If you’ve been reading along in my series of posts about the 1920s, you’ve realized that a great deal happened in America. (This link will take you to the first post.) Between automobiles, the revolution in consumer goods, Prohibition, and changes to pop culture, the 1920s were busy. One thing I’ve not discussed yet, however, […]
Month: December 2022
How Did 1920s Culture Influence This One Colorful Decade?
When I taught my college students, I tried to get across the diversity of 1920s American culture. I’d ask students their preconceptions about 1920s culture in the United States. Some thought it was a colorful time of flappers, speakeasys, dance halls, and so forth. Jazz music, the Harlem Renaissance, the radio. To some students, it […]
Martin Marten Book Review – A Cute, Heartwarming Novel
This Martin Marten book review is about the book by Brian Doyle published in 2015. One of the characters is a marten who, of course, doesn’t actually have a name. But the author had to call him something to differentiate him from the other martens, so Martin he is. What is a marten, you may […]
How 1920s Automobiles Created A Revolution in Daily Life
Like I promised in my last post (read here), it’s time to discuss the revolution created by 1920s automobiles in the United States. Some parts of the revolution are obvious, others less so. But, overall, it might be fair to write that no single product except computers changed daily life more than automobiles did during […]
1920s Consumer Culture – The Great Revolution We’ve Forgotten?
When I taught American History to college students, I tried to make a case for the revolution of 1920s consumer culture. The changes brought by 1920s consumer culture improved the lives of Americans so drastically, it’s hard to image what life would be like before they became available. It’s why I hypothesize that the 1920s […]
1920s Prohibition – Was It Really a “Noble Experiment”?
When I used to teach my college classes, each student did a presentation from a preselected list of about fifty options. Unsurprisingly, I don’t think a single semester went by without someone choosing 1920s Prohibition. America’s “Noble Experiment” with moral purity still fascinates people today. Especially when they are young, adventuresome, and, shall we say, […]