What Was The Roar In The 1920's

The Roaring Twenties Many wonder what put the “roar” in the Roaring 20’s. Women voting, Klan’s starting, secret hangouts being created and the start of the jazz age are just a few things that put the roar in the 1920’s. Cars were being bought, spectator sports were becoming popular, women were gaining rights, alcohol was banned, speakeasies were created, dance and music grew and markets reached an all-time high, only to come crashing down to conclude this historical decade. Bringing a national identity for ourselves, the roaring twenties was a time of huge change and growth of our nation’s history. Lasting from 1920 to 1933, the Prohibition Era was instituted with the 18th Amendment and was enacted by the Volstead Act (Alchin). When prohibition …show more content…
With the economy being strong, workers had more leisure time (Sumner). Organized sports developed in the 1920’s along with the popularity of collegiate sports growing. With people having more free time and money to spend on leisure activities, watching and competing in sports increased. Being the favorites of men’s college sports, baseball and football were first sports to gain popularity (Alchin). Notre Dame became the most famous college football team in the twenties. Basketball was still a young sport in the 1920’s. At the time colleges played basketball games in gyms as big as high school gyms, seating roughly around only two thousand fans. Today, the crowds are ten times that amount (Sumner). Women tended to play sports such as bowling, golf, boating, horseback riding, ice skating, swimming, archery, and tennis in college. Boxing and baseball were the first professional sports; professional football later began in the twenties. Stadiums were built due to the growth in popularity of basketball, baseball, and boxing. The Yankee Stadium was built in 1923 as a ballpark for baseball. The first home game for the New York Yankees was against the Boston Red Sox. In 1920, Babe Ruth hit over fifty-four home runs. He later broke that record when he hit sixty home runs. Winning seven different World Series titles, Ruth became a multi-millionaire, earning over $2,000,000 throughout his baseball career (Alchin). Baseball was the …show more content…
Primarily a male hobby, radio broadcasting started in 1920. The stations were supported by wealthy individuals, churches, colleges, newspapers, municipalities, and manufacturers of radio equipment (“Mass Culture: Radio, Music, and the Movies”). KDKA was the first radio station, and they were issued a license on October 27th, 1920. The first broadcast was made by KDKA on election night, beginning at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, November 2nd, 1920. Leo Rosenberg was the first radio announcer, announcing to around one-thousand listeners that Warren Harding had beaten James Cox for president. In the twenties, the average radio cost about one-hundred and fifty dollars (Alchin). More than four million radios were in American homes by 1926. Shortly after, headphones were replaced with loudspeakers so that the whole family could listen (“Mass Culture: Radio, Music, and the Movies”). Newscasts, weather reports, popular classical and jazz music, sports events, lectures, and stock market updates were some of the most popular broadcasts. Amos ‘n’ Andy, a comedy show, became a huge favorite to listeners (Alchin). Families and neighbors would gather together in their homes and in shops to listen. Things they enjoyed listening to were drama, comedy, crop reports and weather