Time: The Weekly Newsmagazine

TIME Farmers to Flappers: How American Life is Changing

Also in this issue: The Dawes Plan Harlem Renaissance 10 Questions with “Duke” Ellington

November 19, 1923

10¢

Table of Contents Letter from the Editor……………………………………….Page 3 Letters to the Editor…………………….............................Page 5 Briefing……………………………………………………….Page 9 World News………………………………………………….Page 11 Society……………………………………………………….Page 13 Economy…………………………………………………….Page 14 Feature……………………………………………………....Page 16 Entertainment……………………………………………….Page 19 Sports………………………………………………………..Page 20 An Interview with The “Duke”..........................................Page 22 Bibliographies……………………………………………….Page 23

Louis Armstrong, the jazz player, page 17

The Model T Ford, seen on page 12

Farmers are starting to move to a more urban lifestyle, page 14

Letter from the Editor Dear Readers, The 1920’s is definitely the bees’ knees for us Americans. Urban life has been the calling, our economy has become focused on chain stores, and there have been many rising stars in sports and entertainment. Whether you think it’s just ducky or if you want to Bronx Cheer about it, think for a second before you go all applesauce.

It may be chaotic, but I’m on the level when I say that’s all a part of life. We go with the flow, but we don’t need to be pushovers. So grab your hooches (I won’t have any idea why you would) or get a wiggle on, and enjoy this magazine as we take a look at perhaps the Big Cheese of our day and age.

-Editor (Luke Reynolds)

3

Letters to the Editor Dear Editor,

To the EditorThe subject of teaching Mr. Darwin’s theory of evolution in schools has become a nationwide issue as teacher John Scopes was put on trial for teaching the theory to a high school class instead of God’s creation. Whilst people are perfectly entitled to their opinions about God and Fundamentalist Christianity, I believe that there should be some separation of Church and schools, especially since there have been many European immigrants filtering in over the years, many of whom practice different religions. George Washington believed in the separation of Church and government and schools should be the same. After all, shouldn’t we make sure our children’s generation is well educated?

Why should a hardworking man be put on trial for teaching our students what some believe to be the truth? All plausible possibilities should be taught in school. The court case against Mr. Scopes was completely and utterly rigged. The presiding judge indulged the prosecution whilst not allowing/permitting the defense team for John Scopes to call any scientific experts to assert the theory of evolution.

It is my belief that all scientific theories should be introduced to students so they can start thinking for themselves and even formulate their own theories someday to improve this world in which we live.

Urban life was very different from rural. Urban was better in 1920’s in my opinion. In Rural life or farm life, there was no electricity, not a whole lot of socializing. Any socializing was with family. Urban life, people had electricity, telephones, automobiles, appliances, name It they had it. People who lived in cities also lived closer to their jobs, stores, hospitals, city people lived closer to everything. I think urban life is better because it is cleaner, modern sewage systems. Urban was better that Rural also because people who live on farms usually live with family, so that’s just about all they talk to. In the city people live near friends so they have a bunch of people to talk to, coworkers, friends, family-friends. Urban life was healthier than rural life. Meaning urban life is better than rural life.

Urban Liver (Jessica Lowman)

Harold McMurphy (Molly Erickson)

5

Letters to the Editor Dear Editor, Dear Editor, Kids these days, am I right?

These girls called flappers disgust me.

What happened to the elegance of the true women? This outrageous form of "fashion" is the worst thing to happen to America since World War I. They have more revealing clothing and shorter hair! I say out with the new and in with the old. I shall not stand for such a profound fashion for my children. Who in their right minds would have the audacity to raise their daughter with such vulgar and repulsive clothing? As a man of old I say it is a fine time for a return to tradition. Out with the new, in with the old!

Sir Edward Joseph Huntington III (Thomas Wagner)

Why do all these wet blankets got to cramp our style? We love to have fun and we don't take any wooden nickels. If these girls wanna be flappers and vamps that's their business and if you wanna be a plain Jane that's your business. I'm tired of these old timers calling us all types of rag-a-muffins and saps just because they didn't have the big bold bright city lights and nice fancy orchids that we have today. Dry up and go live on the Bible Belt why don’tcha? They ruined this time for us with the Great War, destroying our spirits and expecting us to take it with enthusiasm. But no! We started something bigger and better.

We are a world of innovators and idealists now and I think that’s the bee’ s knees. I ain't gonna change for no one. I will keep getting dolled up, drinking my giggle water, and spending the night around town.

-Fabulous Flapper (Andrea AlNurridin-McKinley)

6

Letters to the Editor Dear Editor, Alcohol has completely changed our society. Prohibition was supposed to help the poor, and help our workers increase productivity. It wasn’t supposed to lead to people making liquor themselves and speakeasies being set up to support the bootlegs! Organized crime has also grown to the point where fights have broken out over all of the hairs of a dog. We need to find a way to stop this needless violence and convince people to stop acting like pushovers! Life is so much better when you’re not intoxicated; you can support your family and still have a fantastic time.

No one wants to be all balled up when they find themselves in a breezer with a person that was bumped off a few moments before. We really shouldn’t be taking any wooden nickels and just be happy without liquor.

Sincerely, Daisy Gatsby (Luke Reynolds)

Dear Editor, Many modernists attacked prohibition as an attempt by the federal government to legislate morality.

Journalist H.L. Mencken, a champion of modernism, called Drys ignorant bumpkins of the cow states who resented the fact that they had to swill raw corn liquor while city slickers got good wine and whiskey. In October 1919, Congress passed the Volstead Act to enforce the Eighteenth Amendment. But the federal government never gave the enforcement agency, or the personnel’s money of supplies. The bureau’s agents were simply outnumbered by the millions of Americans who wanted to drink.

-Anonymous (Hannah Arnold)

7

Model T Ford This superb car is the best on the market with the lowest cost! 20 horsepower and 4 passenger seating. Ride in style with the Ford Model T.

$265

FORD MOTOR COMPANY-DETROIT, MICHIGAN

Briefing

By Rosaline Vance (Molly Erickson)

“Pleasure was the color of the time.”

-Harold Clurman (on the whole of the 1920s) “Now I am old-fashioned. A woman, I consider, should be womanly. I have no patience with the modern neurotic girl who jazzes from morning to night, smokes like a chimney, and uses language which would make a billingsgate fishwoman blush!”

1920- the first year that the urban population surpassed the rural on the US Census

-Agatha Christie (from her new book Murder on the Links)

1920- the first year “I don't know if I realized as soon as I began seeing them that they represented the wave of the future, but I do know I was drawn to them. I shared their restlessness, understood their determination to free themselves of the Victorian shackles of the pre-World War I era and find out for themselves what life was all about.”

that the urban population surpassed the rural on the US Census

-Colleen Moore (on flappers and traditionalists) "I'm a romantic; a sentimental person thinks things will last, a romantic person hopes against hope that they won't."

- F. Scott Fitzgerald (from his new book, This Side of Paradise)

"Scopes isn't on trial, civilization is on trial."

-Clarence Darrow (defense attorney on the Scopes “Monkey” Trial)

KDKA- first radio station to offer regular broadcasts in November 1920

35%- amount of American homes with electricity in the early 1920s

33%- percentage of rural American homes with running water in the early 1920s

9

World News By: Ruth Thompson (Molly Erickson)

The Dawes Plan Germany has stopped paying retributions for the Great War to the European nations, which in turn has stopped the European Allies from settling their debts with the United States.

Secretary of State Charles E. Hughes and Chicago banker Charles G. Dawes formed the Dawes Committee to make sure all debts are paid and all countries can manage their economies.

Dawes and Hughes are currently working on a solution to help Germany continue payments while still rebuilding their war-torn country. Their solution?

They will negotiate to reduce Germany’s post-war payments to France, Great Britain, and Italy. The payments, plus the restoration of Germany, has made their currency worth almost nothing. Some are even using the German Deutschmarks as wallpaper in their homes, because it is worth so little.

The Dawes Plan also includes American bankers loaning money to the German government to help stabilize the runaway inflation and crippling debts left over from the Great War and forced upon them by the Treaty of Versailles. The Treaty of Versailles was not kind to the German people. France seemed to want revenge on Germany for the horrifying death toll of the war. The “Guilt Clause” made Germany accept full responsibility for the war, even though they, like everyone else, were dragged into the war because of the tangled web of alliances spread across Europe.

If all goes as planned, the German situation will be resolved and they will be able to resume their payments, which will eventually lead to the continuation of the Allies paying off their debts to the United States. When all debts are be paid off and no country is beholden to another country, we can finally restore peace and hopefully avoid another worldwide war.

01

Secretary of State Charles E. Hughes

Chicago banker Charles G. Dawes

10

Society The Harlem Renaissance By: Sammie Capone (Andrea Al-Nurridin-McKinley)

“The New Negroes” African Americans seemed to have found their new identity today in the 1920s. They’re not only embracing their black heritage, they’re celebrating it through jazz and visual arts. Alain Locke stated, ”Negro life is seizing it first chance of group expression and self determination,” which is protruding more in the lower east side of Harlem. Most of this new attitude and ambition we’re witnessing from negroes formed during the Great War, when many jobs were needed in the North. To continue to support American troops while they were fighting in Europe negroes started migrating to the North from the South to fill those positions.

Though colors have been adoring this new rage, so have whites. A new nightspot called The Cotton Club located in the Harlem neighborhood on 142nd St & Lenox Ave, is the cat’s meow. The club has a wide range of negro entertainers such as Louis Armstrong, Ethel Waters, Lena Horne and more, plus a large audience of negroes and whites.

A major aspect that has aspired during this time for many negroes is literature. Multiple writer such as Jean Toomer and Countee Cullen write about the struggles of negroes today.

Ethel Waters, singer and entertainer at the Cotton Club

Entrance to the Cotton Club

12

Economy By: Tobias Walger (Thomas Wagner)

Taxes, Budget Cuts, and Bored Workers The amount of unemployed workers is at an all-time high. 26% of America doesn’t have a job.

Some speculate is that this is due to the election of President Warren G. Harding. To be specific, 3,473,446 Americans are jobless. People have lost their jobs due taxes and inflation. There have been tax cuts to compensate the recent inflation.

Some jobs need workers. If you are one of the many people who have no job see page 49 for a list of places advertising for a job.

The Trends of This Economy Through investigation I personally have noticed some rather different trends that have been set.

Women knowns “flappers” have dressed with shorter skirts and hair.

Grocery stores known as “chain stores” have opened up. These brand new grocery stores are going nationwide. These stores are a massive invention to America’s shopping needs and wants. See page 8 for more information. Henry Ford has found a new way of mass producing his Model T car. His “Divine Intervention” was this new thing called the assembly line. Now that he is mass producing his car, many people are buy this brand new form of transportation.

The Model T being built on the assembly lines

13

Feature Farmers and the “Old Way” of Living By: Thurston King (Luke Reynolds), Tobias Walger (Thomas Wagner), and Ruth Thompson (Molly Erickson) Rural life has been faced with common poverty and hardships. Even though regional patterns were established in the early 1900’s (the Northeast focused on dairy, poultry, and produce; the Midwest on corn, oats, barley, hogs, and cattle; the Great Plains on wheat, livestock; the South on cotton, tobacco, sugarcane, and rice) and food production was prosperous during the war, there was a recession in agriculture earlier this decade. The number of farmers has decreased from 38% in 1900 to 27% in 20 years, and the percentage of farmers’ share in the national income has also gone down.

Most of farms now are rented instead of owned, and the work is hard on all the members of the family. The men are in charge of everything outside, and the women work indoors cooking and taking care of the home. During harvests, men from different farms group together to buy machinery or threshing crews, and the women feed them during this time.

Brand new commodities have reached the rural residents such as the radio. The radio was invented in 1920.

These radios are battery powered due to these areas not having a lot of power lines. However, these radios are considered luxury items. To those that own these “boxes of communication” will know who amazing these things are. They can relay The outcome of Baseball games and boxing bouts, Political features, and supplied music like jazz and classical

Many traditional rural residents believe that these new inventions to their daily routine are effecting their traditional ways of living. They don’t like how it connects them to their city counterparts.

They think it weakens the focus of farming, the young, and traditional values.

Rural lives are still not as advanced as urban, but they are less different from each other than before. About 10% of farm families have electricity, and 33% have running water. Although rural life has always been assured, many people are now migrating to the cities in search of a better life and job. Many have regretted moving, however, because lots of people have been laid off or have not been able to get a job at all. Still, they remain optimistic that life in the city will get better.

The increase in running water in the country has also contributed to the social classes of today. In the past, people associated uncleanliness with the poor.

Running water was not readily available to the lower classes, and so most went without washing for weeks. Since cleanliness is important in getting a good job, many lower class families remained lower class. Now, however, with running water and other technologies becoming available to everyone, the social class distinctions are fading.

15

Feature Flappers and the “New Way” of High-style Living By: Ivory Madeleine (Jessica Lowman), Sammie Capone (Andrea Al-Nurridin-McKinley), and Luvenia Clarabelle (Hannah Arnold) For the first time ever, the United States is more than 50% urban. The majority of urban dwellers are modernists.

Modernists is a person who embraces new ideas, styles, and social trends.

Urban areas with factories and office buildings are hubs of economic growth. As economy boomed the call for workers are increasing as well as the wages. Cities offer freedom to explore new ways of thinking and living. City dwellers can meet new people from different cultures, go to the movie theatre, visit museums, and even go to concerts.

As the population increase in our towns, so do the number and size of our cities. Though the first skyscraper was built in the wonderful city of Chicago , even when you look outside your window there are multiple building being built in the image of skyscrapers. There is an a enlargement of established cities and metropolitan aggregations and instead of being driven by trade and industry urbanization is driven by tourism and leisure.

People in urban developments could drink, gamble and, go on (casual) dates without being judged as immortal.

19 million people have moved from farms to live in urban developments! The average per capita rose 37%! People earning the higher wages are seeing their standard of living improving!

Urbanization in our cities has caused a surplus of food. farming is now efficient with new machinery that has been invented. Only 5% of population are still working in farming and agriculture. Also there have been many improvements on modern day medicine.

Many young women now have the opportunity to follow independent lifestyles, which was not dominated by the need to find a husband.Thousands found work as telephonists, typists, and secretaries in the rapidly expanding economy. However, this picture did not hold across the whole if the USA- rather it was limited to the cities. The process of limiting immigration went further in the 1920’s due to the republic government’s policy.

Also urbanizations in the 1920’s was characterized not by the appearance of the new cities but by the enlargement of established cities and metropolitan aggregations districts that includes a city and its suburbs.

16

Entertainment: The Magic in the Industry By: Thurston King (Luke Reynolds) and Ivory Madeleine (Jessica Lowman) In entertainment news, Lillian Gish, part of the Gish sister duo, has recently starred in a brand new movie, The Birth of a Nation. Critics have praised her copacetic performance.

Meanwhile, Florenz Ziegfeld has made a name for himself on Broadway, personifying the ideal dame on stage.

On a recent production, he spent $3,600 just on pillows! Someone is putting on the Ritz!

Poetry and plays are also on the up and up. E.E. Cummings’ first volume of poetry, Tulips and Chimneys, has become a bestseller. A local performance of Langston Hughes’ play, The Golden Piece, has skyrocketed it to fame.

In the music world, jazz has become the most popular music to hoofing. Jazz is playing at joints and restaurants. Louis Armstrong played notes on the trumpet no trumpeter has ever played. Billie Holiday has become the real McCoy when it comes to her voice.

The Harlem Renaissance has also become a big part in the music world.

Negroes have moved from the South to the North in mass migration, and have already impacted our society. Visual artists have also been an important part of the movement, as art, plays, and movies have grown in popularity.

.

Lillian Gish, part of the famous Gish sister duo The famous jazz trumpet player, Louis Armstrong

18

Sports By: Luvenia Clarabelle (Hannah Arnold)

Babe Ruth, also known as George Herman Ruth, is the most famous/popular athlete in the 20th century. Baseball is a hugely popular spectator sport, which are sports that attract large numbers of fans who attend games.

Meanwhile, Georges Carpentier built 60,000 seats for a boxing stadium.

Ticket sales hit up to 1.8 million, more than any previous boxing match.

Jim Thorpe, who is not as famous as Babe Ruth, plays college football.

Tennis star Helen Wills has also won many tennis championships here in the United States and in Europe.

Babe Ruth (1895-1948) was on the Red Sox and New York Yankees

19

An Interview With The “Duke” By: William Von Karma (Thomas Wagner)

Today I sat down and talked with the amazingly talented and renowned Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington.

W: Why did you choose jazz music to play?

D: Well my family introduced me to the fine arts when I was a young boy and loved it through high school.

W: Why were you given the nickname Duke?

D: I was given this name by my fans. People would always tell me “He's the Duke of jazz!”

W: How was life growing up?

D: It was rather good. I grew up in what many may would call middle-class. When I was young I had a job as a soda jerk.

W: What was the first instrument you learned?

D: When I was seven I learned how to play the piano.

W: Why did you choose the piano?

D: As I said I was introduced to music at a young age, so I learned the piano because I find it a very interesting instrument.

W: Who were your inspirations growing up?

D: By far I loved Gershwin. He is an amazing jazz player.

W: What are your plans for the future?

D: I plan to travel the U.S. and play with my orchestra.

W: What are some hardships you've faced when getting to the top?

D: Mostly financial struggles and personal conflicts.

W: Will you be having any guest players in the orchestra?

D: I hope to play with Ray Charles.

W: Lastly do you have any final words or thanks yous?

D: I would like to thank my family who has supported me and I hope that you see me at Kinney Club.

20

Luke’s Bibliography Editors of Time-Life Books. This Fabulous Century: 1910-1920. Alexandria, VA: Time-Life, 1985. Print.

Hanson, Erica. A Cultural History of the United States: Through the Decades-The 1920's. San Diego, CA: Lucent, 1999. Print.

Oakes, Elizabeth H. "Hughes, Langston." American Writers. New York: Facts On File, n.d. N. pag. American Biographies. American History Online. Web. 10 Oct. 2014.

Smelstor, Marjorie. "E. E. Cummings." Magill’S Survey Of American Literature, Revised Edition (2006): 1. Biography Reference Center. Web. 10 Oct. 2014.

U.S.A. 1920s. Danbury, CT: Grolier, 2005. Print.

21

Thomas’s Bibliography "Duke Ellington." Biography Reference Center. Britannica Biographies, 3 Jan. 2012.

Web. 16 Oct. 2014.

Pietrusza, David. The Roaring Twenties. San Diego, CA: Lucent, 1998. Print.

U.S.A. Twenties. Danbury, CT: Grolier, 2005. Print.

22

Molly’s Bibliography Baughman, Judith S. "American Decades, 1920-1929." Barnes & Noble. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2014.

Gordon, Robert. "Scopes Trial." Encyclopedia of American History: The Emergence of Modern America, 1900 to 1928. New York: Facts on File, 2010. N. pag. Web. 10 Oct. 2014. <http: //www.fofweb.com/NuHistory/default.asp?ItemID=WE52>.

"Popular Quotes." Popular Quotes. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Oct. 2014.

Shmoop Editorial Team. "The 1920s Quotes." Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 19 Oct. 2014.

Shmoop Editorial Team. "The 1920s Statistics." Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 19 Oct. 2014.

Triska, Zoë. "15 Inspirational F. Scott Fitzgerald Quotes." The Huffington Post.

TheHuffingtonPost.com, 08 May 2013. Web. 17 Oct. 2014.

"United States Census Bureau." 1920 Fast Facts. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2014.

Woog, Adam, Michael V. Uschan, Erica Hanson, Petra Press, Stuart A. Kallen, Gini Holland, and Gail B. Stewart. A Cultural History of the United States: Through the Decades. San Diego, CA: Lucent, 1999. Print.

23

Hannahâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bibliography Baughman, Judith S. American Decades: 1920-1929. New York: Gale Research, 1996. Print.

Hart, Diane, and Bert Bower. History Alive!: Pursuing American Ideals. Rancho Cordova, CA: Teachers' Curriculum Institute, 2013. Print.

U.S.A. 1920s. Danbury, CT: Grolier, 2005. Print.

Andreaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bibliography Haskins, James. Black Theater in America. New York: Crowell, 1982. Print.

Haskins, James. Black Music in America: A History through Its People. New York: T.Y. Crowell, 1987. Print.

Haskins, James. The Cotton Club. New York: New American Library, 1984. Print.

"Slang of the 1920." Slang of the 1920. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2014.

U.S.A. 1920s. Danbury, CT: Grolier, 2005. Print.

Jessicaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bibliography African Americans: Voices of Triumph. Alexandria, VA: Time-Life, 1993. Print.

Hart, Diane, and Bert Bower. History Alive!: Pursuing American Ideals. Ranchov Cordova, CA: Teachers' Curriculum Institute, 2013. Print.