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Celebrities In The 1920's

Decent Essays

The Jazz Age, otherwise known as the Roaring twenties marked a time period when the economy excelled. American society was experiencing a new extravagant routine and were feeling lightheatened and optimistic after WWI. Many people felt that it was a time to become rich, drink hard liquor and spend their time partying, although many burnt out early in their life. There was several new crazes that came with the lavish lifestyle including dance and flag pole sitting. The increased interest in party included the excessive ingestion of alcohol and soon led to a prohibition but people soon found loop holes. The 1920s was an exciting part of US history where national celebrities in sport, music and film emerged along with the introduction of Jazz …show more content…

Thanks to the increased interest of radio and motion pictures, sport became another area for people to escape to. Sports such as baseball and boxing became more popular, and the athletes became celebrities. Baseball star, Babe Ruth became a hero, along with boxer Jack Dempsey who gained fame due to his fans incredible enthusiasm and dedication. In 1927 when Dempsey attempted to win back his title his fans had bought a total of $90,000 worth of radios two weeks before the event. Advanced newspaper coverage also granted enthusiasm towards college football and the sport became more popular. Other famous sports people who rose from the era include, golfer Bobby Jones and tennis players, Bill Tilden and Helen Wills. These people became huge celebrities to the era and courage and determination made Charles Lindbergh a household name, not for sport but for completing the first solo transatlantic flight in 1927. The action that Charles did was ‘a heroic thing’ and became a symbol for the progress that America had made in the modern …show more content…

Other fads and crazes emerged from the events of the 1920s including Mah-jong, Yoyo’s, pogo sticks, and roller skates. People also preferred to express their carefree attitude by participating in flag pole sitting, which drew large crowds for viewing, some sitting for almost five months on various flag poles. A craze involving dancing for long periods of time became hugely popular and also dangerous. Dance marathons lasted days and even weeks, ‘couples bopped till they dropped’ with the desire of winning money and

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