The 1920s
What words and images come to mind when we think of the 1920s?
The Jazz Age - music and fast movement.
The Roaring Twenties - Prohibition in America.
The Flapper, with her short hair and short skirt, smoking and drinking.
Dance crazes such as the Charleston and the Black Bottom.
Well-heeled socialites, called the Bright Young Things.
Latin Lovers on film: Rudolph Valentino and Ramon Navarro.
Tennis parties - anyone for tennis?
Art Deco - the modern style.
It was a remarkable decade. It can be looked
on as a breathing space between the First and
Second World Wars. These giant conflicts
dominated the 20th century, the second
growing out of the problems left by the first,
and caused more deaths and misery than any
others before or since.
As Britain emerged from the war “to end all wars”, people were determined never to let it happen again.The League of Nations was founded in 1920, so that all nations could work together for peace.
There was the feeling that there was a new order, that
the old system had gone forever in the First World War,
and that people must build their own “brave new world.”
The 1920s heralded a period of great creativity and
technological changes as great and as fast as those of our
own time. In communications, radio began to make its
mark, while telephone technology grew quickly.
Electricity, and electrical goods, transformed peoples’
lives.
For many people, new industries and rapidly evolving jobs
offered the opportunity to move forwards and upwards
in society, a chance not available to their parents.Travel
changed perhaps the most of all.A largely static population was to be
transformed into a mobile one.The age of the commercial traveller dawned.
There was an explosion of creativity and design, in goods, fashion and
marketing. Style was everything in the 1920s.
“How beauteous mankind is!
O brave new world, that hath such people in it!”
William Shakespeare
“ A Country Fit for Heroes”
“I hope we may say that thus....came to an end all wars”.
British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, 11 November 1918.
“ I believe that men are beginning to see, not perhaps ‘the golden age’ but an
age which at any rate is brightening from decade to decade and will lead us
some time to an elevation from which we can see the things for which the heart
of mankind is longing”.
American President Woodrow Wilson, Manchester, December 1918.
Amongst the celebration and
relief that the First World War
was over, there were others who
viewed the future with
apprehension.The loss of a
million men from Britain and the
Empire had shattered Victorian
confidence forever. Not only that,
a number of issues that had been
shelved would surface again at
the end of the war. One of these
was women’s equality.
War memorial dedication, Broad Street, Stamford, 1920
Many women were optimistic at gaining equal rights.They had proved their
worth undertaking men’s work during the shortage of male labour, but many of
them were forced to give up their jobs to the returning survivors. However,
there were a few concessions. In 1918 women over 30 were given the vote,
and in 1919 the removal of the Sex Disqualifications Act opened up new
professions to women.
Such was the state of the economy, with £800 million of debt, that many firms
tried to cut back, and jobs were cut.The unemployment numbers rose to
1½ million. By 1920 the euphoria at the end of the war had ceased and many,
mainly the working classes, faced a future of unemployment.
“I can remember queues at the labour exchange but there were no jobs to be
had - and the stigma of the means test. I know the means test took every single
penny of income into account and people didn’t like it. No wonder.”
Christine Allison (nee Burke), born 1917 in Grimsby.
People wondered whether the loss of a million men during the First World
War and high unemployment had been worth fighting for. They were still
waiting for “a country fit for heroes”.
Industry
By the 1920s, industries that had formed the backbone of Victorian Britain,
such as mechanical engineering, coal mining, shipbuilding, iron and steel, were in
decline. Four years of war had meant a collapse in exports, and by the start of
the decade many other countries were producing similar goods cheaper and
quicker.This decline reached crisis point with two major economic slumps in
1921 and 1929.
Unemployment and business failure were at
their worst in the old industrial heartlands of
Scotland, northern England and South Wales.
The owners of out of date and badly run
industries tried to save their firms by cutting
pay and increasing working hours of employees.
This led to an increase in industrial action,
which peaked with the General Strike in 1926.
Agricultural machinery produced at
Blackstone’s, Stamford, 1920s
The General Strike
was called by the Trades Union Congress (TUC)
on 3 May 1926. It brought the country to a near
halt and forced the government to bring in many
emergency measures, mobilising the army to
provide essential services. Despite its initial
success, the General Strike was called off by the
TUC on 12 May without any of its aims having
been met. Coming only 9 years after the Russian
Revolution, it was seen by some as a serious threat
to the government and stability of the country, and
reflected a fear of growing social unrest.
In contrast, industries based on the relatively recent developments in
electricity, electrical engineering, motors and road transport, flourished. Many
of the new firms were based in the Midlands and south east England, which
soon saw new areas of industrial growth.
Generators produced at Cutting Bros., Stamford, 1920s Local workshop production declined, and began
to be replaced with larger, more mechanised
factories.The growth of factories was helped by
better road transport, which made the
movement of raw materials and finished goods
much easier, and greater use of electricity,
which allowed companies to invest in
increasingly sophisticated machinery.
Agriculture
In 1919 many people saw farmers as wealthy profiteers who had done well out
of the First World War.This idea was reflected in the newspapers, which
published extravagant stories of farmers wintering on the French Riviera.
Although some farmers had made a great deal of money during the war, by
taking advantage of food shortages and a lack of fodder for army horses, the
1920s were to prove a difficult decade for agriculture.
Farming, like heavy industry, was
badly shaken by the two great
slumps of 1921 and 1929.
Affected by a heavy land tax,
many landlords sold up, forcing
their tenant farmers to either
buy their holdings or to leave
them altogether. Many tenants
took out mortgages to pay for
them, only to find themselves
heavily in debt following a slump
in the price of farms in 1921.
Blackstone engine powering a Marshalls of Gainsborough
threshing machine
Between 1920 and 1929 the
number of people working in agriculture fell by an estimated 14%. Farmers
were badly hit by a shortage of good men combined with minimum wage
regulations and the subsequent extra cost of labour. Cheap imports of grain
and outbreaks of foot and mouth disease in 1922, 1923, 1924 and 1926 also
caused serious problems.
Despite being under great economic pressure, agriculture did benefit from the
innovations and improvements that came from the new industries. During the
decade there was increasing use of tractors and other mechanised or
electrical devices on British
farms. By the end of the 1920s a
few large farms in East Anglia and
Hampshire had become wholly
mechanised, and were able to
produce cereals at a cheaper
price than their foreign rivals.
Sport
During the 1920s, sporting activities became increasingly accessible to all levels
of society. Newspapers and cinema newsreels already covered major sporting
events, but in 1927 BBC radio carried its first running sports commentary, with
coverage of an England v Wales rugby match. For the first time this allowed
people who were unable to get to the game to have access to more than just
edited highlights.
People became more interested in participating in sport, not just in watching it.
Returning ex-servicemen brought football into areas where it had once been
relatively unknown, and the decade saw the spread of a
network of amateur football leagues across Britain.
Golf became a very popular sport, with the Ryder Cup
being played for the first time in 1927. More women played
golf, wearing pleated skirts, trousers or breeches.
Lawn tennis was another very popular sporting activity,
where tennis whites were the informal dress for both sexes.
The championships at
Wimbledon now attracted thousands, instead of hundreds, of spectators.
The Wightman Cup for UK and USA women’s team tennis was first presented in 1923. Stamford Tennis Club, 1920s
The increased provision of public facilities such as swimming baths and tennis courts by local authorities, made it possible for many people to try those sports for the first time. Two new sports were introduced to the public during the decade.The novelty
of dirt-track racing of motorcycles was introduced from America. Greyhound
racing with the aid of a mechanical hare, was tried for the first time in 1926 in
Manchester, and new electric tracks were soon built across the country.
Rambling in the countryside became an
increasingly popular pastime, and
federations of rambling clubs began to
be formed, particularly in urban areas
such as Liverpool and Sheffield.
Leisure & Entertainment
For the majority of people until the 1920s, entertainment was largely
something home produced, with perhaps a rare visit to a theatre or music hall.
Gramophone records had become very popular, but the sales of sheet music
were still strong. Film, of course, was well established, with a visit to the flicks
costing about 4d (1½p).
The new news and entertainment medium was radio, or
wireless. In Britain, the British Broadcasting Company Ltd,
was established in 1922, and not long after was being
listened to all over the country, on crystal cats’ whisker sets
with headphones. Soon loudspeakers were added to the sets
so that everyone in the room
could hear. In 1927 the BBC
became a public corporation.
News, weather, information, music
and drama were all broadcast. It
was said that radio moulded the tastes and accents
of several generations.
The Promenade Concerts established by Sir Henry
Wood grew in popularity, especially when they started to be broadcast on
radio in 1927. Figures in the world of classical music like Dr. Malcolm Sargent
(not yet Sir Malcolm Sargent) popularised and made accessible choral works.
Live music was performed in most towns on a
very regular basis.The many dances that were
held all required some kind of orchestra, and
other functions often had musical interludes.
Local dramatic performances of Gilbert &
Sullivan operas
The Basic Charleston Step: and other musical
comedies were
1. Stand with your
2.
feet together.
very popular.
2. Move forward onto
your right toe.
3. Step back onto
your right foot.
1.
and
5.
4. Move back onto
your left toe.
5. Step forward onto
your left foot.
Repeat until tired!
3.
4.
Dance card, 1920s
To dance properly, men and women had to
know the basic ballroom steps of dances like
the fox-trot, the quickstep, the waltz and the
lancers.Added to these was the tango, which
had become a favourite, and those classic 1920s
dances, the Charleston and the Black Bottom.
Dance crazes for these swept the country.
Literature
Some classic books made their first appearance in the 1920s, not only of
serious literature, but also in lighter reading, and in particular genres such as
the detective novel.Agatha Christie’s first success, The Mysterious Affair at Styles,
was published in 1920, and introduced to the world the figure of Belgian
detective Hercule Poirot. Her classic The Murder of Roger Ackroyd was published
in 1926.
The humorist P.G.Wodehouse’s books convey the essence of upper class life in
the 1920s and 30s.The Jeeves series of stories are well known, but he also
wrote stories about Blandings Castle and Psmith during the decade.
Evelyn Waugh made his mark with his first 2 novels, Decline and Fall and Vile
Bodies, which evoke 1920s images of Bright Young Things.
Virginia Woolf’s major novels were being published, and others of the
Bloomsbury Group, like Lytton Strachey, were producing biographical essays
and literary criticism.
D.H. Lawrence wrote 2 of his best known novels,
Women in Love and Lady Chatterley’s Lover, in the
1920s, although Lady Chatterley’s Lover remained
unpublished in Britain until the 1960s because of
its explicit sexual content.
In America, F. Scott Fitzgerald seemed to epitomise
the Jazz Age with his novels The Great Gatsby and
This Side of Paradise. Ernest Hemingway was
writing novels which reflected his experiences in
the First World War.
In America also, pulp fiction made the figure of the
private eye popular, with stories about gangsters
and Prohibition, but it was not until the very end
of the decade that Dashiell Hammett published his
classic, The Maltese Falcon.
In the theatre, George Bernard Shaw continued to write plays; St Joan was first
performed in 1923, and The Applecart in 1929. Noel Coward was writing and
performing on the London stage in his first successes, The Vortex in 1924, and
Hay Fever in 1925.
Homes for Heroes
Between 1914 and 1918 house building had been at a near standstill, with few
men and resources available to make repairs or to supply new houses. By 1918
the country was hit by a housing crisis, with returning servicemen unable to
find accommodation for themselves or their families.
Before the First World War the supply of housing was seen as a matter for
private enterprise, but now there was a growing belief that the government
should become involved to provide “homes fit for heroes”.After 1919
governments began to offer subsidies to local authorities in order to
encourage them to provide cheaper rented accommodation.
Builders of these new council houses had to
conform to basic standards of size and
convenience before they could earn the
subsidy.As a result the new houses were of a
good quality and led to great improvements in
the health of their
inhabitants.
Cliff Crescent, Stamford.
However, the rents were still too expensive for the
poorest levels of society. It was not until 1930 that the
government started seriously to tackle the problems
caused by slums, and began to subsidise clearance
programmes.
A wish to move out of the dirt and disease of the cities
led to the development of large
suburban housing estates for the
middle classes. In contrast to cityand town-centre Victorian terraces, new houses were
often semi-detached with a good-sized garden at the
front and back.
Improved rail and road transport made it possible for
people to commute easily into work, and suburban
houses began to provide car parking spaces.These new
houses were often built to be sold, rather than rented,
and more families were able to take advantage of loans
offered by building societies to buy their own home.
Old Housing
For the many low wage earners or unemployed who could not buy the new
houses with all their modern conveniences, or even afford the new council
housing rents, the living situation was grim. Until they married, sons and
daughters lived in the family home,
which became more cramped as
younger siblings came along, and even
after marriage it was commonplace for
a couple to have to live with one set of
parents until a place to rent became
available, or until they could afford the
rent.
“We moved into the house I grew up in
towards the end of the war; it was
smaller than the old one, probably the
Olive Branch Yard and Balloon Yard, Stamford.
rent was less. It only had 2 bedrooms
Drawings by Montague Jones, 1929
and there were 5 of us children. We had
a curtain across the middle of the room.”
Christine Allison (née Burke), born Grimsby, 1917.
Billing’s Buildings, Stamford.
Montague Jones, 1929
In many towns in Lincolnshire, the cheapest
places to live were tiny courts or yards, groups
of cramped dwellings with no running water, gas
or electricity, and often just one shared toilet.
These homes were usually built by wealthy
businessmen as a way of making money, for they
were built to rent only, not for purchase, and
they needed – and got – very little maintenance.
“I can tell you that the slums that existed in Stamford were
every whit as bad as anything in London, although, of
course, on a very much smaller scale. The rents were under
five shillings (25p) a week.” Dr. Eric Till, born 1904.
These dwellings were classed as “slums” by the newer
building regulations.This term did not necessarily refer to
the conditions in which the tenants kept their houses, but
indicated that the dwellings were below standard in room
size and numbers, space allowance per person, and sanitary
provision.According to the new ideas on health, these
Court, Stamford.
houses were places where unhealthy conditions and disease Laxton’s
Montague Jones, 1929
were rife, and indeed, they were usually built in unsuitable
areas, where flooding was likely, for example.Water-borne diseases could
multiply rapidly, and infestations of fleas and bugs were endemic.
Consumerism
The 1920s saw the start of a ‘new consumerism’, with greater spending on
durable household goods. Many new products were labour saving devices
designed to speed up the housewife’s tasks, in
particular washing, cleaning and cooking.The number
of electricity consumers rose from ¾ million in 1920
to 3 million in 1930.‘Ideal Home’ exhibitions
sponsored by newspapers promoted the idea of a
house filled with convenient gadgets like electric
irons, kettles and cookers, an
ideal to aim at for every family.
Penny bazaars had been
operating since the late 19th
century, but shops such as
Woolworth’s became
increasingly popular during the 1920s.They sold a wide
range of cheap, good quality products, some of them
offered beneath their cost price in order to attract
custom. Department stores like these made it easier for families to furnish
their homes and to afford items they would once have seen as luxuries.
More people began to buy goods on the nevernever or hire-purchase schemes.This made it easier
for young families to pay for necessary but
expensive items such as furniture, and meant that
luxuries such as sewing machines, vacuum cleaners
or radio sets were no longer restricted to the
wealthy.
The decade saw the introduction of a wider variety of
convenience foods.American style cereals were advertised
as quick alternatives to traditional breakfast fare, and soon
challenged porridge and bacon and eggs in prosperous
homes, and bread and margarine in homes of the less well
off. Bottled and tinned goods became more plentiful and
varied, and ‘instant’ foods such as powdered custard,
caramel, blancmange and jelly quickly caught on.
High Street,, Stamford.
The spread of refrigeration meant that butchers no longer
hung their products outside the shop, but preserved them
inside, whilst fresh fish deliveries benefited from the
increased use of road transport.
The Changing Role Of Women
Women had found a new freedom during the
First World War. Many of them successfully
held down work that had traditionally been
done by men.They realised that home life
was not necessarily the core of their
existence, and many were determined to
continue their independent life.Women
began to be portrayed as sporty, rather than
pretty, and eventually they were seen, not
merely as decoration, but as potential
consumers.
Women workers at Blackstone’s, Stamford,
1918
The 1920s saw a more liberal attitude towards women.The first women full
degree students were admitted to Oxford in 1920, and Miss Ivy Williams
became the first to graduate. More women attended Art Schools.
Mass production of labour saving, electrical equipment for the home heralded
a revolution. In 1924 Clarence Birdseye invented a method of quick freezing
food, which meant less time to prepare meals for the family.
Better off women began to look for things to do outside
the home, not necessarily paid work.They organised charity
events and began to play sports. It became more acceptable
to move in society without a male escort.
A platform dress for the
woman speaker.
An unmarried woman normally got a job on leaving school,
but on her marriage it was still expected that she would
leave work to look after the home.A well-off, unmarried
woman could occupy herself socially until her marriage.A
large group of women never found a partner after the First
World War.
In 1921 Marie Stopes opened her first birth control clinic
in London. Women, at last, were able to take control of
family planning and were no longer restricted by continual
pregnancies. Clinics took much longer to open in the
provinces, nevertheless the process had begun.
Married women over 30 were given the vote at the end of
the war, but it was not until 1929 that all women over 21
were enfranchised, and put on an equal footing with men.
Society
After the First World War the old structure of society, with its rigid class
definitions, faded away.There was now the possibility of moving upwards in
society. Fewer people now lived in service, but even modest households paid a
girl or charwoman to do heavy housework like scrubbing and laundry.
“My oldest sister went into service when she was 14. That was a big help. She
was fed but still contributed 2/6 a week.”
Christine Allison (née Burke), born 1917 in Grimsby.
Living standards rose.There was a
drive to demolish sub-standard
dwellings because they did not comply
with the new standards of size, area
per person, and washing facilities. In
new housing, indoor flush toilets and
bathrooms now came as standard.The
huge increase in labour-saving
household appliances did away with
the need for servants, while creating
more work in the factories for their
manufacture.
Do-It-Yourself did not exist as a hobby
or a design concept. Workmen to do
plumbing, building or electrical jobs
abounded, and painters and
decorators did all the decorating.
Only those who could not afford to
pay a workman did it themselves.
The Chambers children of Stamford, 1927.
By 1930, only 23% of the workforce
Below, the family’s first car, and invoice for it.
were white-collar workers; manual
labourers still made up the rest. Shop
assistants might earn £150 a year, a
skilled labourer slightly more.
Anyone with an income of more than
£1,000 a year was very comfortably
off. Average prices fell throughout
the 1920s and 30s; the cost of living was lower at the start of the Second
World War than at the end of the First World War.
Primary education for all had been established in the late 19th century, and in
1918 the school leaving age was raised to 14, so that all children received
some secondary education. During the 1920s, almost 75% of 14 year olds were
at work or apprenticed, although they could extend their education by
attending night school. Only about 1% went on to university.
Health & Fitness
The huge casualties of the First World War were followed swiftly by the
world-wide epidemic of Spanish Influenza of 1918 -19, which left an estimated
30 million dead. In a world where so many people had died within 5 years,
health and fitness were not only of prime importance, but became fashionable
as well.
Tuberculosis was still one of the major killer
diseases, and it was only in 1921 that a vaccine
was developed for it. Everyone could be
vaccinated against smallpox, but outbreaks still
occurred throughout the country. Pneumonia,
typhoid fever and diphtheria were all bacterial
diseases which could kill.They had no effective
Stamford and Rutland Hospital,
Accident
and Emergency Department.
treatment until penicillin, the first antibiotic, was
1925
discovered by
Alexander Fleming in 1927, and it was not widely
available until after the Second World War.
Childbirth still routinely took place at home, and
so could small surgical procedures.
Stamford and Rutland Hospital, Operating Theatre. 1925 “My mother earned a bit extra as she went out to
attend births as people couldn’t afford a doctor or
a midwife. She acted as midwife and got what
people could afford for that.”
Christine Allison (née Burke), born 1917 in Grimsby.
In this pre-National Health era, hospitals were often used for isolation of
infectious diseases, which had to run their course, as they had no cure.
Hospital treatment had to be paid for. For those who could not afford it, it was
possible to be recommended for a bed by a doctor. Local infirmaries often had
fund-raising events to provide the money to keep them
going, and to fund charity beds.
“The worst thing for the family was when I had rheumatic
fever. We needed a doctor then and that cost money. I
don’t know how they managed; I was ill for a long time.”
Christine Allison.
Poliomyelitis, or infantile paralysis, measles and scarlet fever
were responsible for many childhood deaths, and
conditions like rheumatic fever and rickets could affect
people for life. Smoking, already well established for men,
became extremely fashionable for women. It was seen as
sophisticated rather than any risk to health, and was
actively promoted as a slimming aid.
For the first time, a tanned skin was considered healthy and
desirable.The suntan was popularised by the dress designer Coco Chanel, and
women no longer tried to keep their skins white.
He: “It’s a goodish walk
to the links, and I
believe you don’t care
much for walking.”
She:“I don’t, for
walking’s sake; but I
shall enjoy it now, as I
am going with an
object.”
Violet Martin.
Violet Martin was a young woman who epitomises the forward-looking and
independent spirit of women in the 1920s. Her fairly well-to-do life followed a
normal pattern of education, socialising and marriage, but she used her artistic
talents to the full, and after her wedding travelled halfway round the world to
start a new life.
She was the second daughter of W. E.
Martin, an engineer who set up Martin’s
Cultivator Company in Stamford in 1907.
He was Mayor of Stamford throughout the
First World War. During this time he held
“A Unique Garden Party” for all the
American troops stationed in the area at his
home, Rock House, on 29 May 1918.
American troops salute the Mayor of Stamford
on arrival at the garden party.
Violet attended Stamford High School. Her drawings and paintings submitted
to the Royal Drawing Society were highly commended, and she won the
Society’s bronze medal in 1924.After leaving school, she attended Harrogate
College. She had no need of paid employment, but was a Director of Martin’s,
and chauffeured her father on business. She also
did the household accounts.
She was renowned for her contralto voice, and
was much in demand to sing at church services
and for various charitable events. She was also
well known as a dancer, and attended all the local
dances.
She was a leading light of the Stamford Amateur
Operatic Society, taking
Merrie England, 1923. Seated L-R: Violet Martin, Dr Malcolm part in The Gondoliers in
Sargent, Michael Tippett. 1922, Merrie England in
1923, Ruddigore in 1924, Les Cloches de Conville in 1925,
and Iolanthe in 1926.
Her wedding to Captain Douglas L. Carnegie (later of
the South China Command) at All Saints Church in
Stamford on 6 October 1927, created great interest in
the town.They honeymooned in Torquay, and soon
after moved to Hong Kong, and later to India.
They had 2 children. Douglas Carnegie died in 1964.
Violet returned to England and lived in Whitstable,
Kent, until her death on 7 August 1991.
Fashion
The First World War brought a much simpler attitude to
dress; people thought it inappropriate to dress
extravagantly at this time.There were few stylistic changes
until 1919, when new trends began to emerge.
The flared skirt was replaced by the barrel line - still long
but now tubular in shape.To look boyish was suddenly
fashionable. All curves were flattened, and women even
wore bust flatteners to achieve this look.The waistline
slipped to around the hips to create the characteristic style
of the mid-1920s. Long hair was shingled, or cut short in the
popular bob, or Eton crop.The immensely popular cloche hat of this period
meant it became increasingly difficult to wear hair long.
It became evident that the plain chemise dresses of the
1920s needed to be decorated for more formal or evening
wear. Bead embroidery on fine net or silk was soon in great
demand.The sparkle of light playing on the thousands of
glass beads brought these dresses to life.
The real revolution in fashion came in 1925 with the
introduction of the short skirt, which reached its highest,
just covering the knee-cap, in 1927. High
heels became popular and were widely
worn, especially with the emphasis firmly on the legs. By 1929
skirts were suddenly long again and a natural waistline was
resumed.The cloche hat finally disappeared.
Underwear became much less bulky and complicated and
there was much less of it.The prettiness and glamour of
underwear, and the range of colours available, are notable
features of the 1920s. Cosmetics were
now generally accepted and greatly
used.
Changes in male fashion were much slower, but during
the 1920s there was more variety in colour schemes and
fabrics, and an increasing trend for more informal clothes.
Sports jackets and grey flannels were popular casual wear.
Other favourites were Oxford bags, plus fours, knitted
pullovers and the trench coat, based on the design of
coats worn by First World War Officers.
Films
Motion pictures - movies - were the new art form of the 20th century.The first
two decades had seen much experimentation in film style, content and effects,
and by 1920 film-making was a large industry and getting larger and more
powerful. Film-watching - going to the pictures - was well established.
The First World War was used often as a background to a film in the 1920s.
One such was The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, in 1921.This film used a
mixture of special effects, and featured Rudolph Valentino dancing the tango.
The Latin Lover became an established film character.
The changes in society, and the image of
the 1920s flapper, with the drinking,
smoking and fast behaviour that
characterised her, were portrayed in
various films, including Prodigal Daughters
with Gloria Swanson, and Our Dancing
Daughters with Joan Crawford.
Central Cinema, Broad Street, Stamford. Notice the command ‘Silence’! Great silent comedians like Charlie
Chaplin and Buster Keaton made their best films during this decade. Chaplin’s
first feature-length film, The Kid , was issued in 1922. Keaton’s films, like Our
Hospitality and The General, were finely crafted, and used special effects and
stunts.
Historical epics such as Ben-Hur and The Ten Commandments, and adventure
stories like The Mark of Zorro and The Thief of Baghdad, were popular. European
films produced in the 1920s, like Metropolis and Nosferatu, often used stronglylit stylistic images, which were influenced by Expressionist art.
In 1927 came a landmark: The Jazz Singer, starring Al Jolson, was released with
sound.This was the start of a revolution, and by 1928 talkies were king. Many
silent movie stars fell from grace because their voices were not suitable for
the early sound systems.
All American-made films had to cross the Atlantic by boat (and later by plane)
to be seen in Britain.
Stamford, for example, had to wait until
1923 to see Valentino in The Sheik, and
until 1929 for the first talkie to be shown
at the Central Cinema.
The Picturedrome, Broad Street, Stamford, 1930.
Law Rides is showing.
Art Deco
1918 saw the beginning of the Art Deco movement, which focused mainly on
the applied and decorative arts - furniture, ceramics, metalwork, textiles, and
fashion.The Art Deco style also influenced poster
design and book and fashion illustration.
Developments in design flourished during the
1920s, and by 1923 Sonia Delauney’s fashion and
textile designs were being commercially produced.
In 1925 the exhibition of Decorative and Industrial
Arts in Paris attempted to highlight the fusion of
art and commercial enterprise in decorative design.
Cubism was one of the chief sources of inspiration
for Art Deco pattern designers, and there was a
tendency to mix Cubist influence with ideas from
other modernist styles. Leading Art Deco designers
showed a consistent interest in using images from
machine forms.
Costume designers such as Léon Bakst in the
theatre, and Erté in the cinema, extended the influence of the decorative arts
into all forms of display and entertainment. In the field of ceramics, the work of
Clarice Cliff became highly popular, and René Lalique was the most important
designer in glassware and jewellery.
The Egyptian style is another influence during the 1920s,
which showed itself most strongly in architecture,
furniture and jewellery design.The opening of the tomb
of Tutankamun in Egypt in 1922 by Howard Carter and
Lord Caernarvon prompted a huge interest in Egyptian
designs and Egyptology.
The Bauhaus was a school of design, architecture and
applied arts, founded by the architect Walter Gropius in
Weimer, Germany in 1919. Machine production was the
pre-condition of all design, and Gropius directed the
school’s design efforts towards mass production. Staff included practising
artists such as Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, and Marcel Breuer.The Bauhaus
had a far reaching influence, and its teaching methods were transmitted
throughout the world. It did not conform to Fascist beliefs however, and was
closed by the Nazis in 1933.
Travel & Transport
In the First World War many servicemen left their birthplace for the first time,
and travelled overseas to fight in the Flanders trenches. People became mobile
in the 1920s on a scale not dreamt of 20 or 30 years before.
The new developments in car manufacture
made them better, faster and more
comfortable than ever before. Speed
records began to be made, and broken.
Mass production of cars, vans, lorries and
motorcycles brought the prices down, and
made them available to many more people
and businesses.
The New Pick Motor Company made motor cars
in Stamford 1901—1925.
In 1921, the consumer tax
on petrol was removed completely, which made road travel
cheaper. In 1926, 1¾ million motor vehicles were on the road
in Britain, with a mid-range 4-seater car cost from £182
upwards.That year, there were 4,886 road fatalities.
For the smart international set, travel could be as luxurious
as possible.They travelled in trains which visited the
fashionable capitals of Europe, like the Blue Train, or the
Orient Express.
To cover larger distances, the only comfortable way to
travel was by ocean liner, where the sophisticated lifestyle
of the rich was catered for.
Flying was the method of transport which developed
most in the 1920s, after road travel.Aeroplanes were still
fairly basic, but after Charles Lindbergh’s first solo
crossing of the Atlantic in 1927, began to stretch their
range and shrink the world. For a time airships seemed to
offer a more luxurious way to travel, until disasters
showed them to be unstable and dangerous.
These were journeys that most people only dreamt about, but there were still
plenty of opportunities for travel in Britain.Those who could afford to buy
their own car could go touring. Guidebooks were produced to show the new
motorist the best routes and places to stay. For those with no car, holiday
journeys to the coast by train were very popular, and there were trips by
charabanc or motorbus. Cycling tours were another inexpensive, and healthy,
holiday option.
Things To Come
Britain had begun the 1920s with its people war-weary and dragged down
by unemployment and debt. Its manufacturing base had been severely cut
and its social system shattered.The country had almost to reinvent itself.
The determination of everyone to build a new and better world meant that
they quickly developed a wholehearted acceptance of new things: fashions,
technologies and travel.They invested in new industries and explored new
jobs and new lifestyles.
There was a refusal to be put down.The General Strike indicated that
people no longer wanted to be dictated to by Government or big
businesses, and the songs of the period are relentlessly cheerful.
There was still much unemployment, poverty and misery, but for those who
could be more mobile and flexible, life was improving rapidly.
People reached out for what they could grab. Inflation during the decade
promoted interest in share dealing and get-rich-quick schemes.All this came
to a sudden and dramatic stop with the Wall Street Crash of 1929.
By 1930 the world was in the depths of the Great Depression, from which
it did not emerge until the late 1930s. Unemployment in Britain soared to
over
3 million. People did look round for someone or something to blame: the
Government, the Communists, the Fascists, the Jews....
There were many groups who felt that theirs was the only way forward. It is
perhaps remarkable that the only Fascists ever to achieve public office in
England, were elected to Stamford Borough Council in 1924.
To come was an inexorable slide towards another World War. Soon, the
1920s would be remembered as a decade in which people had partied while
others suffered, and stubbornly ignored the warning signs of the impending
conflict.
The resourcefulness, invention and gaiety of the 1920s, cannot be
overlooked. It provided a sandwich of colour and creativity between 2
separate periods of austerity and war.
It was an exciting time.
1920s Timeline
Lincolnshire Events
National Events
International Events
Cultural Events
1920
May: Louth flood disaster; more than 20
lives lost. Caistor, Crowland, Eagle,
Haxley and Stamford war memorials
unveiled.
Cenotaph unveiled; the Unknown
Warrior buried in Westminster
Abbey.
1st full degree female students
admitted to Oxford.
Home Rule Bill passed in Ireland:
the Black and Tans.
League of Nations established.
Panama Canal opened.
Women in USA given right to vote.
Thompson submachine gun (‘Tommy
Gun’) developed.
Joan of Arc canonised.
Antwerp Olympics.
Rupert, the adventures of a Little Lost
Teddy Bear, started in the Daily
Express.
Agatha Christie’s 1st novel, The
Mysterious Affair at Styles.
Women in Love: DH Lawrence.
1921
1st British-born woman MP. Mrs
Margaret Wintringham took her seat as
Liberal MP for Louth.
Tuberculosis vaccine developed.
R38 airship crashed at Hull.
1st British female barrister.
Timeline
Austin 7s 1st produced.
Maries Stopes’ 1st Family Planning
Clinic in London.
Princess Mary married to Viscount
Lascelles.
1922
Lincoln war memorial unveiled.
Double execution of 2 murderers at
Lincoln prison.
Assassination of Michael Collins in
Ireland.
British Broadcasting Company
formed.
Wireless receiving licences cost 10s
Insulin discovered: treatment for
diabetes transformed.
Mussolini became dictator in Italy.
Tukankamun’s tomb opened in Egypt.
Facade: Edith Sitwell.
Ulysses: James Joyce.
The Kid: Chaplin’s 1st feature-length
film.
The Wasteland: TS Eliot.
1923
Welton war memorial unveiled.
Stanley Baldwin became PM.
Duke of York married to Lady
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon.
Hitler writing Mein Kampf.
Sara Bernhardt died.
Women’s Hour 1st broadcast.
1st crossword puzzles.
Isadora Duncan danced in USA.
1st Wembley Cup Final: Bolton
Wanderers v. West Ham United.
Lenin died.
1st Atlantic airship crossing: ZR3.
Model T Ford 1st produced.
Paris Olympics: Johnny Weissmuller won
3 gold swimming medals, Harold
Abrahams won 100m gold.
A Passage to India: EM Forster
The Vortex: Noel Coward
When We Were Very Young: AA
Milne
The Inimitable Jeeves: PG
Wodehouse
Rhapsody in Blue: George Gershwin
British Empire exhibition opened at
Wembley by George V.
1st Labour Government elected.
Queen Alexandra died.
Hindenberg became president of
Germany.
The Great Gatsby: F Scott Fitzgerald
The Gold Rush: Charlie Chaplin
Breuer chair designed.
Mrs Dalloway: Virginia Woolf
Hay Fever: Noel Coward.
General Strike 1—12 May.
Princess Elizabeth born.
Germany admitted to League of Nations.
Rudolph Valentino and Harry Houdini
died.
Metropolis: Fritz Lang
Winnie the Pooh: AA Milne
‘Permanent Wave’ invented.
Television 1st demonstrated by John
Logie Baird.
1924
Arnold Spencer Leese (left)
and Henry L Simpson,
Members of the British
Fascists, elected Stamford
Borough Councillors
1925
Lincoln’s Arboretum lion painted red
and green by vandals.
1926
new ward at
Princess Mary opened
new wards at
Stamford + Rutland
Infirmary.
Suntan popularised by Coco
Chanel.
Introduction of Chanel No. 5
perfume.
Whale washed up at Mablethorpe.
1927
Usher Gallery in Lincoln opened by the
Prince of Wales.
Mr A Roberts, Independent, elected to
Grantham Borough Council.
King’s Theatre, Gainsborough, destroyed
by fire.
BBC became a public corporation.
FA Cup Final and Proms 1st
broadcast on radio.
New silver coinage.
1st automatic telephone exchange at
Holborn.
Charles Lindbergh made 1st non-stop
solo transatlantic flight in Spirit of St Louis.
Ryder Cup held for 1st time.
Geiger counter invented.
Trotsky exiled.
Menin Gate memorial opened.
To the Lighthouse: Virginia Woolf
Walt Disney created Mickey
Mouse.
The Jazz Singer: 1st talkie
1928
Lord Burghley won 400m hurdles gold
medal at Amsterdam Olympics.
All British women over 21 given
right to vote.
Alexander Fleming discovered
penicillin.
Ellen Terry, Thomas Hardy and
Mrs Pankhurst died.
Amelia Earhardt became the 1st woman
to fly the Atlantic.
Amsterdam Olympics: women allowed
to compete for 1st time.
Bolero: Ravel
October: Eisenstein
The Threepenny Opera: Bertold
Brecht + Kurt Weil
Lady Chatterley’s Lover: DH
Lawrence
Decline and Fall: Evelyn Waugh
1929
Billy Butlin opened amusement park in
Skegness.
Lincolnshire’s 1st automatic telephone
exchange in Reepham.
Lincoln’s last tram.
Foundation stone of cadet college laid at
RAF Cranwell.
1st woman Cabinet Minister.
New York stock exchange crash: start of
the Great Depression.
Airship Graf Zepplin circumnavigated the
earth.
Clarence Birdseye started to sell quick
frozen foods.
All Quiet on the Western Front: Erich
Remarque
A Farewell to Arms: Ernest
Hemingway
Journey’s End: RC Sherriff
Bittersweet: Noel Coward
1930
Lincoln Castle opened to the public on a
Sunday for the 1st time.
R101 airship crashed.
Princess Margaret born.
The planet Pluto discovered.
World population exceeded 2 billion.
Hitler elected to the Reichstag.
Mahatma Gandhi visited London.
The Maltese Falcon: Dasheill
Hammett
Private Lives: Noel Coward
Memoirs of an Infantry Officer:
Siegfried Sassoon