by The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Clothing Through American History 1900 to the Present (pdf)
1924
The Olympic Games open in Paris on July 5.
1924
Chanel designs costumes for the Ballet Russe.
1924
Andre Breton writes the surrealist manifesto.
1924
The first Winter Olympics is held in Chamonix, France.
1925
Exposition des Arts Decoratifs opens in Paris (and included
designs by Paul Poiret).
1925
John Thomas Scopes is fined for teaching theory of evolution, and
the ‘‘Scopes Monkey Trial’ follows.
1925
The first national congress of the Klu Klux Klan convenes in
Washington, DC.
Chronology of World and Fashion Events, 1900–1949
xv
1925
Nellie Taylor Ross becomes the first female governor on December 5.
1925
Miriam Ferguson is elected governor of Texas.
1925
The Charleston becomes a dance craze.
1925
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is published.
1926
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is founded in New
York City on November 15.
1926
American Vogue compares Chanel’s ‘ little black dress’’ to a Ford.
1926
Ernest Hemingway publishes The Sun Also Rises.
1926
The permanent wave is invented by Antonio Buzzacchino.
1927
Charles Lindbergh makes the first solo nonstop flight across the
Atlantic in the ‘‘Spirit of St. Louis.’’
1927
Machine Age Exhibition is held in New York.
1927
Schiaparelli designs the first trompe l’oeil pullover sweaters.
1927
The first ‘‘talking picture,’’ The Jazz Singer, is released.
1927
Josephine Baker becomes a huge star in Paris.
1928
Amelia Earhart is the first woman to fly across the Atlantic on June 17.
1928
The first televisions are for sale in the United States.
1928
Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin.
1929
St. Valentine’s Day Massacre occurs in Chicago.
1929
The first Academy Awards ceremony is held on May 16.
1929
Black Friday in New York signals the beginning of the stock mar-
ket crash on October 24 and the Great Depression, which lasts
until about 1941, or the U.S. entrance into World War II.
1929
William Faulkner publishes The Sound and the Fury.
1929
Bertrand Russell publishes Marriage and Morals.
1929
Estrone, one of the hormones responsible for sexual response in
females, is isolated by American and German scientists.
1930
German scientist J. Walter Reppe makes synthetic fabrics from
acetylene.
1931
The Empire State Building opens in New York City on May 1 and
is proclaimed the tallest building in the world.
1931
Al Capone, the notorious gangster, is jailed for income tax evasion.
1932
Lindbergh baby kidnapped on March 1 and found dead May 12.
1932
‘ The Star Spangled Banner’ is declared the United States national
anthem on March 31.
1932
Letty Lynton is released starring Joan Crawford, with costumes by
Adrian.
1932
Franklin Delano Roosevelt is elected president of the United States
on November 8.
1932
Radio City Music Hall opens
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Chronology of World and Fashion Events, 1900–1949
1932
Amelia Earhart is the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic.
1933
Adolf Hitler becomes the chancellor of Germany.
1933
Hitler proclaims the Third Reich.
1933
The first Nazi concentration camp opens at Cachau on March 20.
1933
Prohibition repealed by the Twenty-First Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution.
1933
Men’s tennis star Rene Lacoste introduces his own line of clothing
with the trademark crocodile (his nickname).
1933
Japan withdraws from League of Nations.
1933
United States goes off the gold standard.
1933
Public Works Administration is created in the United States.
1934
Shirley Temple debuts in first film, Stand Up and Cheer.
1934
Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow are shot dead in police ambush.
1934
John Dillinger is shot dead by authorities in Chicago.
1934
Hitler nominates himself as Fuhrer on August 2.
1934
Launch of The Queen Mary, the world’s largest liner, on September 26.
1934
The Film Production Code is enforced by the league of decency.
1934
The Civil Works Emergency Relief Act is passed in the United
States.
1934
Clark Gable in It Happened One Night is seen without an under-
shirt, and the sale of men’s undershirts plummets.
1935
Dust Bowl drought devastates Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Oka-
lahoma, Texas, and New Mexico.
1935
The Social Security Act is signed by President Roosevelt.
1935
The Rumba dance becomes popular.
1935
Jockey shorts, fitted knit briefs for men, are introduced.
1936
Opening of the Berlin Olympics on August 1.
1936
Dali and Schiaparelli collaborate to make ‘‘the desk suit.’’
1936
Salvatore Ferragamo invents the wedge heel.
1936
The Hoover (Boulder) Dam is completed on the Colorado River
in Nevada and Arizona.
1936
First publication of Life magazine.
1937
Duke of Windsor marries Wallis Simpson on June 3.
1937
Italy withdraws from League of Nations.
1937
Hindenburg disaster.
1938
Orson Welles’ radio production of ‘ War of the Worlds’’ airs on
October 31 and causes panic in the United States.
1938
The forty-hour work week is established in the United States.
1938
Howard Hughes circumnavigates the globe in three days.
1939
World War II forces Chanel to close her shop and studio in Paris.
Chronology of World and Fashion Events, 1900–1949
xvii
1939
John Steinbeck publishes Grapes of Wrath.
1939
Wizard of Oz is released.
1939
Gone with the Wind is released.
1939
World War II begins.
1939
Nylon stockings are first manufactured.
1940
Winston Churchill becomes prime minister of Great Britain on
May 10.
1940
DuPont introduces ladies’ nylon stockings.
1940
The German army reaches Paris.
1940
The Pennsylvania Turnpike (first multi-lane highway) opens o
n
September 30.
1940
First official network television broadcast on NBC.
1940
Zazous and zoot suits make their first appearance.
1940
Schiaparelli’s last French collection is taken to America.
1941
The United Service Organizations is incorporated in New York on
February 4.
1941
Germany invades the Soviet Union on June 22.
1941
Franklin Delano Roosevelt is elected for third term as president of
United States.
1941
Japanese bombs Pearl Harbor on December 7.
1941
CBS and NBC begin television transmissions with paid
advertising.
1942
President Roosevelt shifts to wartime economy.
1942
U.S. auto production is discontinued to support war effort.
1942
General Limitation L-85 orders government rationing of clothing
and materials beginning on March 8.
1942
Japanese Americans from west coast are sent to internment camps.
1942
The Women’s Auxiliary Army Corp is organized on May 14.
1942
Bing Crosby records ‘ White Christmas.’’
1942
Hollywood releases Casablanca and Yankee Doodle Dandy in sup-
port of the war effort.
1942
So Your Husband’s Gone to War is published.
1942
Atomic fusion is developed at the Fermi laboratory.
1942
Nylon is diverted to the war effort, and leg painting replaces
stockings.
1943
Rogers and Hammerstein released Oklahoma.
1943
Detroit race riots devastate the city.
1944
D-Day Allies successfully invade German-occupied France on
June 6.
1944
G.I. Bill of Rights is enacted by Congress.
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Chronology of World and Fashion Events, 1900–1949
1944
Paris is liberated by the Allies on August 25.
1944
Franklin Delano Roosevelt is elected for a fourth term as president
of the United States.
1944
Forty-two percent of west coast aircraft factory workers are
women.
1944
American and British governments ban wide-scale media coverage
of Paris fashion shows.
1945
Fifty nations meet in New York to design the framework for the
United Nations charter.
1945
Germany surrenders on May 7.
1945
The United States bombs Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6
and 9.
1945
The microwave oven is invented.
1945
The ENIAC computer (short for the electronic numerical integra-
tor and computer) successfully operates.
1945
After Japan’s surrender, DuPont resumes production of nylon for
stockings.
1945
Balenciaga pronounces that the ideal hemline should be fifteen
inches from the ground.
1945
Designers return to Paris and begin reopening salons.
1946
The U.S. Supreme Court bans segregation on interstate buses.
1946
President Truman creates the Committee on Civil Rights on
December 5.
1946
Dr. Spock publishes The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child
Care.
1946
The United Nations begins operations in New York City.
1946
Jukeboxes go into mass production.
1946
Ranch and split-level homes dominate the postwar construction
boom.
1946
Jacques Heim and Louis Reard introduce the bikini.
1947
Christian Dior shows the first ‘‘New Look’’ collection in Paris on
February 12.
1947
The Howdy Doody Show, for children, is first seen on television on
December 17.
1947
Pan Am makes around-the-globe travel commercially available.
1947
The Polaroid camera is invented.
1948
Gandhi is assassinated.
1948
Israel becomes a country.
1948
The Cold War begins.
1948
The Emmy Awards are broadcast on television.
Chronology of World and Fashion Events, 1900–1949
xix
1948
The garment industry grows through increased mass production.
1948
LP records on vinyl are introduced.
1949
East and West Germany divide on October 7.
1949
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is formed.
1949
The Soviet Union achieves the A bomb.
1949
South Pacific opens on Broadway.
1949
RCA introduces the 45 rpm record.
P A R T I
The Social Significance
of Dress, 1900–1949
1
The United States in 1900–1949:
An Overview
Dramatic changes occurred during the first half of the twentieth century
in the United States. The country’s population transformed from a rural,
economically divided ‘ melting pot’ at the beginning of the century to
a patriotic, technologically advanced country at war by the close of
the 1940s. This transformation in American society can be seen within
the path of fashion during this time period. This volume will describe the
parallel courses of societal change and fashion evolution.
Before one can discuss the course of fashion, one must recognize the
historical changes that affect fashion. This introduction seeks to outline
the historical landscape of the early half of the twentieth century. By
describing the political, societal, and cultural themes of this time period,
the reader becomes acquainted with the ideas that shape the fashion
trends.
The population of the United States nearly doubled from 76,094,000
in 1900 to 148,665,000 in 1949 (U.S. Census Bureau 2002). Not only did
the population increase, but its makeup significantly changed as well. Re-
markable advances in living conditions, working conditions, and medicine
resulted in an increase of almost twenty years in life expectancy (U.S.
Census Bureau 2002). At the start of the century, most of the population
lived in rural areas, but by midcentury, much of the population clustered
in urban centers to take advantage of the job opportunities in the
factories.
3
4
THE UNITED STATES IN 1900–1949
There was a marked economic divide between the rich and the poor in
the country during the first decade of the century. There were very few
wealthy people, but they lived in a grand and ostentatious style that the
rest of Americans could only dream of affording. They lived in great man-
sions that often took up entire city blocks or on country estates with doz-
ens of rooms. Their homes featured indoor plumbing, electricity, and fine
furnishings from a
round the world. They could afford all of luxury and
convenience that money could buy, but they comprised a very small part
of the population.
Many more Americans were very poor. They lived in tenements often
consisting of only one or two rooms for the entire family. In poor families,
men, women, and children worked to earn enough money to make ends
meet. They did not have indoor plumbing or electricity.
Many prominent middle-class people and politicians, such as Jane
Addams and Theodore Roosevelt, took up the cause to improve the lives
of poor Americans through educational programs and support services.
This activism, known as the Progressive movement, reflected the optimis-
tic attitude that the nation adopted at the turn of the century. Progressives
felt they had an opportunity to better themselves and their fellow citizens.
The nation’s refreshed, positive attitude that marked the first decade
of the century dissolved into a practical somberness when the United
States entered World War I (WWI) in 1917. The nation’s entry into the
war broke its trend of isolation from the outside world. The economy
shifted to meet the needs of the wartime nation, and much of the work-
force was enlisting and being shipped overseas. At home, frugality took
over consumer spending and household consumption.
The beginning of the second decade of the twentieth century was
plagued by high inflation, widespread unemployment, deep cuts in govern-
ment spending, a return of soldiers (many of whom were disabled), and a
decrease in per capita income (Perrett 1982, 31). Europe lay in ruins from
WWI. The United States stepped forward as a new world power, shifting
itself from an industrial-based to a service-based economy. Although the
change brought prosperity to the service industry, other business sectors
suffered. Shipping, railroads, coal mining, and textiles businesses were all
in financial trouble, and many farms, then the largest sector of the econ-
omy in the United States, filed bankruptcy (Perrett 1982, pp. 120 1).
Although the rapidly growing economy resulted in a labor shortage
during the 1920s, the growth in personal wealth traditionally associated
with the decade did not apply equally to all; by 1927, the average person
realized an increase in annual savings of only $11 over 1899 (Perrett
1982, 324).
Politics in America
5
As the second decade of the twentieth century drew to a close, disaster
struck on October 24, 1929, when the stock market collapsed. The
onslaught of mass unemployment from the disintegration of the business
sector and failure of farms caused by flooding and drought devastated mil-
lions of people worldwide. The world output of goods fell by 38 percent,
