Three important changes in American society that took place in America in the 1920s The roaring twenties changed the lives of Americans and gave many opportunities for people. Many inventions and renovations were made that played an important role in history. Movies were a great new form of entertainment after World War One. Live piano or organ music would often accompany a silent movie. A synchronized soundtrack was recorded photographically in 1923. It was printed and then attached to the side of a motion picture film. In 1924 Samuel Goldwyn and Louis B. Mayer founded the big Metro-Golden-Mayer studio. Movie stars like Charlie Chaplin, John Barrymore, Greta Garbo and Rudolph Valentino would make loads of money and became idols throughout the whole world. New talking-picture technologies were found in 1927. By this time Hollywood, producing about 85 percent of movies, became the center of moviemaking in The United States. Hollywood was a big success for the movie industry since it had great weather and wonderful locations for different movie scenes. Polish brothers Jack, Albert, Sam and Harry incorporated Warner Bros. Pictures in 1923. Movie theaters such as The Capitol Theater located in New York could seat up to 8,000 and was known to be the biggest theater in the world in the 1921. The average film release in a year was about 800 with many different genres in store for the viewers. The 1920’s was the birth of radio that gave opportunity for people living in remote locations to hear the new music. “Even in the 1920’s the lights of Broadway lit up the billboards at night in a huge splash of color that was immortalized in song.” (“1920’s Music” 1). The most popular dance music was known to be blues-ragtime that soon made its way into jazz. Another popular music genre was orchestral music with compositions such as Ravel’s “Bolero”. Many people began to get interested in playing different instruments. Over 50 musicals would open each season for which people paid almost $3.50 for a seat. The musical theatre developed many outstanding artists. Showmen which took their work seriously produced the Broadway shows, providing quality entertainment and made a lot of money. One of the two classic Broadway musical examples of that era were Sally and No, No, Nanette. This was a time for the world of music to open genres like Broadway, Blues, Dance Bands and of course Jazz. Dancing was very popular back in the days. Waltz and Foxtrot were still popular because of special dance schools and books being published by authors like Arthur Murry who published “How to” books which taught all the steps to popular dances. Ragtime had great music tempos so it became famous during and after the First World War. People were now able to learn new dance steps due to the freedom from the clothes in the Victorian era – no more huge puffed sleeves, long skirts and tight corsets. Some dances like Charleston and the Tango gained even more popularity after being featured in movies and being played by famous stars like Rudolph Valentino and Joan Crawford. It did not always go that well, especially when some dance moves started to involve close contact with the partner but later they became a social norm. The best example of the 1920’s dance is the Charleston which later became a symbol for the 1920s Jazz Age. Those days were the good days in America that were thought to never end if the Stock Market crash would not have happened in September 1929. I chose movies, music, and dancing because it changed the lives of people and influenced many lives which was important, especially after World War One. With innovations still up to this day, all of these changes helped develop new lifestyles and continue to do so.
Works Cited
“1920s Music.” 1920’s Music. Web. 04 Mar. 2016.
