Preface
Sandwiched between the bloody First World War and the suffering of the Great Depression was the pleasure-seeking decade of the 1920s. Labeled as the Roaring Twenties, the Jazz Age, and the Boom Era, this decade witnessed a whirlwind of social change, especially for women. For the first time ever, a significant percentage of young women embraced the flapper lifestyle, which included dresses cut up to their knees; shiny hair bobbed to their chins; and impudent slang, as they indulged in drinking, smoking, and petting. More women lived in cities than ever before, and they worked outside the home in increasing numbers, earning their own incomes and garnering a sense of independence and economic power not seen in previous generations. During this decade, the first radio broadcast was heard; by the decade’s end cars had gone from being a luxury of the few to something 122 million people owned; women were granted the right to vote; and Americans were denied the ability to legally manufacture, transport, distribute, or sell alcoholic beverages, among other happenings of cultural significance. Flappers provides an in-depth look at the era of flappers, examining the lives of movie stars and screenwriters, musicians and novelists,