Lesson One: An Overview of the 1920s
This will be a lecture-discussion which sets up the themes previously mentioned. In addition, this lesson will provide a brief political history of the 1920s, focusing on the death of Warren Harding (Was he poisoned by his wife?) in an attempt to appeal to students’ most maudlin instincts.
Lessons Two and Three: The Age of Prosperity?
Quantitative historians often use computers to analyze massive amounts of data. The results of quantitative studies are likely to interest professional historians but bore high school students unless quantitative history can be linked to students’ experiences. One way to do this is through case studies. Why not deal with the “decade of prosperity” motif by having students construct a Cost-of-Living Index for working-class persons in, say, 1920. Here’s how this could be done:
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1. Obtain census records for the year 1920. Have each student pick a person from the census to be their 1920s counterpart.
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2. Have each student select a possible occupation for their 1920s counterpart.
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3. Then have each student obtain from local businesses a possible salary for their counterpart.
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4. Next use newspaper ads to discover the cost of certain goods as a percentage of 1920 income.
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5. Replicate this procedure for the years 1900 and the present year. Discussion can then center on the degree of prosperity enjoyed by working-class persons in the years 1900, 1920, and the present. Don’t forget to take taxes into consideration.
Lessons Four and Five: The Rise of Consumer Culture
These two lessons are attempts to develop students’ skills in analyzing advertisements. Students will be given the choice of doing this exercise individually or in small groups. The exercise involves the analysis of several advertisements, most from the 1920s but a few from contemporary sources. For each ad, students will write the answers to the following questions:
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1. How is this ad trying to persuade consumers to buy the product?
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2. To which social class(es) does the ad appeal?
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3. To which ethnic groups does the ad primarily appeal?
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4. How, if at all, are blacks portrayed in the ad?
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5. How, if at all, are women portrayed in the ad?
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6. How could a wise consumer avoid letting the ad talk her into buying something she doesn’t need?
No doubt the second day’s discussion will focus on advertising techniques in general. It would also be wise to discuss installment buying, which your students may refer to as “credit” or, more likely, “buying on time.” Perhaps the best way to discuss this phenomenon is to put the following statements on the board:
Credit increases everyone’s standard of living.
Credit is a way for businesses to control consumers, lives.
Ask each student if she/he agrees with one or both statements.
Be sure to allow ample time for debate.
Lessons Six, Seven, and Eight: Popular Culture for whom?
There are three basic questions to consider here:
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1. Why and how did popular culture develop during the 1920s?
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2. Did different aspects of popular culture appeal to different groups of Americans? If so, which aspects appealed to which groups?
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3. What was the relationship between the mainstream culture and Afro-American culture during this period?
One way to begin is by showing the filmstrip on popular culture from The Decades: The 1920s. Focus discussion on questions 1 and 2 above.
The second day of this lesson can be spent listening to and analyzing the following records (all available from the New Haven Public Library):
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1. Rare Bands of the Twenties, Vol. 7
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2. The Mid-Twenties, by Bobby Short
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3. The Roaring 20s, Vol. 1
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4. The Great Music of Duke Ellington
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5. Satchmo
See if students can tell if the musicians are whites (1-3) or black (4-5). An interesting discussion of the differences between white and black music and mainstream and Afro-American culture could follow. See if your students can speculate why some black musicians appeal greatly to whites and vice-versa.
The third day of this lesson can focus on sports. If you have previously assigned reports on several athletes, this would be a good day for students to present their reports. Encourage students to try to discover the socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds of the fans who followed each athlete.
Athletes could include:
Jack Dempsey
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Josh Gibson
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Red Grange
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Babe Ruth
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Bill Tilden
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Babe Zaharias
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Bobby Jones