ensure airlines would prosper. International flights were four to five times more expensive than they are now, and could cost as much as $500, the equivalent of more than $4,000 today. A round-trip flight within the United States was less, but could set passengers back roughly $100 to $400 (the equivalent of about $800 to $3,000), considerably more than a domestic flight today.

Life in 1950s America, By the Numbers

1950s family home

Author Rachel Gresh

January 4, 2024

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Elvis was on the radio, The Ed Sullivan Show was on the TV, and scores of people were hightailing it to the suburbs — this was 1950s America. It was a young nation, with 31% of its 151 million residents under age 18, and it was on the brink of change. Birth rates continued to rise at unprecedented levels, giving way to a new generation of “baby boomers.” The “nuclear family” (describing married couples with kids at home) was ingrained in the culture; more than half of all people (68% of men and 66% of women) were married. By the time the ’60s rolled around, many of these cultural norms would be upended, but this generation left a lasting mark on American society. Here is a snapshot of family life in the 1950s, by the numbers.

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Around 4 Million Babies Were Born Every Year

Post-World War II America saw a rapid increase in birth rates lasting from 1946 through 1964. It became known as the “baby boom,” and the 1950s were smack dab in the middle of it. During the ’50s, around 4 million babies were born every year in America, a sharp increase from the previous average, around 2.7 million births annually between 1910 and 1945. By the end of the boom, around 77 million babies had been born. This influx of births was due to many positive aspects of the postwar era, including low unemployment rates, a burgeoning economy, low interest rates, and a strengthened middle class.

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Only 29% of Women Participated in the Workforce

In alignment with the nuclear family mindset, most ’50s households consisted of a married couple, and typically only one spouse worked (generally the man). In 1950, only 29% of working-age women living in the U.S. held a job — but nearly half of single working-age women (46.4%) worked. The number decreased dramatically among married working-age women; less than a quarter of them (21.6%) held jobs.

By 1960, the number of working women in America increased from 16.5 million to nearly 22.5 million, a 35% increase (despite only a 14% increase in the population of working-age women). The five most popular jobs for women of this era were secretary (stenographer or typist), salesperson (retail), schoolteacher, bookkeeper, and apparel factory worker.

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Mortgage Rates Averaged Around 2.5%

The housing market of the 1950s was booming. An increasing number of Americans were leaving busy urban lifestyles behind in favor of the suburbs. Mortgage rates ranged between 2.1% in 1950 and 2.6% in 1959. For the 16 million World War II veterans living in 1950, the G.I. Bill lowered mortgage rates even more. For many, it was the perfect time to purchase a home.

One of the most recognizable examples of 1950s suburban neighborhoods must be the “Levittowns,” named after real estate developer William Levitt, who built thousands of houses in planned communities around the mid-Atlantic during the late 1940s and early ’50s. The most famous of these communities was in Long Island, New York, where during peak construction, one house was built every 16 minutes.

Over 4 Million Families Had TVs at Home

Around 4.4 million homes had television sets by 1950. This might sound like a lot for the era, but it was only 9% of households. By the end of the decade, the figure spiked to 90% of households, marking a transformational decade for entertainment. Television programming, especially the American sitcom, became a staple of family life. These shows epitomized the stereotypical American family unit, from the Cleavers of Leave It to Beaver to the Warrens of Father Knows Best.

A Movie Theater Ticket Cost Less Than 50 Cents

Although the golden age of Hollywood was nearing its end in the 1950s, cinemas were still as popular as ever, and fortunately for moviegoers, this pastime didn’t cost a fortune. In 1950, one theater ticket cost 46 cents, which was less than the price of a dozen eggs (60 cents). A family of four could go to the movies for the price of around two gallons of milk (one gallon cost 83 cents) — a feat that is not likely accomplished today.

Families flocked to theaters to see Disney’s Cinderella, the top-grossing film of 1950. Released on February 15, the film grossed more than $52 million that year and sold nearly 99 million tickets. Other top-grossing films of 1950 included King Solomon’s Mines, Father of the Bride, and All About Eve.

More Than Half of All Households Had Children at Home

Due to the ongoing baby boom, most American households had young children at home in the 1950s. Census records show that around 52% of households had children under 18 at home in 1950; in 2019, that number was down to 41%. Families were large during the decade: Around 58% of households had between three and five members, 21% had more than six members, 18% had two members, and only 3% had one member. The average family unit size has steadily declined since its peak during the late 1950s and early ’60s. In 2022, the average American family size was 3.13 people.

More Than 30 Million Households Owned a Car

With so many Americans moving to the suburbs in the ’50s, more and more families depended on a car to get around. In 1954, most U.S. households (64%) owned one car. Between 1954 and 1960, the number of one-car families rose from 30.1 million households to 32.4 million. Multicar ownership wasn’t popular — a little more than 8% of households owned two cars in 1954, and only 0.9% had three or more cars. (Owning two cars became slightly more common by the end of the decade.) Just how much did a car set you back during the 1950s? Two popular family cars, the Cadillac DeVille and the Oldsmobile 88 Fiesta, cost around $3,523 and $3,541, respectively, which would be around $37,000 today.

7 Things You Would Find on a City Street 100 Years Ago

Model T Fords at beach

Author Tony Dunnell

December 20, 2023

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If we could travel back 100 years and land on a typical city street, we’d probably be mightily discombobulated. Some things would seem familiar: the buzz of the urban environment, people walking this way and that, and buildings with facades that could well still exist today. But looking around, we’d soon realize that we weren’t in Kansas anymore — or if we were, it would be Kansas City in the 1920s.

A century ago, America was going through a monumental change. For the first time in U.S. history, more people were living in urban areas than in rural areas. The cities were booming, and for many middle-class Americans, the 1920s were a decade of unprecedented prosperity. People were earning more and spending more, advertising had reached new levels of sophistication, and the automobile was changing the way we live.

So, before you step into that time machine, you’d better brace yourself. Here are seven things you’d find in a city street a century ago, back in the dizzying days of the Roaring ’20s.

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Incandescent Street Lights

Before the development of practical light bulbs, street lights typically used piped coal gas, oil, or kerosene as fuel. The first electric streetlights were installed in Paris in 1878, but these used unwieldy and harsh arc lamps. Then came inventors such as Joseph Swan in the U.K. and Thomas Edison in the U.S., both of whom patented revolutionary incandescent light bulbs in 1880. Incandescent street lamps became the norm in many cities throughout the world, and the 1920s saw a wave of patents filed for innovative new street lighting. These electric lights, however, were often placed where they were needed rather than lining a whole street. So, 100 years ago, a city street at night would not have been as brightly lit as it is today, and pedestrians would often find themselves walking from one pool of yellowish light to the next.

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