ROARING 20s

1. ROARING 20s

2. Why were people happy? • Soldiers back from war • New roles for women • New technologies!

3. SOLDIERS WAIT TO COME HOME • Once the war ended in 1918 thousands of Canadian soldiers were stuck in Europe waiting to be shipped home. • Many rioted out of sheer boredom at the months of waiting. • The leaders of riots were arrested and shot. Eventually, enough transports were found to send these soldiers home to heroes welcome.

4. SOLDIERS WAIT TO COME HOME • The conditions that these soldiers endured helped to spread the worldwide outbreak of Spanish ‘flu to Canada: 20 million were killed worldwide, 35,000 Canadian died

5. WINNIPEG GENERAL STRIKE • Many returning soldiers found they had no jobs: the munitions factories no longer needed to produce weapons for the war. • Many Canadians were impressed by the Russian Revolution, which seemed to give power to ordinary worker. • One of the centers of worker frustration was the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba in the summer of 1919.

6. Winnipeg Strike • When the metal workers of Winnipeg went on strike for higher pay, they called on their fellow unionized workers to join them. Soon, 35,000 workers were on strike, with some of their leaders supporting the Communist workers’ government in Russia • The Mayor of Winnipeg called on the Canadian army and the RCMP for support. Together, they dispersed the rioters, and arrested those in charge. • Bohunks were deported.

7. Roaring Twenties • Roaring Twenties refers to the 1920s, primarily in North America, • One of the most colourfuldecades in history, • During the era: • there was a turn toward normality in politics, • the return of veterans from World War I, • the growth of jazz music, • the emergence of a new face of modern womanhood (the flapper), • and Black Tuesday.

8. In The 1920s People: • Sat on flagpoles just to see how long they could stay up, • Swallowed live goldfish on a bet with their friends, • Wagged their knees to a dance called the "Charleston", and • Crowded into smoky speakeasies - the night clubs where you had to "speak easy" to get illegal liquor

9. CULTURE • The 1920’s was the era of the Group of Seven who painted Canada’s rugged northern landscapes in bold colours and thick brush strokes. • Though not a member of the Group of Seven, Emily Carr was influenced by their work, her paintings of Aboriginal life in British Columbia • Male and female Canadian athletes won several gold medals at the 1928 Amsterdam

10. Entertainment • Theatres – vaudeville, burlesque popular • Nightclubs – jazz • Dancing – tango, Charleston • Movies

11. MUSIC & DANCE • The African American style of music known as “jazz” was born in the southern USA. • During the 1920’s, it put down roots in northern cities such as Chicago and Toronto, and developed a firm following among young whites.

12. Charleston Dance • Popular dance moves during the 1920s & 30s in North America

13. MUSIC & DANCE • New dances reflected the pursuit of fun and excitement of the 1920’s generation. • The most famous, the frenetic Charleston was a craze of the mid 1920’s. The dances were inhibited, and totally unlike anything seen in polite white society before.

14. MOVIES • The 1920’s was the golden ages of silent movies. Early Hollywood stars such as Rudolph Valentino, Douglas Fairbanks. • By 1929, the “talkies” were driving silent pictures off the screen.

15. FASHION • Scandalously high hemlines, bobbed hair, cloche hats and unfeminine shapes typified the new fashions of the 1920’s. These women were called; “Flappers” a put down by men who said women were like baby birds trying to break free of their control.

16. 1920s Fashion - Women

17. Evening Wear Left: Flapper, name from sound made by unbuckled shoes

18. 1920s Fashion - Men

19. Politics and the Economy • After the postwar slump, parts of the Canadian economy began to recover, except for the Maritime Provinces. • People bought cars and new electrical appliances on credit. They also speculated on the stock market to make quick profits. • By 1926, the USA had replaced Britain as Canada’s greatest trading partner.

20. POLITICS & THE ECONOMY • Canada gained more independence from Britain as the 1920’s progressed. • Prime Minister Mackenzie King fought and won the 1926 election criticizing the Prowers of Governor-General, the British Lord Julian Byng.

21. A Time When American Industry Set Records • Thousands of automobiles, radios, and refrigerators rolled off the assembly lines • Profits in industry increased 80% • Profits of banks and stockholders rose a fantastic 150% • New York Stock Exchange,(where a large percentage of the stocks of leading companies are traded),showed prices climbing higher and higher

22. A Time When American Industry Set Records • Market value of stocks in mid-1929 stood at $67 billion; highest in American history • Holding companies, (corporations that held stock in other corporations rather than producing goods themselves), expanded expecting the good times to go on forever

23. Important Canadians • The Alberta Five – led the fight for women's rights – wanted to have women declared “persons” too. (Emily Murphy, Nellie McClung, Louise McKinney, Irene Parlby, Henrietta Muir Edwards

24. SUFFRAGE • During the 1920’s, women occupied low paying low status jobs. • Many employers including the federal government forced women to resign when they got married.

25. SUFFRAGE • Only 25% of women attended high school; many were still expected to help look after their family until they married, then to look after their own children. • Alberta’s Famous Five (Emily Murphy, Irene Parlby, Nellie McClung, Henrietta Edwards and Lousie McKinney) challenged the Canadian Supreme Court over women’s status.

26. SUFFRAGE • In 1928, the Canadian Supreme Court declared the only men were persons. • The Famous Five took the case to the Judicial Committee of the British Privy Council, which in 1929, overturned the decision of the Canadian Supreme court and rules that Canadian women were “people” under the law. • (they had the power to do this until 1949)

27. TECHNOLOGY • By 1920, 1 in 4 families had a telephone; by 1929 this had risen to 3 in 4. • With the advent of cheaper cars due to the production line technology at the Ford plant in Windsor, Ontario, many Canadians bought cars. • Highways, paved roads, gas stations, parking lots and motels were the result of the widespread use of the car.

28. Technology (cont’d) • Electricity became part of everyday life in 1920’s – electric stoves, washing machines, irons, vacuum cleaners and toasters made housework much less time consuming and efficient • Telephones became more prevalent (over 1 million Cdn homes had telephones 1928

29. TECHNOLOGY • With the advances in airplane technology in World War One, bush pilots were able to fly great distances into the northern territories and air mail became popular. • In 1924, Canadian engineer named Ted Rogers invented a radio that plugged into an electrical current. • By the end of 1920s, millions of Canadians were listening to Hockey Night in Canada.

30. New Technology - Radio • By 1929 there were 300,000 in Canada • People listened 3-4 hours a day • Farmers & small towns no longer isolated

31. Rogers • Ted Rogers created first AC radio • Founded CFRB (still on the air) • Son founded Rogers Radio Broadcasting, pioneering FM broadcasting

32. TECHNOLOGY • In 1922, the Canadian doctors Frederick Banting and Charles Best injected a 14 year old diabetic.

33. PROHIBITION & GANGSTERS • Introduced in January 1920, prohibition made alcohol illegal across the United States and Canada. • It failed to stop people drinking and encouraged organized crime, which supplied bootleg liquor. • Much of the bootlegged liquor was smuggled over the Canadian border.

34. PROHIBITION & GANGSTERS • Prohibition met with great resistance and was eventually abandoned in the United States in 1933. • Prohibition was not popular in Canada; it had been introduced towards the end of the First World War, but most provinces had abandoned it within 10 years. • PEI kept prohibition until 1948.

35. PROHIBITION & GANGSTERS • In the 1920’s mobsters fought for control of the bootleg trade. Gang leaders such as Al Capone were brutal and their rivalry led to many bloody clashes; Al Capone is said to have controlled the bootleg liquor trade out of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. • Mob warfare declined in the 1930’s, but crime continued to bring notoriety. Many gangsters were as famous as movie stars.

36. ASSIGNMENT • Identify and describe each of • the following: • Charleston (b) speakeasy • (c) Al Capone (d) Charles Lindbergh • (e) the Stock Exchange • Provide proof that industrial manufacturing “boomed” in the 1920s. • Prove that the New York Stock Exchange was doing a fantastic business by mid-1929. • 4. Why do you think this decade (1919-1929) was called "The Roaring Twenties"?