Jazz Age Culture

"Hip flasks of hooch, jazz, speakeasies, bobbed hair, 'the lost generation.' The Twenties are endlessly fascinating. It was the first truly modern decade and, for better or worse, it created the model for society that all the world follows today." (from Kevin Rayburn, "Two Views of the 1920s.")

"[The flapper] symbolized an age anxious to enjoy itself, anxious to forget the past, anxious to ignore the future." (from Jacques Chastenet, "Europe in the Twenties" in  Purnell's History of the Twentieth Century)

"It was during what we might call the Flapper period . . . that American popular culture began to capture the imagination of the world. . . . [America] was inventing its own modernity. . . . " (from Laura Mulvey, "The Flapper Phenomenon")

• The Flap Over Flappers--short but good introduction to the Flapper. See these related articles: Does Jazz Put the Sin in Syncopation?--1921 article condemning jazz; and Flapper Jane and A Flapper's Appeal to Parents--two articles defending flappers. More Flapper information: The Flapper and Flapper Music--you can listen to the hit tunes if you have audio.  Good short history: Flappers in the Roaring Twenties (click on Page 2 also); see also Texas Guinan's culture Club and Speakeasy.

• Flapper Fashion 1920s--good fashion history with many links. See also Flapper Styles (untitled)--a number of illustrations. Christy's Fashion Pages--short illustrated history of 1920s fashion.  Interesting fashion change: 'Fighting the Corsetless Evil': Shaping Corsets and Culture, 1900-1930--scholarly article.  And then there's Men's Fashions of the 1920s and Men's Vintage Fashions--cool dudes, 1920s style.

• Modern Sexuality and the Myth of Victorian Repression--1920s sexual revolution. Don't Fuss, Mother, This Isn't so Fast and The Decline of the Victorian Cultural Consensus--two excellent essays on the new youth and advertising. The Girl on the Magazine Cover: Stereotypes in the Mass Media--first chapter from a book-length study.  See John Held, Jr, Cartoonist--good biography/images of his famous Jazz Age flappers and others--and John Held, Jr. and the Jazz Age.

• Clash of Cultures in the 1910s and 1920s--has links to four topics: Prohibition, The New Woman, Anti-Immigration & the KKK, and The Scopes Trial.
  
  
• The 1920s Experience--lots of good links: People (Herbert Hoover, Al Capone, Henry Ford), Events (Sacco-Vanzetti Trial, Stock Market Crash, Scopes "Monkey" Trial), Inventions (cars, radio, airplanes), Art, Literature, Music (Bessie Smith, George Gershwin, Duke Ellington), Entertainment (radio, Al Jolson, Charlie Chaplin), Fads/Fashion (includes Men's Fashions), and at the bottom of the screen, 1920's Technology (essay on impact of cars, radio, movies, etc., on 1920s culture). Flapper Station--click on the boxes to find many links (some don't work). Covers cars, motorcycles, radio, movies, fashions, Art Deco, music, history, etc.

• Automobiles: Read about that automotive genius Henry Ford: Driving Force: Henry Ford and The Life of Henry Ford. 1920s safety issues: The Leaded Gas Scare of the 1920s. See also the Model T.  Cars--more images; or check out these early Buicks.  More Classic Cars in History and 1920s Cars--lots of photos. Read about the joys and woes of jazz-age car owners: Early Adventures with the Automobile and The Invention of the American Vacation: The Automobile 1914-1932. Interesting page on car advertisements.

• The Roaring Twenties:  Foundations for Progress-- the technological boom of the 1920s (radios, cars, manufacture, etc.). See also The Formation of Modern American Mass Culture --short introduction to radio and movie culture and the rise of spectator sports.   President Harding Installed a Radio in the White House --short three-page article on the influence of radio. Here is a short history of 1920s technology: 1920s Technology and Careers. (See also the sites below on jazz and blues music.)

• Movies: The Greatest Movies of the 1920s--helpful history and some of the great stars. The Jazz Singer (1)--the first "talkie" movie, starring the famous entertainer Al Jolson. Here is a critical article on Blackface, White Noise: The Jewish Jazz Singer Finds his Voice. See also The Pioneer Talking Picture and Midnight Ramble: The Negro in Early Hollywood--illustrated short history.  Unfortunately, one of the greatest early films includes a racist glorification of the KKK: Birth of a Nation (2).  Here is The Roaring Twenties--summary of a late-30s semi-documentary gangster film (starring James Cagney) based on memories of the 1920s. Good student essay: Three Jazz Age Films: How Hollywood Saw the Reckless Youth of the 1920's.

• Silent Ladies and Gents--stars of the silent movies era. Read about this famous flapper: Clara Bow (1)--"the hottest jazz babe in films". More on Clara Bow as the Original It Girl. More on Clara Bow (2).  Louise Brooks links here: Brooks (2) and Brooks (3) (at PSU).  Also check out the links at the Louise Brooks Society Home Page and Brooks videos currently available. Here is the male heartthrob of movies: Valentino (1) and Valentino (2). See Valentino videos currently available.

• Jazz Cartoons: Betty Boop--the charming flapper and jazz babe of cartoonland. See also Boop and Jazz [untitled] and Betty Boop's Jazz Legacy. If your computer has the capabilities, watch these short videos of Betty Boop's jazztoons: Minnie the Moocher (YouTube) --Betty Boop and Cab Calloway; The Old Man of the Mountain (YouTube) --another Betty Boop and Cab Calloway; Snow White (YouTube) --a third Betty Boop and Cab Calloway; and I'll Be Glad When You're Dead, You Rascal You (YouTube) --Betty Boop and Louis Armstrong. Information on Boop's creator: Max Fleischer Studio. Read about Walt Disney's career in the 1920s-30s.

• More Cartoons: Animated Films--a short history. Here is Krazy Kat: Krazy Kat. Another cartoon cat: Fabulous Felix the Cat.  See also Felix the Cat. But there is a dark side of Toon-ville also: The First Elmer Fudd. See More Racist Cartoons--from the Jim Crow Museum which opposes racism. Please also read this statement from the Jim Crow Museum (and view even worse white-supremacist racist cartoons): Jim Crow Museum: Values.

• Jazz Age Writers--go to the Jazz Age Writers web page.
  
  

"Harlem was not so much a place as a state of mind, the cultural metaphor for black America itself." (from Henry Louis Gates Jr., Rhapsodies in Black, 1997)

"The true spirit of jazz is a joyous revolt from convention, custom, authority, boredom, even sorrow--from everything that would confine the soul of man and hinder its riding free on the air." (from J.A. Rogers, "Jazz at Home," The Survey Graphic, 1925)

"But jazz to me is one of the inherent expressions of Negro life in America; the eternal tom-tom beating in the Negro soul--the tom-tom of revolt against weariness in a white world, a world of subway trains, and work, work, work; the tom-tom of joy and laughter, and pain swallowed in a smile." (from Langston Hughes, The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain")

• Overviews: What Ideals Did Harlem Renaissance Writers Promote? --shorter but helpful introduction. Harlem: The Early Years--longer introduction, but very small print, unfortunately. Harlem Reniassance --includes many links to important names associated with the Harlem Renaissance.

• The Survey Graphic Harlem--important black journal from 1920s, with many essays on the Harlem Renaissance; often features the highly regarded writer Alain Locke and others. See, for instance, J. A. Rogers' 'Jazz at Home' or alternate source Jazz at Home by Rogers--an important article on meaning of jazz, or The Tropics in New York (about West Indian Black immigrants).

• Harlem Night-clubs: Harlem Renaissance After Midnight--enjoy a night-on-the-town. Or try this tour: Harlem Renaissance: Harlem after Dark.  Read Langston Hughes and Thurman Wallace on the popular culture and night life of Harlem: When the Negro Was in Vogue.

• New York: America's Jazz Capital and Chicago --two jazz pages from Ken Burns' PBS Jazz series.  See also Club Kaycee Jazz. Here is a detailed history of KC Jazz: Paris of the Plains: Jazz Age in Kansas City 1920-40.   See also Kansas City: A Wide Open Town.  Check out the famous Harlem Cotton Club Revues. Famous dance halls: Harlem's Savoy Ballroom: The Home of Happy Feet.

• Blues & Jazz: Jazz and Blues: 1920s-30s--links to the great "hits" of the jazz age. Roaring Twenties:  History in the Key of Jazz--positive and negative assessments of the new music (from the Ken Burns' PBS Jazz series).   Does Jazz Put the Sin in Syncopation?--1921 article condemning jazz.  Read this summary of the views of various anti-jazz critics:  Kettlewell's related article on jazz and resistance to social change: Growing Pains: Reflecting on the Social Climate during the Early Days of Jazz. See also Shuffle Along: The Musical at the Center of the Harlem Renaissance. Here is a list of jazz-inspired films: Jazz, Jazz-Scored, and Jazz Age Films: 1920s-Present.

• History/meaning of the blues: Discovering Differences in the Blues: The Rural and Urban Genres--good article on history of the blues. Here are some Notes on the Blues--with good links. Writer Albert Murray Talks about the Blues, Jazz and Great Literature-- news article on Murray's interpretation of the blues.

• Development of Blues/Jazz: Jazz: Marking Time in American Culture and The Birth and Dispersal of Jazz--two good short histories. Brief history of the development of Race Records. Here is Jazz Roots--excellent links to Overview, Early Musicians, Photos, the Cotton Club, etc.   Here is a long list of links: Early Jazz Websites.

• Musicians and Composers: Classic Female Blues-- overview of the great women blues singers. Bessie Smith and the Blues and three of her lyrics. Good site on Fats Waller Forever. Here are interesting comments by a famous jazz musician: Jelly Roll Morton's Reminiscence. Read about one of the few women jazz musician-composers: Mary Lou Williams: Soul on Soul. See Scott Joplin for ragtime. Biography of the great Satchmo: Louis Armstrong : The Beginning And End Of Music In America. Also consult Red Hot Jazz Archive for many links to many musicians, composers, and bands, including audio links.

• Jazz-inspired Dances: Harlem Dance: From the Cakewalk to the Lindy Hop. More about the cool 1920s dance hits: the Charleston and the Black Bottom and the Shimmy and the Break-a-way--many dance links available also.

• Jazz Poetry/Blues Poetry: Jazz Poetry: A Genre Emerges--definition and history of jazz poetry. Listen to audio-files: 1920s Jazz Music on CD. Here are two helpful definitions: A Brief Guide to Jazz Poetry and Poetic Form: Blues Poem. Wide-ranging essay defining jazz poetry: Scrapple from the Apple: Jazz & Poetry.

• Jazz Age in Paris (Le Tumulte Noir)--excellent site featuring dancer Josephine Baker, the toast of Europe, and Paul Colin, graphic artist. Read Baker biography. View the jazzage costumes for Josephine Baker and others in the big musical shows: Read this long article on The Construction of an Image and the Deconstruction of a Star--Josephine Baker Racialized, Sexualized, and Politicized. See also Harlem in Montmartre:  A Paris Jazz Story between the Great Wars. Here is an interesting assessment (review) of two recent books on Baker and Paris: Mon Country ["My Country"]. Scholarly article: Making Jazz French: The Reception of Jazz Music in Paris, 1927–1934.

• Rhapsodies in Black--excerpts from scholarly writings by Louis Gates, Jr. and others. Covers Harlem Renaissance, The New Negro, Modernism & Modernity, The Blues Aesthetic, Imagining Africa, and Haiti and Images of Black Nationalism. Seven artworks included. Harlem Renaissance Forum--experts from PBS Online Forum answer five questions about the Harlem Renaissance listed at the bottom of the screen (click on each one). Also has links to Kansas City Jazz, African Art, and significant individuals in the arts.

• Harlem Renaissance Art--on my "Jazz Age Part II" web page (Modernist and Harlem Renaissance art).

• Harlem Renaissance Writers--on my "Jazz Age Writers" web page.

• Schomberg Harlem Exhibit--excellent site, with a Timeline; an Exhibition (Activists, Arts, Business, Community, & Sports); and excellent list of Resources (under Harlem heading).  Harlem Renaissance--A Brief Introduction--includes a helpful timeline for the Jazz Age.

• The Great Migration--good article on the influx of southern blacks into the northern cities. African American History, 1901-1925--helpful timeline; note all the lynchings.  For more links on lynchings and other forms of racial violence, see Racial Violence and the KKK.

• Teaching the Harlem Renaissance--The Blues Impulse--helpful overview of topics for readers new to the subject. Teaching units from the Yale-New Haven Teaching Institute:The Blues Impulse--An Era And the Ambiguity of Adolescence; Harlem Renaissance and the Development of Afro-American Culture; and The Social Contributions of the Harlem Renaissance (emphasis on the West Indian Negro influence).  Improvised Jazz and the Transcendental Experience-- intriguing teaching unit tracing parallels between the Emerson/Whitman transcendental philosophy and the supreme jazz experience.