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East Egg v West Egg - Setting - Higher English Revision - BBC Bitesize

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Learn about the setting in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby with BBC Bitesize Higher English.

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F. Scott Fitzgerald - Author | Mini Bio | BIO

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Bet You Didn't Know: Prohibition | History

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8 Ways The Great Gatsby Captured the 1920s

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8 Ways The Great Gatsby Captured the 1920s

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8 Ways ‘The Great Gatsby’ Captured the Roaring Twenties—and Its Dark Side | HISTORY

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F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel reflects the heyday of the Roaring 20s—and foreshadows the dark period that would fo…

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In the 1920s, flappers-young women with new ideas about how to live-broke away from the Victorian image of womanhood. They stopped wearing corsets and dropped layers of clothing to increase ease of movement, wore make-up and cut their hair short, and experimented with extramarital sexuality, creating the concept of dating. In breaking away from conservative Victorian values, flappers created what many considered the "new" or "modern" woman.

The "Younger Generation"

Before the start of World War I, the Gibson Girl was considered the ideal woman. Inspired by Charles Dana Gibson's drawings, the Gibson Girl arranged her long hair loosely on top of her head and wore a long straight skirt and a shirt with a high collar. In this image, she both retained femininity and broke through several gender barriers, for her attire allowed her to participate in sports, including golf, roller skating, and bicycling.

Then World War I started, and the young men of the world became cannon fodder for an older generation's ideals and mistakes. The attrition rate in the trenches left few with the hope that they would survive long enough to return home.

The young soldiers found themselves inflicted with an "eat-drink-and-be-merry-for-tomorrow-we-die spirit." Far away from the society that raised them and faced with the reality of death, many searched (and found) extreme life experiences before they entered the battlefield.

When the war was over, the survivors went home and the world tried to return to normalcy. Unfortunately, settling down in peacetime proved more difficult than expected.

Post-World War I Changes

During the war, the young men had fought against both the enemy and death in faraway lands, while the young women had bought into the patriotic fervor and aggressively entered the workforce. During the war, both the young men and women of this generation had broken out of society's structure. They found it very difficult to return. As Frederick Lewis Allen reported in his 1931 book Only Yesterday,

"They found themselves expected to settle down into the humdrum routine of American life as if nothing had happened, to accept the moral dicta of elders who seemed to them still to be living in a Pollyanna land of rosy ideals which the war had killed for them. They couldn't do it, and they very disrespectfully said so."

Women were just as anxious as the men to avoid returning to society's rules and roles after the war. In the age of the Gibson Girl, young women did not date; they waited until a proper young man formally paid her interest with suitable intentions (i.e. marriage). However, nearly a whole generation of young men had died in the war, leaving nearly a whole generation of young women without possible suitors. Young women decided that they were not willing to waste away their young lives waiting idly for spinsterhood; they were going to enjoy life.

The "Younger Generation" was breaking away from the old set of values.

The "Flapper"

The term "flapper" first appeared in Great Britain after World War I, as a term which meant a young girl, still somewhat awkward in movement and who had not yet entered womanhood. In the June 1922 edition of the Atlantic Monthly, U.S. psychologist and educator G. Stanley Hall described looking in a dictionary to discover what the evasive term "flapper" meant:

"[T]he dictionary set me right by defining the word as a fledgling, yet in the nest, and vainly attempting to fly while its wings have only pinfeathers; and I recognized that the genius of 'slanguage' had made the squab the symbol of budding girlhood."

Authors such F. Scott Fitzgerald and artists such as John Held Jr. first brought the term to the U.S. reading public, half reflecting and half creating the image and style of the flapper. Fitzgerald described the ideal flapper as "lovely, expensive, and about nineteen." Held accentuated the flapper image by drawing young girls wearing unbuckled galoshes that would make a "flapping" noise when walking.

Many have tried to define flappers. In William and Mary Morris' Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins, they state, "In America, a flapper has always been a giddy, attractive, and slightly unconventional young thing who, in [H. L.] Mencken's words, 'was a somewhat foolish girl, full of wild surmises and inclined to revolt against the precepts and admonitions of her elders.'"

Flappers had both an image and an attitude.

Flapper Clothing

The Flappers' image consisted of drastic-to some, shocking-changes in women's clothing and hair. Nearly every article of clothing was trimmed down and lightened in order to make movement easier.

It is said that girls "parked" their corsets when they were to go dancing. The new, energetic dances of the Jazz Age, required women to be able to move freely, something the "ironsides" of whalebone didn't allow. Replacing the pantaloons and corsets were underwear called "step-ins."

The outer clothing of flappers is even today extremely identifiable. This look, called "garconne" ("little boy"), was popularized by Coco Chanel. To look more like a boy, women tightly wound their chest with strips of cloth in order to flatten it. The waists of flapper clothes were dropped to the hipline. Flappers wore stockings-made of rayon ("artificial silk") starting in 1923-which the flapper often wore rolled over a garter belt.

The hem of the skirts also started to rise in the 1920s. At first, the hem only rose a few inches, but between 1925 and 1927 a flapper's skirt fell just below the knee, as described by Bruce Bliven in his 1925 article "Flapper Jane" in The New Republic:

"The skirt comes just an inch below her knees, overlapping by a faint fraction her rolled and twisted stockings. The idea is that when she walks in a bit of a breeze, you shall now and then observe the knee (which is not rouged-that's just newspaper talk) but always in an accidental, Venus-surprised-at-the-bath sort of way."

Flapper Hair and Make-Up

The Gibson Girl, who prided herself on her long, beautiful, lush hair, was shocked when the flapper cut hers off. The short haircut was called the "bob" which was later replaced by an even shorter haircut, the "shingle" or "Eton" cut.

The shingle cut was slicked down and had a curl on each side of the face that covered the woman's ears. Flappers often finished the ensemble with a felt, bell-shaped hat called a cloche.

Flappers also started wearing make-up, something that had previously been only worn by loose women. Rouge, powder, eye-liner, and lipstick became extremely popular. Sneered a shocked Bliven,

"Beauty is the fashion in 1925. She is frankly, heavily made up, not to imitate nature, but for an altogether artificial effect-pallor mortis, poisonously scarlet lips, richly ringed eyes-the latter looking not so much debauched (which is the intention) as diabetic."

The flapper attitude was characterized by stark truthfulness, fast living, and sexual behavior. Flappers seemed to cling to youth as if it were to leave them at any moment. They took risks and were reckless.

They wanted to be different, to announce their departure from the Gibson Girl's morals. So they smoked. Something only men had done previously. Their parents were shocked: American newspaper publisher and social critic W. O. Saunders described his reaction in "Me and My Flapper Daughters" in 1927.

"I was sure my girls had never experimented with a hip-pocket flask, flirted with other women's husbands, or smoked cigarettes. My wife entertained the same smug delusion, and was saying something like that out loud at the dinner table one day. And then she began to talk about other girls.

"'They tell me that that Purvis girl has cigarette parties at her home,' remarked my wife. She was saying it for the benefit of Elizabeth, who runs somewhat with the Purvis girl. Elizabeth was regarding her mother with curious eyes. She made no reply to her mother, but turning to me, right there at the table, she said: 'Dad, let's see your cigarettes.'

"Without the slightest suspicion of what was forthcoming, I threw Elizabeth my cigarettes. She withdrew a fag from the package, tapped it on the back of her left hand, inserted it between her lips, reached over and took my lighted cigarette from my mouth, lit her own cigarette and blew airy rings toward the ceiling.

"My wife nearly fell out of her chair, and I might have fallen out of mine if I hadn't been momentarily stunned."

Smoking wasn't the most outrageous of the flapper's rebellious actions. Flappers drank alcohol. At a time when the United States had outlawed alcohol ( Prohibition), young women were starting the habit early. Some even carried hip-flasks so as to have it on hand.

More than a few adults didn't like to see tipsy young women. Flappers had a scandalous image, defined in Jackie Hatton's "Flapper" entry in the 2000 St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture as the "giddy flapper, rouged and clipped, careening in a drunken stupor to the lewd strains of a jazz quartet."

The 1920s was the Jazz Age and one of the most popular past-times for flappers was dancing. Dances such as the Charleston, Black Bottom, and the Shimmy were considered "wild" by older generations.

As described in the May 1920 edition of the Atlantic Monthly, flappers "trot like foxes, limp like lame ducks, one-step like cripples, and all to the barbaric yawp of strange instruments which transform the whole scene into a moving-picture of a fancy ball in bedlam."

For the Younger Generation, the dances fit their fast-paced lifestyle.

Driving and Petting

For the first time since the train and the bicycle, a new form of faster transportation was becoming popular. Henry Ford's innovations were making the automobile an accessible commodity to the people.

Cars were fast and risky-perfect for the flapper attitude. Flappers not only insisted on riding in them: they drove them. Unfortunately for their parents, flappers didn't just use cars to ride in. The back seat became a popular location for the new popular sexual activity, petting. Others hosted petting parties.

Though their attire was modeled after little boys' outfits, flappers flaunted their sexuality. It was a radical change from their parents' and grandparents' generations.

The End of Flapperhood

While many were shocked by the flapper's skimpy attire and licentious behavior, a less extreme version of the flapper became respectable among the old and the young. Some women cut off their hair and stopped wearing their corsets, but didn't go to the extreme of flapperhood. In "A Flapper's Appeal to Parents," self-described semi-flapper Ellen Welles Page said:

"I wear bobbed hair, the badge of flapperhood. (And, oh, what a comfort it is!) I powder my nose. I wear fringed skirts and bright-colored sweaters, and scarfs, and waists with Peter Pan collars, and low-heeled "finale hopper" shoes."

At the end of the 1920s, the stock market crashed and the world was plunged into the Great Depression. Frivolity and recklessness were forced to come to an end. However, much of the flapper's changes remained.

Allen, Frederick Lewis. "Only Yesterday: An Informal History of the Nineteen-Twenties." New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1931.

Andrist, Ralph K., ed. "The American Heritage: History of the 30's & 20's." New York: American Heritage Publishing Co., Inc., 1970

Baughman, Judith S., ed. "American Decades: 1920-1929." New York: Manly, Inc., 1996.

Bliven, Bruce. "Flapper Jane." The New Republic 44 (Sept. 9, 1925): 65-67.

Douglas, George H. "." Saybrook Publishers, 1986.

Fass, Paula S. "The Damned and the Beautiful: American Youth in the 1920's." New York: Oxford University Press, 1977.

Hall, G. Stanley. "Flapper Americana Novissima." Atlantic Monthly 129 (June 1922): 771-780.

Hatton, Jackie. "Flappers." St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture. 2000.

Page, Ellen Welles. "A Flapper's Appeal to Parents." Outlook 132 (Dec. 6, 1922): 607.

Saunders, W. O. "Me and My Flapper Daughters." The American Magazine 104 (Aug. 1927): 27, 121.

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Flappers in the Roaring Twenties: Not Their Mother's Gibson Girl

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In the 1920s, a new woman was born. Flappers abandoned their corsets, chopped off their hair, and wore make-up. They smoked, drank, danced, and voted.

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The jazz age in New York is one of the most infamous times throughout the history of New York. From the booming music scene, to the changing social and sexual norms, New York became the hub for enjoying the newly emerging American culture. New York City is one of the entertainment capitals of the world, and much of that entertainment is from music. Music is not new to the city, and came to a peak during the jazz age. The jazz age was at its peak in the 1920s, when jazz was becoming more and more popular. Many of the most famous jazz musicians were African Americans such as Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington. The jazz age was not only a pivotal time for music, but also for fashion, mass culture, prohibition, the automobile, and the lives of women. This time is also called "The Roaring Twenties," since it was a time known for its opulence and over the top parties. New Yorkers travelled to Carnegie Hall to get their fix of jazz music at one of the many concerts put on there. People looking to party and drink illegal alcohol would visit speakeasies such as The Back Room, where the entrance to the bar was hidden behind a bookcase. The Cotton Club was another major jazz club, known for its "#1 Beer" and a memorable house band led by Duke Ellington. New York is full of landmarks that will transport visitors back to the Jazz Age with just one step inside.

The Jazz Age was an age marked by the uprising of jazz music, and the drastic change in American culture. Women called "flappers" were wearing shorter dresses and cutting their hair into bobs, dancing to the popular music in speakeasies and dance clubs. With prohibition in effect during this time period, alcohol had to be illegally made and served at places called speakeasies. One of the most popular speakeasies could be found at 102 Norfolk Ave, and was called The Back Room. While many speakeasies had fake fronts, this speakeasy had an actual business operating in conjunction with the speakeasy, Ratner's Restaurant. This particular speakeasy was known for serving illegal alcohol and the criminals of the city as well. Many gangsters such as Meyer Lansky, Lucky Luciano and Bugsy Siegel used this space for "business meetings."[1] The gangsters preferred this speakeasy due to its multiple exits onto different streets. If there was a hit going on, or a raid, it was very easy for the gangsters to make a quick getaway through one of the many entrances.[2] Today, the Back Room is accessed the same way it was during the 1920s. A secret staircase behind a bookshelf brings customers down to the speakeasy and transports them to the 1920s. With vintage décor and cocktails served in teacups, just like they were during prohibition to secretly drink, one trip to this hidden bar will make you feel like you are partying at the peak of the jazz age.

Aside from parties and illegal alcohol, the jazz age was known quite obviously for its music. Jazz was making its way into the limelight and became the music of the 1920s and 30s. Jazz music was not new in America, but was becoming more and more popular at this time than it had ever been before. In the article "If Jazz Isn't Music, Why Isn't It," from the June 13 th, 1926 edition of the New York Times, Paul Whiteman claims that "jazz came to America 300 years ago in chains."[3] There is an undeniable truth that jazz is a major part of the African American culture and many of its roots lie within the slaves that came to America hundreds of years ago. As the years went on, jazz began to spread to mainstream American culture and gave African Americans the opportunity to be in the spotlight. Jazz music was mainly performed by African Americans during this age at the listening pleasure of wealthier white citizens. One place where this jazz music was heard was at the Cotton Club, one of the most famous jazz clubs in NYC during this era. It was located in Harlem and owned by the infamous gangster Owney Madden. This club was the go-to spot for illegal alcohol and entertainment from jazz musicians and dancers.[4] The acts that performed at the Cotton Club became world famous musicians, such as Duke Ellington. Duke Ellington led the Orchestra at the Cotton Club from 1927-1930, and sporadically after that for 8 years. Ellington and his orchestra gained national attention and praise through weekly radio broadcasts that were sometimes recorded and released on albums.[5]

Although the jazz music was played mostly by African Americans, the clubs they were performing in were not so racially friendly to customers and other workers. The club was created with the idea to make "a stylish plantation environment for its entirely white clientele."[6] The Cotton Club originally excluded all but white customers, although the majority of the performers and staff were African American. The dancers were held to a very strict standard and were required to be under 21 years old, light skinned, and at least 5'6" tall. The music here was instructed to be played to give a jungle like atmosphere to portray the African American employees as plantation residents or exotic savages. Although the majority of the population in the Cotton Club was African American and the music would not be possible without them, the club was extremely segregated and oppressive. Jazz music was bringing together the races, only to segregate them when they got together. Carnegie Hall was another music hall that was popular for jazz music during this period. It was home to hundreds of jazz concerts by famous artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington. Early jazz was first heard here in 1912, becoming one of the first places in the city to go and listen to the newly emerging genre.[7] Carnegie Hall is still in use today and has withstood the test of time as a prestigious music venue.

The jazz age was also a time for new fashion, especially for women. The flapper style became very popular starting in the 1920s. Women began cutting their hair short into bobs, wearing shorter skirts that showed their legs, wearing more makeup, and high-heeled shoes. Being a flapper was not all about the clothes, but also their state of mind. In the April 16 th, 1922 issue of the New York Times, a flapper "dresses simply and sensibly, and looks life right straight in the eye; she knows just what she wants and goes after it, whether it is a man, a career, a job, or a new hat."[8] This new type of woman pushed the boundaries and challenged the sexual standards of the times. Women were no longer submissive to the men in their lives and were not afraid to have fun. Flappers would go to dance clubs and dance until the wee hours of the morning. They would spend their time with men drinking and socializing in speakeasies while listening to jazz. The changing times came with changing standards for women and gave them more freedom. If it wasn't for the brave flappers who changed the rules, women would not be where they are today.

Overall, the Jazz Age in New York City was a time of change and advancement. The music scene was changing with the emergence of jazz into popular culture. This music was played by African American musicians in places such as the Cotton Club and Carnegie Hall. While the African American musicians were in the spotlight, their business was not welcomed as patrons. These jazz clubs were segregated and only white clientele were welcome to see the show. Besides the jazz clubs, New Yorkers also passed their time by going to speakeasies to drink illegal alcohol. Prohibition was in place during this time period, so the only way to get alcohol was to go to a secret club. These secret clubs were also hot beds of mob activity. The mob was very active during the jazz era and gangsters used prohibition to their advantage. For example, famous gangster Owney Madden was the owner of the Cotton Club and used the club to sell his "#1 Beer." The Back Room was also used by many gangsters such as Meyer Lansky, Lucky Luciano and Bugsy Siegel used this space for "business meetings."[9] The gangsters preferred this speakeasy due to its multiple exits onto different streets. If there was a hit going on, or a raid, it was very easy for the gangsters to make a quick getaway through one of the many entrances. From flappers, to gangsters, to jazz musicians, the jazz age in New York City has a colorful history. A tour around New York City with visits to the Backroom, The Cotton Club, and Carnegie Hall, will instantly transport you back to the opulent 1920s and early 1930s.

Carnegie Hall

Duke Ellington

Caelynn Robinson Professor Fieldston History of NYC October 5th, 2016 Virtual Guidebook Assignment: Jazz Age New York My topic for the virtual guidebook assignment is the jazz age in New York City. New York City is one of the entertainment capitals of the world, and much of that entertainment is from music. Music is not new to the city, and ...

The jazz age in New York is one of the most infamous times throughout the history of New York. From the booming music scene, to the changing social and sexual norms, New York became the hub for enjoying the newly emerging American culture. New York City is one of the entertainment capitals of the world, ...

The Back Room NYC

[1] "The Backroom Bar in New York City | National Trust for Historic Preservation." The Backroom Bar in New York City | National Trust for Historic Preservation. 2014. Accessed October 05, 2016. https://savingplaces.org/stories/historic-bars-backroom-bar-new-york-city#.V_XJFOLMicE.

[2] Savingplaces.org

[3] "If Jazz Isn't Music, Why Isn't it?" 1926. New York Times (1923-Current File), Jun 13, 1. http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.shu.edu/docview/103913320?accountid=13793.

[4] Elmayan, Lara. "Vintage Photos: Inside the Cotton Club, One of NYC's Leading Jazz Venues of the 1920s and '30s." Untapped Cities RSS. N.p., 05 Aug. 2013. Web. 05 Oct. 2016.

[5] "The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed," accessed December 14, 2016, http://www.blackpast.org/aah/cotton-club-harlem-1923.

[7] "Press Center," carnegiehall.org, 2016, accessed December 10, 2016, https://www.carnegiehall.org/Press/People-and-History/.

[8] By, MARGARET O. "More Ado about the Flapper." New York Times (1857-1922), Apr 16, 1922. http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.shu.edu/docview/98854065?accountid=13793.

[9] "The Backroom Bar in New York City | National Trust for Historic Preservation." The Backroom Bar in New York City | National Trust for Historic Preservation. 2014. Accessed October 05, 2016. https://savingplaces.org/stories/historic-bars-backroom-bar-new-york-city#.V_XJFOLMicE.

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The jazz age in New York is one of the most infamous times throughout the history of New York. From the booming music scene, to the changing social and sexual norms, New York became the hub for enjoying the newly emerging American culture.

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The Roaring 20's: Crash Course US History #32

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CommonLit | The Roaring Twenties: Guided Questions, Activities, and More

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This 10th-grade level article by Mike Kubic explores the ups and downs of the roaring twenties. Explore discussion activities, questions, and assessment guides.