Entertainment Boom: Radio, Movies, Jazz Age Stars & Sports Heroes

1. Chapter 24, Section 3“The Jazz Age” ENTERTAINMENT

2. Jump in Entertainment • More leisure time for Americans as working hours shortened (8 hour days) and labor-saving appliances for homes became available • 1929 Americans spent 4 billion on entertainment. • 100% jump in ten years! • How were they “entertaining” themselves?

3. Radio • First commercial radio station was KDKA in Pittsburgh in 1920 which broadcast the presidential election result (Harding won) • 1921 World Series broadcast nationwide • By 1930 60% of families had a radio • First shows included news, weather, sports, music, and political speeches • Later broadcasts included dramas, soap operas, comedies, and children’s shows (just like the shows that eventually would be on TV)

4. Early Movies • 1891 Thomas Edison files for a patent on his motion-picture projector • In 1907 there were about 4,000 small “nickelodeon” cinemas with films accompanied by a pianist • First blockbuster full-length movie was “Birth of a Nation” in 1915 (contained racism and depictions of the KKK after the Civil War)

5. Hollywood • Became a boomtown in the 1910s and 1920s for the movie business • The sleepy village outside of Los Angeles grew to be the largest film-producing location in the world • Shops, restaurants, hotels, and neighborhoods grew to support the rich and famous residents and visitors to the town

6. Silent Movie Stars • Comedy – Charlie Chaplin as “the Tramp” • “America’s Sweetheart” – Mary Pickford • “The King of Hollywood” – Douglas Fairbanks • The three along with director D.W. Griffiths (“Birth of a Nation”) combined to create United Artists production company to make their own films

7. Movies in the 1920s • Movies were silent until 1927 • In “The Jazz Singer” in 1927 Al Jolson famously looks into the camera and thrills audiences by saying “You ain’t heard nothin’ yet.” • 1910: 5,000 Theatres in US • 1930: 22,500 Theaters in US • 1929: 125 Million Americans, 80 million movie tickets sold a week!

8. Impact of Radio and Movies on 1920s Society • They brought images and ideas to them that they would not get at home (could dream of doing different things with their lives) • This created a national popular culture: • They copied language from movies and radio (slang) • They copied hairstyles and fashions from movies • They became more informed in national and international news

9. Sports Baseball: • George Herman “Babe” Ruth • Considered the greatest player to ever play • Records: • 714 Career Homeruns • 60 homeruns in a season • 60th Homerun • Celebrity Status

10. Sports: Boxing • Jack Dempsey – World Heavyweight Champion from 1919 to 1926 • “Manassa Mauler” • 60-7-8. 50 KO’s • Dempsey vs. Willard (the fight he first won the title in)

11. Sports: FootballJim Thorpe • Native American (from Sauk and Fox tribes) • Perhaps the greatest multi sport athlete ever • Won gold medals in Olympics (decathlon and pentathlon) • Played professional baseball & football as well • Overview of his achievements

12. Charles Lindbergh • As a 25-year-old U.S. Air Mail pilot, Lindbergh emerged from obscurity to virtually instantaneous world fame • 6 well-known pilots failed to make the first solo non-stop flight across the Atlantic • Lindbergh did it in 1927 by flying from New York to Paris

13. Amelia Earhart • In 1928 Earhart was the first woman fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean • She set many other records, and wrote best-selling books about her flying experiences • During an attempt to make a circumnavigational flight of the globe in 1937, she disappeared over the central Pacific Ocean