Culture During the 1920s
AP US History
16 February 2013
1920’s Culture The national American culture during the 1920s was shaped by advertising, entertainment and mass production. People began to realize the impact and importance of advertising on society and that by improving it, the people could learn and become more advanced and want more of the new technological advances. Also, the forms of entertainment changed and improved and people began spending more time and money on these new concepts. Finally, mass production also had a big impact on the culture during the 1920s. All of these things represent the progression of society and technology, as well as the improvement of the quality of living among Americans. First off, advertisement became a major topic of interest during this era, spurred on by the writing of “The Man Nobody Knows” by Bruce Barton. This book presented Jesus as the world’s best advertiser. It described how he came to the world with the purpose of advertising Christianity and he presented to so many people in his lifetime and did so in such a way that it is still being shared among people in society all around the world today. This concept was taken by many business men and acted on by trying to find ways to represent their company or product in new, better ways. One example of this would be the major increase in the use of billboards along roads. These caught many people’s attention and got them interested in whatever was being advertised. Madison Avenue began to perfect the use of advertisement such as these billboards by using emotions and what was appealing in order to appeal to people’s senses and sell whatever they were representing. The 1920s was a time of innovation and entertainment. The entertainment business soared during this time and much of today’s entertainment can find its roots in that decade. Bars became very popular during this era, especially with regards to the issue of prohibition, everyone wanted to drink, whether it was legal or not,
16 February 2013
1920’s Culture The national American culture during the 1920s was shaped by advertising, entertainment and mass production. People began to realize the impact and importance of advertising on society and that by improving it, the people could learn and become more advanced and want more of the new technological advances. Also, the forms of entertainment changed and improved and people began spending more time and money on these new concepts. Finally, mass production also had a big impact on the culture during the 1920s. All of these things represent the progression of society and technology, as well as the improvement of the quality of living among Americans. First off, advertisement became a major topic of interest during this era, spurred on by the writing of “The Man Nobody Knows” by Bruce Barton. This book presented Jesus as the world’s best advertiser. It described how he came to the world with the purpose of advertising Christianity and he presented to so many people in his lifetime and did so in such a way that it is still being shared among people in society all around the world today. This concept was taken by many business men and acted on by trying to find ways to represent their company or product in new, better ways. One example of this would be the major increase in the use of billboards along roads. These caught many people’s attention and got them interested in whatever was being advertised. Madison Avenue began to perfect the use of advertisement such as these billboards by using emotions and what was appealing in order to appeal to people’s senses and sell whatever they were representing. The 1920s was a time of innovation and entertainment. The entertainment business soared during this time and much of today’s entertainment can find its roots in that decade. Bars became very popular during this era, especially with regards to the issue of prohibition, everyone wanted to drink, whether it was legal or not,