Michael Moor.MA
The 1920’s was without doubt a period of ‘social and cultural’ revolution cut short by the Wall St. ‘crash’ of 1929.
By 1920 the world was ready not only to forget the horrors of WW1 but also the repressed sexual morality of the previous decade or rather decades! The world was in short ready to ‘play’ and experiment with new ideas. America emerging as it did from WW1, both stable and a super power (politically and economically) played hardest and most typifies the spirit of the age.
(This period of ‘play’ after the horrors of war is not an unusual phenomenon in history. For example, the ‘bawdy frivolity’ of ‘The Restoration’ is in stark contrast to the austerity of the puritanical influence of Oliver Cromwell after the English Civil War. More recently, in the latter half of the 20th century, the social revolution of 1960’s was preceded by a period of war, austerity and sexual repression. Furthermore, I would suggest there are many parallels to be drawn about the aftermath of both world wars 1&2 and the social revolutions they sparked)
Whilst the ‘western’ world in general was affected by this ‘cultural revolution’ the USA typifies it best because the ‘sound’ and ‘feel’ of the period is JAZZ! A uniquely American form.
Jazz music perfectly expresses the chaotic and hedonistic quality of the period with its improvised and exuberant phrases and rhythms. That this period is often referred to as the ‘roaring twenties’ or the ‘jazz age’ is an indication of the ‘atmosphere’ of the period.
Jazz music was perhaps the first wholly American cultural import to influence trends in Europe. Jazz music for many Europeans used to nothing more lively than a ‘waltz’ was a revelation! Jazz music of the period represents ‘thrill seeking’ hedonism and a desire to embrace the new and the ‘modern’ in all aspects of life.
The 1920’s witnessed a radical departure in traditional thinking on many subjects. For example the controversial ideas of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung gained recognition and even acceptance during this period and were to have a significant influence on ‘high art’ and 'popular culture'. For example the understanding and recognition of ‘sub-conscious’ drives, motivations and meanings would change the ‘arts’ and art criticism forever. The surrealists, men like Salvador Dali were greatly influenced by the theories of Freud and Jung. The classic surrealist film of 1928 by Dali and Luis Bunel ‘Un Chien andalou’ is a remarkable work . Even by present day standards it is both shocking and surprising. (The image of a woman’s eyeball being slit open with a cut-throat razor is not for the faint hearted!)
Picasso, though already established as an artist, opened a new phase in his work from around 1925. (Though it must be said his designs for Diaghilev’s Ballet Russe 1917-27 were highly influential as well). The ‘Bull’, a traditional Spanish emblem of conflict and tragedy began to appear in his work and a number of surrealist influences are also evident. (However we must be careful about generalizations about the work of Picasso, he moved freely from one style or medium to another and with astonishing virtuosity)
Another ‘art’ or rather anti-art movement of the period worthy of special mention is that of ‘Da Da’. Whose leading lights were Marcel Duchamp and Man Ray. The first international Da Da exhibition was held in Paris in 1922. The name Da Da came from the random opening of a Dictionary and is a French term for a ‘hobby horse’. Da Da is important because it asks the question ‘what is art’. Duchamps ‘ready made’ Urinal is a good example of Da Da, as is his 1919 Mona Lisa. This work is simply the Leonardo da Vinci painting with a moustache and beard added. Part joke, part serious comment on the conventions and values of ‘art’. This work also captures the underlying irreverence of the period. A kind of ‘boo sucks yahoo’ to stuffy old bores everywhere and their traditional ‘sacred cows’. Since the early 1920’s abstract rather than figurative art, in a number of variations has dominated Western Art.
Irreverence for the ‘old fashioned ’ during this period manifested itself in a number of ‘crazes’ and ‘fads’ both significant and superficial. For example there were a number of dance crazes. Perhaps the most famous of these was the ‘Charleston’. It is of particular interest to students of the theatre because it is one of the earliest social jazz dances to be performed on the Musical Stage. It was featured in the musical of 1923 Runnin Wild.
Another perhaps more serious manifestation of irreverence in the 1920’s, particularly in America, was the widespread acceptance of certain criminal activities. Men like Al ‘Scarface’ Capone became national and world celebrities. Partly because they were unconventional and partly because they defied an unpopular law. The Volstead Act or ‘Prohibition’, which came into being in 1920 and lasted until 1933, made it illegal to sell, buy or make alcohol. (It effectively established Organized Crime in the US…..and gave the Cinema and other popular forms a new ‘genre’ the ‘gangster genre’.)
Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel ‘The Great Gatsby’ can be seen as evocative of this period as well as a social criticism. The central character Jay Gatz (he changes his name to Gatsby) is a racketeer, obsessed with making money in order to be accepted by Daisy Buchanan, the daughter of a wealthy Long Island family. To impress Daisy and her friends and family he throws a number of lavish parties.
Gatsby becomes a sympathetic character when he assumes the blame for her hit and run accident. In the end he is deserted by all but his friend Nick (the narrator) and his father.
In the wake of Prohibition, illegal drinking clubs or ‘speakeasy’s’ were established in most cities throughout the US. Some offered entertainment. The most famous of these was the Cotton Club in New York’s Harlem district. Frequented by the rich and famous it was a showcase for a number of famous Jazz musicians including Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway as well as other artists such as the legendary dancer/singer Bill ‘bojangles’ Robinson.
For a time Jazz, Harlem and the ‘Negro’ performer was in vogue and in demand not only in the US but much of Europe as well. Perhaps the most famous, internationally of these early performers was the singer/dancer Josephine Baker who first took Paris by storm in 1925 with the ‘Revue Negre’ and consolidated her star status with the ‘Folies-Bergere’ in 1926 where she wore her famous ‘banana skirt’ for the first time. She both shocked and delighted Paris at the time. She stayed in France becoming both a ‘star’ and national icon.
During the second word war she served with the Free French Forces and was involved in secret intelligence work. She was awarded the Legion de Honour in 1961, which she received in her world war ll. Uniform.
If the ‘feel’ and sound of the 20’s was jazz then the look was unmistakably ‘Art Deco’, characterized by bold outlines, streamlining and the use of new materials such as plastic. The Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs, in Paris 1925, firmly established the movement. Art Deco reflected the new vogue for Egypt after the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb by Howard Carter in 1922.
Hollywood films of the period were greatly influenced by the style, while New York celebrated the style with some classic skyscrapers, including the Empire State building and the Chrysler building. Donald Deskey’s interiors for Radio City Music Hall are classic examples. Art Deco was particularly influential in jewelry design.
Worthy of mention during this period is the Bauhaus. A German school of architecture and design founded by the architect Walter Gropius in 1919 at Weimar in an attempt to fuse art, architecture and design into a unified whole. This became known as the International Style and found its fullest expression in the US in the 1930’s. Members of the movement included, Le Corbusier, Mies van der Roche and the painters Klee and Kandinsky. Many of the leaders of the International Style/Movement fled to the US during the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany including Gropius. The School was closed by the Nazis in 1933.
What made the exuberance and perhaps excesses of the 1920’s possible? On one hand we can suggest it was a reaction to the horrors of war and a distrust of the ‘old’ values that led to war. However that is not the full story. Social change/evolution is rarely possible without wealth and a ‘national’ confidence that the present wealth is not just a short lived phenomenon.
Modern industry and economic developments in the US in particular aided the social changes of the 1920’s. The Henry Ford Motor Company in a number of ways exemplified these developments.
The Model T (1908-1927) was the first car to be constructed solely by assembly line methods and to be mass marketed.
Assembly line methods and exploitation of the mass market made America rich. (These methods were applied to most industries, from farming to entertainment. It is interesting to note that the Academy Awards were introduced in 1927. I would suggest not only as a means of universal recognition of achievement but in recognition of the fact that cinema was indeed a mass industry!) The Model A replaced the Model T or ‘Tin Lizzy’ in 1928. 15 million Model T’s were sold. As a consequence roads were improved and transportation of goods became cheaper.
Henry Ford also paid good wages and introduced a five-day week. (As other industrialists followed suit more people left the rural parts of the US and the population became concentrated in the Northern Industrial cities. This migration reached a climax during the last years of the war. However the trend continued through out the 1920’s.)
The population became mobile. Better wages meant they were comfortable and a shorter working week meant that there was leisure time. Perhaps for the first time in history the average man had spare time, money and mobility.
The performing arts in particular flourished in this new affluent climate. It is little wonder that a new form of theatre was developed during this period in the US, drawing to-gether many strands of American life.
Showboat was presented in 1927 and laid the foundation of the American Musical. It marked a significant development from both the ‘Operetta’ and the ‘Burlesque Show’.
Set aboard a Showboat and spanning some 50 years of its characters lives from the 1870’s to the publication date of the novel, the work is non-the less indicative of the 1920’s. Especially in its significant casting of ‘real’ Blacks in a mainstream theatre production. (As opposed to white artists in black make-up). Most significantly perhaps Paul Robeson* and his legendary rendition of “Old Man River”. Reflecting the 1920’s vogue for the black artist and musician.
*(Paul Robeson, whilst always first choice for the role of Joe, did not actually play the role in the original 1927 production at the Ziegfield Theatre. He made his debut in the Dury Lane production of 1928. Jules Bledsoe performed the role of Joe in the original 1927 production)
However the 1920’s came to a sudden end with the Wall St. crash of 1929. The sonorous sounds of Paul Robeson’s ‘Old Man River’ was replaced by the pleadings of ‘Buddy can you spare a dime’ as the song that most suited the time.
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Michael Moor. MA