1920’s Store /

1920’s Books

Books of the 1920's captured the changes in Society. Authors of the period struggled to understand the changes occuring in society. While some writers praised the changes others expressed disappointment in the passing of the old ways.

Reading was a popular recreational activity especially during the winter months when other forms of activity were limited. Prior to radio and television most people gained knowledge of the wider world and current events through printed material. Consequently books, newspapers and magazines were an important part of most peoples lives and formed a large part of their education. A knowledge of the classics was considered an essential part of a good education.

Magazines of the 1920's are full of short stories or serials (usually illustrated) to entertain their readers.

Books That Defined the Period

• The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot - The ultimate indictment of the modern world's loss of personal, moral, and spiritual values.
• The New Negro by Alain Locke - A hopeful look at the negro in America
• The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald - The American dream that anyone can achieve anything
• Strange Interlude by Eugene O'Neill - A look at 30 years in the life of a modern woman
• The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway - The lost generation of expatriates
• Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis - A satirical look at small town life
• The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner - Details the moral decay of the Old South
• Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston - Black life in a Black community

1920’s Movies

Gone With The Wind Poster

The early silent movies were often accompanied by live piano or organ music and provided enormous entertainment value to audiences everywhere. Huge crowds flocked to the early theaters and paid a nickel for the novelty.

Although various attempts had been made to introduce sound, it wasn't until 1923 that a commercially distributed film contained a synchronised sound track that was photographically recorded and printed on to the side of the strip of motion picture film. It would still be seven years before talking pictures gained supremacy and finally replaced the silent era.

Casablanca Poster

1927 was the year when research into synchronized sound started to pay-off and new talking-picture technologies saw the light of day. The Warner Bro's Vitaphone sound–on–disc system was used for "The Jazz Singer". Vitaphone competitors, "Movietone" sound-on-film by Western Electric, and "Photophone" by RCA were also developed.

By 1927 Hollywood had become the center of movie-making in the U.S. with 85% of U.S. movie production occurring in or around Hollywood. Good weather and a wide variety of scenic locations were factors in its success. Whole new industries grew in conjunction with the film business including zoos and animal supply companies, costume suppliers, and casting agencies.

Wizard of Oz Poster

The 1920s represented the era of greatest output in the US movie market. An average of 800 films were produced annually. Although developments in color and sound were still in the experimental stage a strong demand for movies, and therefore potential for profit, encouraged production of "talkies" for commercial release.

The huge Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio was founded by Samuel Goldwyn and Louis B. Mayer in 1924. Rudolph Valentino and Charlie Chaplin rose to stardom in this era, which also saw the premier of the first Walt Disney animated cartoon and the debut of Mickey Mouse.

1920’s Radios

In the 1920's radio was as popular as TV is today. Families would sit around the radio in the evenings and listen to music or radio shows. Radios were extremely expensive initially and only the well-to-do could afford them. It was only when hire-purchase and installment plans came along that the average family could afford a radio.

Vintage radio enthusiasts contend that while modern, state-of-the-art, microprocessor based amateur radios are extremely good at what they are designed to do, they lack the aesthetic appeal and "soul" of amateur electronic gear from the vacuum tube era. Additionally, many find satisfaction in taking commercially-made amateur radio equipment from the 1920s - 1970s (affectionately called boat anchors by US/Canadian amateurs because of their relatively large size and weight) and carefully restoring it back to health.

The simple, roomy electrical and mechanical designs of boat anchor radios are more easily worked on, modified, and tinkered with than their modern Japanese counterparts. In an age where fixing a transceiver is accomplished by boxing it up to send to the manufacturer for a custom VLSI chip replacement, devotees think of boat anchors as "real radio". According to these hobbyists, a hot soldering iron is almost a requirement for operating a vintage station.

Other enthusiasts claim that boat anchors sound better than their silicon descendants, saying that the tube audio from vintage gear is "warmer" and more aesthetically pleasing than the audio produced by the typical modern transceiver. Some hobbyists see vintage radio operation as a valuable asset to help preserve the history and heritage of radio for future generations, and may assist in the restoration and operation of vintage radio equipment for historical exhibits, museums and museum ships.

1920’s Music

Jazz gained popularity in America and worldwide by the 1920s. Nothing quite like it had ever happened before in America. New exuberant dances were devised to take advantage of the upbeat tempo's of Jazz and Ragtime music.

By the mid-1920s, jazz was being played in dance halls and roadhouses and speakeasies all over the country. Early jazz influences found their first mainstream expression in the music used by marching bands and dance bands of the day, which was the main form of popular concert music in the early twentieth century.

Meanwhile, radio and phonograph records — Americans bought more than 100 million of them in 1927 — were bringing jazz to locations so remote that no band could reach them. And the music itself was beginning to change — an exuberant, collective music was coming to place more and more emphasis on the innovations of supremely gifted individuals. Improvising soloists, struggling to find their own voices and to tell their own stories, were about to take center stage.

The 1920's were Broadway's prime years, with over 50 new musicals opening in just one season. The Broadway shows were produced by showmen who took musical theatre seriously and tried to provide quality entertainment while making a profit at the same time. This attitude kept the musical theatre booming right through the 1920s. Among the hundreds of popular musical comedies that debuted on Broadway in the early 1920s, two classic examples epitomise the Broadway musical of that era – Sally and No, No, Nanette.

1920's Music items For sale on eBay

1920’s Cars

By the late 1920s, the automobile had firmly established itself as the newest and most popular method of road transport.

The rapidly growing automobile industry led by Henry Ford and the Ford Motor Company produced new and better models every year for the insatiable public demand. Increased wages and lower cost vehicles through mass production made cars increasingly affordable, although 3 out of 4 cars were bought on installment plans.

New makes of cars proliferated - from the low cost Model T Ford through to the expensive Duesenberg and even more expensive Rolls Royce. Most of the carmakers no longer exist or have been amalgamated but many of the old car names like Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Dodge, Fiat, Ford, Lincoln, and Oldsmobile live on today. Others like the Auburn, Cole, Crow, Davis, Dixie, Durant, Elcar, Grant, King, Kline, Lafayette, Kurtz, Marmon, Mercer, Overland, Peerless, Pilot, Roamer, Saxon, Stearns, Velie, Wescott and Winton are only seen in vintage car shows today.

One of the biggest motoring events of 1927 was the release of the "new Ford", the Model A, which replaced the long-standing Model T after 18 years of production.

1920's Cars For Sale on eBay Motors

1920’s Stamps

The U.S. stamps of the 1920s were dominated by the Series of 1922, the first new design of stamps to appear in a generation. The lower values depicted various Presidents, with the 5c particularly intended as a memorial of the recently-deceased Theodore Roosevelt, while the higher values included an "American Indian" (Hollow Horn Bear), the Statue of Liberty, Golden Gate bridge, which had yet to be built, Niagara Falls, a buffalo, the Lincoln Memorial and so forth. Stamp printing was switching from a flat plate press to a rotary press while these stamps were in use.

The 1920s saw a number of 150th anniversaries connected with the American Revolutionary War, and a number of stamps were issued in connection with those. These included the first US souvenir sheet, for the Battle of White Plains sesquicentenary, and the first overprint, reading "MOLLY / PITCHER", the heroine of the Battle of Monmouth.

In 1929, theft problems in the Midwest led to the Kansas-Nebraska overprints on the regular stamps.

The German zeppelins were of much interest during this period, and in 1930 the U.S. Postal Department issued special stamps to be used on the Pan-American flight of Graf Zeppelin.

Rare Stamps of the United Kingdom
Penny Black - world's first postage stamp
Penny Blue - Trial printings from a penny black plate
Two pence blue - issued for second rate step, at same time as Penny Black
VR official - first official stamp
Prince Consort Essay
Penny Red - improved follow-ons to the Penny Black
Archer Roulette - experimental separation of stamps
Edward VII 2d Tyrian plum - withdrawn before issue, but one used
See also list of British postage stamps

Rare Stamps of the United States
St. Louis Bear
Alexandria "Blue Boy" Postmaster's Provisional - Unique, entire.
New York Postmaster's Provisional
1c Z grill - rarest US stamp
Black Bull - dollar value of 1898 Trans-Mississippi
Inverted Jenny - the "upside-down airplane"
Dag Hammarskjöld invert - error deliberately mass-produced
CIA invert - modern error
Pan-American invert

Buy it Now and Auction Listings of Collectible 1920's Stamps.

1920’s Coins and Banknotes

Real money was still in use in the 1920's. By this I mean that coins were made from precious and base metals and banknotes were redeemable for gold. This was prior to the U.S. government confiscating privately held gold, debasing the metallic content of coins and converting to a fiat money system.

Well known coins of the 1920's designed by Augustus Saint-Gaudens include the twenty-dollar "double eagle" gold piece, for the US Mint in 1905-7, still considered the most beautiful American coin ever issued as well as the $10 "Indian Head" gold eagle, both of which were minted from 1907 until 1933. Equally famous are the Morgan silver dollar and the Peace silver dollar.

The United States has minted different coin denominations at various times from 1792 to 1935: half-cent, 2-cent, 3-cent, 20-cent, $1.00, $2.50 (Quarter Eagle), $3.00, $5.00 (Half Eagle), $10.00 (Eagle), $20.00 (Double Eagle) and $50.00 (Half Union). Technically, all these coins are still legal tender at face value, though they are far more valuable today for their numismatic value, and for gold and silver coins, their precious metal value.

Here are a selection of 1920's coins for sale on eBay

 

1920's Banknotes

1920’s Furniture

Many bungalow style houses built in the 1920's used built-in furniture, such as bookcases, breakfast nooks, sideboards, china cases and window seats, which reduced the amount of free-standing furniture. This enabled rooms in bungalow type houses to be small and cosy without being cluttered.

The Art Nouveau movement had already shifted the public's focus to appearance rather than cost. This was followed by the Art Deco movement that often used strong colors and geometric shapes to convey the "modern" look. Mission style furniture with it's rugged earthy look and Spanish influence was very popular.

Mission furniture was designed to emphasize the fact that necessity involves simplicity and that simplicity is the key note of harmony. This furniture, while adapted with much precision to its various functions, is of almost primitive directness. It is done in oak with a pale olive Craftsman finish, and thus becomes an integral part of the bungalow.

It may be noted in the four-room type of house that the living room often served as dining room also. This was accomplished in various interesting ways, by the use of a folding table or by the use of a table of the gate-leg or refectory type which serves the double purpose of dining table at meal times and as living room or library table, fitting attractively into the furnishing scheme of the room at other times.

Table lamps and free standing lamps on wooden or brass bases and stands complemented the sofas, tables, chairs, and cabinets of the 1920's home.

1920's Furniture - Check out these great deals on eBay

1920’s Dresses

Beautiful coordinated and accessorized outfits were a feature of 1920's ladies fashions. Hats, shoes, stockings, handbags, dresses and jewelry all came together in harmony to create a unique and elegant style that can only be appreciated when seen in real-life or in color illustrations. The vibrancy is lost in black and white photographs.

Womens fashions experienced dramatic changes in the early 1920's following the end of the first world war in a period often referred to as the "roaring 20's". The passing of bustles and corsets gave clothing designers much greater freedom of expression. New and colorful fabrics echoed the joy felt by a war weary population following the end of hostilities.

1920's Dresses were lighter and brighter and shorter than ever before. Fashion designers played with fabric colors, textures and patterns to create totally new styles of dress. Hemlines rose for most of the decade but dropped slightly toward the end. Shoes and stockings assumed a greater prominence now that they were more visible. Silk stockings in all the colors of the rainbow, often with patterns, were designed to match the coordinated outfits of stylish women.

The One Hour Dress of 1924

In 1923, Fashion designer Mary Brooks Picken created a huge amount of interest in the fashion world when she announced that she had developed a system for making dresses in one hour. The method was demonstrated in public all over the U.S. to much acclaim. A link to a downloadable copy of how to make the One Hour Dress is in the right-hand column of this page. COST - $17. It comes with 4 Bonuses -

Free Bonus 1 - How I Make Dresses in 35 Minutes

By LENORE McCORMACK, Department of Dressmaking.
World Dressmaking Record Holder Explains How it is Done

Free Bonus 2 - The 2 Hour Dress - 1925

The One-Width, Slender-Line Dress for Fall
By MARY BROOKS PICKEN, Director of Instruction
Especially Suited to the 54-inch (137cm) Flannels in Plain, Striped, Checked, or Plaid Design.
One Length of Material Plus a Scant Two Hours Time Makes This Modish Frock.

Free Bonus 3 - Magazine Articles

A collection of News and Magazine Articles on the One Hour Dress

Free Bonus 4 - 1924 Dresses - in color!

20 beautiful and inspiring examples. These are not “One Hour Dresses” but they do illustrate the types of dresses, materials and colors that were in fashion in 1924.

1920's Dresses - Check out these great deals on eBay

1920’s Shoes

Due to the often muddy or dusty roads and sidewalks in the early 1900's, calf-high boots were commonly worn for protection against the elements. Boots and shoes were typically black, brown or white, or various combinations thereof since these colors were practical and utilitarian.

As the condition of roads and footpaths improved, and cars were used for transport, then there was less necessity for boots, and so shoes became more prominent. Beautiful and stylish shoes were developed that have evolved into the modern shoe styles we are familiar with today.

In the 1920's whether due to the shrinkage in dress lengths or to the general swing toward color for all articles, both of utility and luxury, the fact remains that footwear was offered in colors and color combinations undreamed of 25 years earlier. Shoes in blue and red and rose and pastel shades became available to match and complement any dress ensemble.

Shoes were also referred to as slippers - not to be confused with bedroom slippers. My guess is that they were referred to as slippers because they could be slipped on easily when compared to boots.

1920's Shoes

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