Arts Historian

The Roaring '20s

A spirit of frivolity and merriment characterized the 1920s, popularly referred to as the Roaring ´20s. Americans, recovering from the horrors of World War I and disillusioned with politics and government, sought solace in fun and frolic. “The Roaring Twenties was an age of optimism and exuberance – an age of flappers, jazz, glamorous movie stars, flamboyant gangsters, speakeasies and growing prosperity. Duke Ellington was playing in the Cotton Club, Babe Ruth was playing for the Yankees . . . Charles Lindbergh captivated the country in 1927 when he flew solo across the Atlantic, bolstering the feeling that Americans could succeed at any venture to which they set their minds. . . In Rockland County there was optimism, but not too over-inflated. There were flappers doing the Charleston and parties with bootleg liquor, but nothing as wild as the cities.”¹

^{"(The
flapper) symbolized an age anxious to enjoy itself, anxious to forget
the past, anxious to ignore the future"}²

The loosening of restrictions on women was one of the most significant legacies of the 1920s. Women were voting for the first time. Conventional standards of behavior and stodgy Victorian principles were tossed aside. Morals underwent a revolution and a new post-World War I sophistication emerged. Victorianism was out, and in its place was a saucy, booze-drinking, cigarette-smoking, knee-length-dress-wearing flapper. ³

Flappers . . . fun, fast and modern, the emanciapated women of the '20s
Click on photo⁴ for more on flappers

The emanciapation of women during this time period helped pave the long road to social progress and equal rights and liberties for women in future years. A local publication showed how progressive Rockland was by allowing women to be jurors. (Photo⁵)

Dance Crazes and Music	The Charleston⁶ and the Lindy Hop were the dance crazes. ". . .shocking to the older generation was a hoisted-skirt dance called the Charleston, in which a girl sometimes dared to bare a flash of thigh."⁷
"Buddy Christian, from South Nyack, is a jazz drummer who played with the Big Bands. . . .(He) played with Eddie Sauter's dance band when he was only sixteen. He went on tomake four recordings that were named jazz recordings of the year, was the first drummer to play on television and toured across the United States and nineteen other countries, often playing before royalty and heads of state."¹⁰Click on the photo¹¹for Big Band music.	For more on the original Swing Dance, the Lindy Hop, click on the photos.^8,9

A Fourteen-Year
Dry Spell in Rockland

Since the Prohibition Amendment of 1920
had turned an alcoholic beverage into a federal
offense - many Americans secretly carried hip flasks and visited speakeasies12¹²,illegal bars or nightclubs.
Click on photo¹³ for sounds of a speakeasy.

Not Too "Dry" In Rockland!
Click mug for some Rockland bootlegging history.

“It was rumored that every town had at least one secret speakeasy where thirsty patrons could go for some bootleg liquor. It was reported that Suffern had as many as five speakeasies, with one of its most popular ones being located in the back room of a soda shop.”¹⁵

The Great Depression
Film: The Great Escape

Click on photo of Helen Hayes for more information about

The Twenties began with Prohibition and ended with Black Tuesday – October 29, 1929 – the day the stock market crashed. The party was over. The Thirties – the time of the Great Depression. People sought escape and film provided this distraction. “Hollywood’s brand of heaven on earth was a deliberate and enormously successful effort to provide escape.” 180 daily news

Rocklanders Remember

Click to read some childhood film memories

Babe in Rockland

“Some of the worst acting ever seen on American movie screens was perpetuated in the ‘20s by such sports idols as Babe Ruth . . .”
Click on photo for Babe in Rockland