Isolationism In The 1920s

The 1920s saw the growth of popular recreation, in part because of higher wages and increased leisure time. Just as automobiles were mass-produced, so was recreation during the 1920s. Mass-circulations magazines like Reader’s Digest and Time (established 1923) enjoyed enormous success. Radio also rose to prominence as a source of news and entertainment during the 1920s: NBC was founded in 1926 and CBS a year later. Movies were the most popular leisure attraction of the times, making stars out of Charlie Chaplin, Rudolph Valentino, Gloria Swanson, and Mary Pickford. But with economic success and a cultural renaissance, came political isolationism, a wide gap between wealthy and poor, as well as new forms of racism. Authors of the 1920s

Popular Jazz musicians included King Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Kid Ory, and Duke Ellington. No one had quite heard anything like it before in America. Dances were made to accompany the music - mostly to "take advantage" of the upbeat tempo's. Before Jazz became popular in America, it was considered "the devil's music" by some of the public. Some people, like Ernest Newman, "debunked Jazz" in a 1927 magazine article. Paul Whiteman, a "jazz-king" said that Jazz was "a genuine musical force.4" The 1920s were also Broadway's prime years. There were over 50 musicals opening in just one season. People who went to see the musicals on Broadway paid up to $3.50 a seat. Broadway advertized their musicals and the ads lit up the streets of New York at night. The lights alone attracted people as well as the popular shows. Two examples of Broadway shows in the 1920s included "Sally" and "No, No, Nanette.5" Lastly, there were two very important art movements during this time, called Surrealism and Art Deco. Surrealism began after World War I. Surrealists developed techniques such as automatic drawing and painting, decalcomania, frottage, fumage, grattage, and parsemage. Andre Masson was a famous surrealist. Art Deco was a movement that affected architecture. It was famous in Europe before it hit the United States in 1928. Art Deco used materials like aluminum, stainless steel, lacquer, inlaid wood, sharkskin, and zebra skin 6. Two famous American artists included Maxfield Parrish and C. Coles Phillips. Maxfield Parrish was an American painter and illustrator that was known for his paintings of androgynous nudes in fantastical settings and landscapes. His art featured dazzling colors which he achieved by several coats of oil and varnish he added to his paintings. C. Coles Phillips was known for being the illustrator for Life