The Roaring Twenties In 33 Images To Capture The Jazz Age In Full Swing

The Roaring Twenties proved to be something of a paradox. At the same time women enjoyed more freedoms and danced in the Jazz Age, there were those who pushed for Prohibition-era restrictions.

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1 of 34Women standing by a convertible car wearing fur lined coats, circa 1920. Hulton Archive/Getty Images 2 of 34American singer and dancer Josephine Baker harnessed an ostrich to pull a racing sulky, 1920. General Photographic Agency/Getty Images 3 of 34Women from Berlin smoking in the street to imitate the Parisian women, circa 1925. Albert Harlingue/Roger Viollet/Getty Images 4 of 34Harlem Dancer, 1925. James van der Zee/Library of Congress/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images 5 of 34Norwegian pole vault champion, Charles Hoff, dances with Tempest Stevens in a Charleston contest.Bettmann/Getty Images 6 of 34The interior of Zellie, the famous Paris cabaret, 1929.Bettmann/Getty Images 7 of 34British actor and director Charles Chaplin (left) dressed as The Tramp, standing outdoors with actor Douglas Fairbanks Jr., bandleader Paul Whiteman, and actor Douglas Fairbanks Sr., 1925.Hulton Archive/Getty Images 8 of 34Gangster Al Capone talking to attorney William F. Waugh of the American Legion in Chicago, Illinois, 1929. Chicago Sun-Times/Chicago Daily News collection/Chicago History Museum/Getty Images 9 of 34Women in Chicago being arrested for wearing one piece bathing suits without the required leg coverings. Topical Press Agency/Getty Images 10 of 34Four women doing the Charleston in the London Stage Review, circa 1920s.Bettmann/Getty Images 11 of 34A dressing room full of chorus girls between scenes during the filming of Broadway in 1928.Hulton Archive/Getty Images 12 of 34A row of Mack Sennett starlets showing off some unusual and original swimwear on the beach, 1925.Topical Press Agency/Getty Images 13 of 34A flapper seated with a flask in her garter during Prohibition, 1926. Historic American Buildings Survey/Wikimedia Commons

14 of 34American blues and jazz vocalist Bessie Smith dances on stage in front of a line of men, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, early twentieth century. Anthony Barboza/Getty Images 15 of 34American novelist Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald and wife Zelda. Time Life Pictures/Mansell/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images 16 of 34View of the crowds outside the Lafayette Theater, in Harlem, New York, 1920s. E. Elcha Collection/Anthony Barboza/Getty Images 17 of 34Women entertainers dancing in a line at Small’s Paradise Club in Harlem, 1929.Bettmann/Getty Images 18 of 34King Oliver and His Creole Jazz Band, Chicago, 1923. Louis Armstrong is fourth from the left. Gilles Petard/Redferns 19 of 34Raid on a speakeasy in 1926.Bettman/Getty Images 20 of 34Prohibition protesters parade in a car emblazoned with signs and flags calling for the repeal of the 18th Amendment, 1923.Archive Photos/Getty Images 21 of 34Josephine Baker surrounded by male dancers at the Folies Bergère, 1926.Topical Press Agency/Getty Images 22 of 34A group of patrons, many dressed as men in tuxedos and some with monocles, sit, talk, laugh, and kiss, at ‘Le Monocle’ a famous night club for women, Paris, 1920s. Paul Thompson/FPG/Getty Images 23 of 34Actress June Walker as Sadie Cohen with hooded characters and an unidentified man playing the guitar in John Howard Lawson’s Broadway jazz drama Processional, 1925.Edward Steichen/Condé Nast via Getty Images 24 of 34Langston Hughes working as a busboy in a hotel restaurant before his writing career took hold, Washington D.C., 1925. Underwood Archives/Getty Images 25 of 34The recordings of Louis Armstrong’s Hot Five would prove to be some of the most influential in Jazz. Bettmann/Getty Images 26 of 34Women publicly fire up their ‘Torches Of Freedom’ or Lucky Strike cigarettes during the Fifth Avenue Easter Parade as a gesture of freedom and equality. New York, New York, 1928. Underwood Archives/Getty Images 27 of 34Revenue agents during a raid on a speakeasy, during the prohibition period in Washington, April 25, 1923.Bettmann/Getty Images

28 of 34New York City Deputy Police Commissioner John A. Leach, right, watching agents pour liquor into sewer following a raid during the height of prohibition, 1921. Buyenlarge/Getty Images 29 of 34Joan Pickering and Theums Nell listening to an early Marconi wireless set, 1923. (Photo by Hoppe/Getty Images 30 of 34At a fashion exhibition in Berlin, a masked woman lies in bed while a maid stands nearby with her clothes, 1928. General Photographic Agency/Getty Images 31 of 34A woman smiles while holding bottles of various types of alcohol, including peach brandy, port wine, gin, absinthe, and forbidden fruit. Hulton Archive/Getty Images 32 of 34Woman having her swimsuit measured for length violations on a Washington D.C. beach in the 1920s. Photo by GraphicaArtis/Getty Images 33 of 34Four men drinking at a speakeasy bar. Bettmann/Getty Images 34 of 34Like this gallery?Share it:

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33 Images Of The Roaring Twenties That Capture The Jazz Age In Full Swing View Gallery

The Roaring Twenties definitely has a reputation. Based on the name alone, the Jazz Age seems like a pretty fun time to be alive. However, it was a decade fraught with conflict between old and new schools of thought. Post-war ideals about immigration, religion, piety, and sexuality were all on contested.

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1 of 34Women standing by a convertible car wearing fur lined coats, circa 1920. Hulton Archive/Getty Images

2 of 34American singer and dancer Josephine Baker harnessed an ostrich to pull a racing sulky, 1920. General Photographic Agency/Getty Images

3 of 34Women from Berlin smoking in the street to imitate the Parisian women, circa 1925. Albert Harlingue/Roger Viollet/Getty Images

4 of 34Harlem Dancer, 1925. James van der Zee/Library of Congress/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images

5 of 34Norwegian pole vault champion, Charles Hoff, dances with Tempest Stevens in a Charleston contest.Bettmann/Getty Images

6 of 34The interior of Zellie, the famous Paris cabaret, 1929.Bettmann/Getty Images

7 of 34British actor and director Charles Chaplin (left) dressed as The Tramp, standing outdoors with actor Douglas Fairbanks Jr., bandleader Paul Whiteman, and actor Douglas Fairbanks Sr., 1925.Hulton Archive/Getty Images

8 of 34Gangster Al Capone talking to attorney William F. Waugh of the American Legion in Chicago, Illinois, 1929. Chicago Sun-Times/Chicago Daily News collection/Chicago History Museum/Getty Images

9 of 34Women in Chicago being arrested for wearing one piece bathing suits without the required leg coverings. Topical Press Agency/Getty Images

10 of 34Four women doing the Charleston in the London Stage Review, circa 1920s.Bettmann/Getty Images

11 of 34A dressing room full of chorus girls between scenes during the filming of Broadway in 1928.Hulton Archive/Getty Images

12 of 34A row of Mack Sennett starlets showing off some unusual and original swimwear on the beach, 1925.Topical Press Agency/Getty Images

13 of 34A flapper seated with a flask in her garter during Prohibition, 1926. Historic American Buildings Survey/Wikimedia Commons

14 of 34American blues and jazz vocalist Bessie Smith dances on stage in front of a line of men, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, early twentieth century. Anthony Barboza/Getty Images

15 of 34American novelist Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald and wife Zelda. Time Life Pictures/Mansell/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

16 of 34View of the crowds outside the Lafayette Theater, in Harlem, New York, 1920s. E. Elcha Collection/Anthony Barboza/Getty Images

17 of 34Women entertainers dancing in a line at Small’s Paradise Club in Harlem, 1929.Bettmann/Getty Images

18 of 34King Oliver and His Creole Jazz Band, Chicago, 1923. Louis Armstrong is fourth from the left. Gilles Petard/Redferns

19 of 34Raid on a speakeasy in 1926.Bettman/Getty Images

20 of 34Prohibition protesters parade in a car emblazoned with signs and flags calling for the repeal of the 18th Amendment, 1923.Archive Photos/Getty Images

21 of 34Josephine Baker surrounded by male dancers at the Folies Bergère, 1926.Topical Press Agency/Getty Images

22 of 34A group of patrons, many dressed as men in tuxedos and some with monocles, sit, talk, laugh, and kiss, at ‘Le Monocle’ a famous night club for women, Paris, 1920s. Paul Thompson/FPG/Getty Images

23 of 34Actress June Walker as Sadie Cohen with hooded characters and an unidentified man playing the guitar in John Howard Lawson’s Broadway jazz drama Processional, 1925.Edward Steichen/Condé Nast via Getty Images

24 of 34Langston Hughes working as a busboy in a hotel restaurant before his writing career took hold, Washington D.C., 1925. Underwood Archives/Getty Images

25 of 34The recordings of Louis Armstrong’s Hot Five would prove to be some of the most influential in Jazz. Bettmann/Getty Images

26 of 34Women publicly fire up their ‘Torches Of Freedom’ or Lucky Strike cigarettes during the Fifth Avenue Easter Parade as a gesture of freedom and equality. New York, New York, 1928. Underwood Archives/Getty Images

27 of 34Revenue agents during a raid on a speakeasy, during the prohibition period in Washington, April 25, 1923.Bettmann/Getty Images

28 of 34New York City Deputy Police Commissioner John A. Leach, right, watching agents pour liquor into sewer following a raid during the height of prohibition, 1921. Buyenlarge/Getty Images

29 of 34Joan Pickering and Theums Nell listening to an early Marconi wireless set, 1923. (Photo by Hoppe/Getty Images

30 of 34At a fashion exhibition in Berlin, a masked woman lies in bed while a maid stands nearby with her clothes, 1928. General Photographic Agency/Getty Images

31 of 34A woman smiles while holding bottles of various types of alcohol, including peach brandy, port wine, gin, absinthe, and forbidden fruit. Hulton Archive/Getty Images

32 of 34Woman having her swimsuit measured for length violations on a Washington D.C. beach in the 1920s. Photo by GraphicaArtis/Getty Images

33 of 34Four men drinking at a speakeasy bar. Bettmann/Getty Images

34 of 34Like this gallery?Share it:

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33 Images Of The Roaring Twenties That Capture The Jazz Age In Full Swing View Gallery

33 Images Of The Roaring Twenties That Capture The Jazz Age In Full Swing

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As is usually the case, one facet of society desired a different way of life than the rest. In the case of the 1920s, the older majority pined for the post-war “return to normalcy” that Warren G. Harding promised. In contrast, young people shunned the rigid Victorian lifestyle in favor of independence, open-mindedness, and decadence.

Often the stereotypical vision of youth in the 1920s is the flamboyant, bob-haired flapper girl, but there was also those of whom after World War I ended desperately balked against this vision and instead looked to increase the country’s morality. As one way to stop crime, corruption, and abuse, a variety of groups managed to make it illegal to produce, transport, or sell alcoholic beverages.

But not even Prohibition could quell the desires of 1920s youth:

The 1920s were overall a freeing time for women as they earned the right to vote on August 18, 1920 and continued their involvement in the workforce. However, women also began testing the waters of a new form of freedom — their own bodies. With higher hemlines, women found themselves able to ride bicycles, in stark contrast to the heavy Victorian dress which was limiting to their activities.

Zelda Fitzgerald — the inspiration for husband F. Scott’s heroines — was an icon of flapper feminism and a proponent of the era’s risque dances. A celebrated writer and dancer herself, Zelda had a flair for glamour and the dramatic and was dubbed by F. Scott as “the first American Flapper.”

Kirn Vintage Stock/Corbis via Getty ImagesFour women lined up along a wall, chugging bottles of alcohol, circa 1925.

The overall epitome of flapper fashion; the boyish bob haircut, straight silhouette, and cloche hats, didn’t fully cement until the mid-twenties. However, a general association with the unconventional followed the term flapper from very early on. Not only in term of dress, however, as in the 1920s both divorce rates and premarital sex saw a sharp increase due to women’s newfound freedoms.

With great freedom comes great responsibility; it wasn’t all dancing and drinking for women in the Roaring Twenties. When flapper culture idolized boyish figures and did away with corsets, eating disorders increased and throwing off the shackles of the patriarchy often meant choosing individuality over sentimental wants like marriage or being a mother.

Prohibition

Meanwhile, new restrictions on society were being made in the wake of women’s liberation. On January 17, 1920, at 12:01 AM, the United States technically went dry. At 12:02 AM, alcohol-based crime increased at a rate that wouldn’t end until prohibition did: Dec. 5, 1933.

Legally, pharmacists could still prescribe whiskey for ailments. The number of pharmacists tripled. Clergymen could lawfully secure wine for their congregations and coincidentally, a lot of people ‘found God’ during prohibition.

The American grape industry sold juice concentrate with ‘warnings’ of how it could ferment and turn to wine if left out too long. Hardware stores still sold distillery equipment and local libraries housed books of instructions on how to use it.

A law that intended to keep people from consuming alcohol instead turned people into covert experts at procuring and making it.

Illegal alcohol trading soared during the Roaring Twenties. Black market booze, bootleggers, and bribes became the new normal. Consequently, corruption soared among law enforcement and prohibition officers. People drank poorer quality liquors in greater quantities and thus the annual deaths from tainted alcohol topped 1,000 each year during the decade.

Furthermore, prohibition became the catalyst for organized crime. When big-time players saw how much profit was in bootlegging and bribes, they followed the money.

“They had to become businessmen,” said Howard Abadinsky, a criminal justice professor at St. John’s University. “And that gave rise to what we now call organized crime.”

The Great Migration Of The Roaring Twenties

Wikimedia CommonsLouis Armstrong got his start largely during the Harlem Renaissance of the Roaring Twenties.

As rural youth flocked to metropolitan areas to become a part of the new culture, African Americans, in particular, left agricultural jobs in the south in favor of urban areas in the north and midwest. Initially, wartime jobs brought black Southerners further north — but in the post-war climate, they also looked to escape the racism and segregation so rampant in the south.

“The Great Migration was one of the largest and most rapid mass internal movements in history,” wrote author Nicholas Lemann. “The migration meant leaving what had always been their economic and social base in America, and finding a new one.”

As is to be expected of the time, this migration left many uneasy. White Southerners were concerned with their labor force dwindling. Recent immigrants in the north didn’t like competition for jobs. The Ku Klux Klan represented a way for more conservative perspectives to hang on to their old “values,” which consequently were precisely the ones the free-spirited Roaring Twenties were trying to squash.

Jazz Age musicians left the Mississippi Delta for Chicago, hoping for greater opportunities. One such musician, pianist Eddie Boyd said:

African-Americans struggled to adapt, but this struggle — coupled with some new freedoms — manifested into a creative boom for black culture.

The Harlem Renaissance

This creative explosion within the African-American population during the Jazz Age was known as the Harlem Renaissance. Many of the newly relocated black families from the South landed in Harlem as it had a plethora of vacant housing.

The Harlem Renaissance gave way to prominent black artists and writers like Aaron Douglas, Langston Hughes, Paul Robeson, W. E. B. Du Bois, Augusta Savage, and others. Artists like these gained national fame for their talents when the Harlem Renaissance was in full swing.

The Jazz Age In Full Swing

The music that incubated in, and then rocketed out of, 1920s Harlem was jazz. It was the soundtrack to speakeasies. The hypnotizing sounds enraptured outside white audiences and the music genre grew to define the decade. Novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald nicknamed the era “the Jazz Age”.

A vibrant nightlife accompanied the favored musical genre; swinging dance moves took advantage of jazz’s upbeat tempo. Establishments like the Cotton Club paved the way for many other venues of the time, like the Savoy in New York City and the Aragon in Chicago.

The Jazz Times reflected on the phenomenon of the Cotton Club, “Social rules were being rewritten, and in Manhattan, downtown was going up as white society and dollars poured into Harlem every night”.

Greats like Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington rocked the club audiences with their musicality, while skits and revues entertained them. Flappers and couples danced the Charleston, the flea hop, and the black bottom.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=120&v=n5UnEB23YCI

Like many of the fun-loving aspects of the 1920s, the Jazz Age officially ended with the great depression — though Jazz music still enjoys tremendous popularity today. It seems good music just can’t be kept down.

The End Of An Era

After the stock market crash that brought on the Great Depression, gone were the opulence of the Roaring 20s. Heading into the 1930s, life became about the business of survival.

Nonetheless, the 1920s had bridged an important gap in women’s rights. The Roaring Twenties created the ability for women to forge their own path in life. Prohibition, the miserable failure of a social experiment, revealed what happens to a country when their leaders try to legislate morality. Victorian ideals were thus banished while jazz played on in the background.

After this look at the Roaring Twenties and the Jazz Age, check out these amazing women of the Ziegfeld Follies. Then experience the Great Depression of the 1930s in color.

The Roaring Twenties proved to be something of a paradox. At the same time women enjoyed more freedoms and danced in the Jazz Age, there were those who pushed for Prohibition-era restrictions.#

Prohibition#

The Great Migration Of The Roaring Twenties#

The Harlem Renaissance#

The Jazz Age In Full Swing#

The End Of An Era#

The Roaring Twenties proved to be something of a paradox. At the same time women enjoyed more freedoms and danced in the Jazz Age, there were those who pushed for Prohibition-era restrictions.

Prohibition

The Great Migration Of The Roaring Twenties

The Harlem Renaissance

The Jazz Age In Full Swing

The End Of An Era