6 Photos That Bring the Roaring ’20s to Life
The 1920s were a transformative decade: A convergence of economic prosperity, technological and industrial advancements, and flourishing artistic movements led to a cultural transition from the reserved social mores of previous eras to a modern age. In the United States, the decade became known as the “Roaring ’20s” because it was a time of exuberance, optimism, and rapid social change. Here are six photographs that capture the spirit of the era.
Olympic Athletes
The 1924 Olympic Games in Paris were a pivotal moment for the event, as the Olympics reached a heightened level of popularity. Forty-four countries participated, and there was so much interest that more than a thousand journalists traveled to Paris to report on the Games.
The U.S. swim teams dominated the swimming events, winning nine gold medals out of a possible 11, and 19 medals in total. This circa-1927 photograph depicts Olympic swimmer Harold Kruger in the midst of performing a series of irreverent stunt dives at an Olympic Pool in Long Beach, New York. Beginning with the release of the Leica camera in 1925, advancements in camera technology enabled capturing more kinetic images such as this one, as faster 35 mm film and shutter speeds could eliminate the motion blur that would’ve been present in previous years.
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Talking Pictures
The 1927 film The Jazz Singer is known as the first film to introduce the sound of spoken dialogue to motion pictures — albeit only in a short passage. In 1928, The Lights of New York became the first feature-length film to include sound for all its dialogue. It was billed at the time as an “all talking picture,” and cemented Hollywood’s shift away from silent films to “talkies.”
Clara Bow became one of the biggest stars of 1920s cinema after starring in the 1927 silent film It, which was so popular, the term “it girl” entered the lexicon. She also starred in 1927’s Wings, which won the first Academy Award for Best Picture. This photo is a production still from her first foray into talking pictures in The Wild Party. The image captures Bow’s flapper sass as she reacts to her co-star (and cousin) William Bow’s singing. While the transition to talking films infamously ended the careers of many silent-era stars, Clara Bow was able to persist into the talking era, though her rigorous schedule and the persistent celebrity gossip around the star led to her retirement from film by 1933.
The Charleston
The Charleston gained popularity in the 1923 Broadway show Runnin’ Wild, a revue of Black music written by composers James P. Johnson and Cecil Mack. The dance became such a phenomenon that it’s nearly synonymous with the Roaring ’20s, and it spurred a dance competition fad that often took the form of dance marathons. While it’s unclear if this photo depicts a marathon, the dancers here are participating in some form of Charleston dance contest.
Speakeasies
The hidden bars of the 1920s, known as “speakeasies,” were an unintended consequence of Prohibition, as the illicit businesses served a demand for alcohol that couldn’t be legislated away. By the end of the 1920s, New York City Police Commissioner Grover Whalen claimed there were 32,000 speakeasies operating in that city alone.
In this photo, we see a group entering a Washington, D.C., speakeasy, the Krazy Kat Klub, which was opened by artist Cleon Throckmorton and located on the second floor of a stable. At far right, wearing a hat, is Throckmorton himself. At far left is his wife, Kathrine Mullen (also spelled Kathryn Mullin), glancing at the camera.
The Jazz Age
The energetic, improvised hot jazz that emerged in New Orleans during the 1920s quickly spread to New York and Chicago, as artists such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, King Oliver, and Jelly Roll Morton developed the genre to such a point of popularity that another nickname for the 1920s is the “Jazz Age.” The wild abandon of jazz matched the zeitgeist of the time, and this photo of the St. Louis Cotton Club Band provides a visual expression. Note the difference in instrumentation from later eras of jazz: The tuba and banjo at the far left were later replaced by double bass and guitar, respectively.
The Assembly Line
In 1913, industrialist Henry Ford’s moving assembly line — a refinement of the stationary assembly line pioneered by automotive pioneer Ransom Olds — enabled larger-scale production of automobiles, and by the 1920s, approximately 8 million Americans owned a car. By the end of the 1920s, that number had spiked to 23 million.
