The Roaring Twenties
For Kids and Teachers

What was life like in the 1920s in the United States?

The 1920s are nicknamed the Roaring Twenties because things were hopping. It was a time of great prosperity for some people, right up to the 1929 stock market crash. Flappers, young girls in the 1920s, much to the dismay of their mothers, wore their hair short, their dresses loose, smoked, drank, rode in cars, and many worked outside the home. The work force was about 25% women.

World War I ended. Factories no longer needed to produce supplies for the war. Instead, since many people had jobs and money to spend, factories began producing consumer goods - things for people to buy. There were all kinds of new inventions, like vacuum cleaners and refrigerators and cheeseburgers. Cars became more affordable. Everything became more affordable.

Entertainment went wild! Jazz, a lively new form of music, was invented in New Orleans, and quickly spread. Silent movies were no longer silent; movie theatres opened their doors to the first talkie - The Jazz Singer. Prohibition, a new law, made it illegal to transport or sell alcohol. Speakeasies, illegal bars where people could drink, dance, and listen to jazz, sprang up everywhere.

Women got the vote! Gangsters got the Speakeasies! And Immigrants got the tenements! It was quite a time. Come see for yourself what life was like in the 1920s, jam some jazz, direct a movie - Gangsters on the Run, drive through time, visit Mickey's Laboratory - the Roaring Twenties - it's the Bees Knees!

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