Amy T Peterson, Valerie Hewitt, Heather Vaughan, et al

by The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Clothing Through American History 1900 to the Present (pdf)

  Out of Greenwich Village in New York City some talented literary fig-

  ures emerged, including Willa Cather, Theodore Dreiser, and Sherwood

  Anderson. Aldous Leonard Huxley published Crome Yellow at the age of

  28 and James Joyce released his epic, Ulysses. Other literary figures of the

  decade included Nobel Prize winners George Bernard Shaw and Thomas

  Mann as well as poets Ezra Pound and Jean Cocteau. The public also pre-

  ferred popular works such as James Branch Cabell’s Jurgen and John

  Erskine’s The Private Life of Helen of Troy. Imported novels were also pop-

  ular, especially Michael Arlen’s The Green Hat, which depicted stylish

  London life. This work was so popular that it was turned into a stage play

  staring Leslie Howard.

  THEATER AND MOVIES

  The American theatrical world was still riding high in the 1920s. The

  films of Hollywood had not yet completely eclipsed the popularity of the

  Great White Way. Notable performers included Billie Burke, the wife of

  Florenz Ziegfled Jr., and John Barrymore, whose most famous stage role

  was as Hamlet in London. He, like many others including Billie Burke,

  would later make a successful move into the film world. Another actress

  and stage manager, Grace George, performed in George Bernard Shaw’s

  Major Barbara and the comedy The Ruined Lady. Alfred Lunt and Lynn

  The 1920s

  69

  Fontanne were members of the Theatre Guild and performed in many of

  Shaw’s plays, including Arms of the Man and Pygmalion, to much critical

  acclaim and audience enthusiasm.

  The Green Hat, which had first been a successful novel, was produced

  for the stage in 1925 and starred the stage actress Katharine Cornell. She

  later became the first major American to form a repertory company. Not

  to be outdone, Eve Le Gallienne founded the Civic Repertory Theatre

  in New York in 1926.

  In terms of theatrical dance, options abounded. Modern or interpre-

  tive, ballet, and even burlesque styles were popular with the theater-going

  public. Isadora Duncan became famous for her Grecian-style dancing and

  costume. Rodin went so far as to say, ‘ The brilliance of her spirit makes

  the glory of the Parthenon live again’ (Richardson 1982, 58). Ballet Rusee

  dancers Bronislava Nijinska and Leonie Massine not only danced but

  acted as choreographers in the early twenties. Ruth St. Denis was an

  American ballerina who ‘‘reflected the soul of India’ (Richardson 1982,

  94). She and husband Ted Shawn were founders of the Denishawn dance

  schools in New York and Los Angeles. Fannie Brice, star of the Ziegfeld

  Follies, performed to acclaimed review throughout the decade. Two of the

  most famous paired dancers of the era, Adele and Fred Astaire, gained

  much notoriety while performing on Broadway.

  A number of important milestones of film history occurred in the

  1920s. Films were silent until ‘‘talkies’’ began with The Jazz Singer starring

  Al Jolson in 1927. Before sound was added, dialog would appear as text

  on the screen, and a live piano player or band would provide musical ac-

  companiment. In 1929, the first Academy Awards ceremony was held to

  honor achievements in films from 1927 and 1928. The famous actor

  Douglas Fairbanks hosted the event. During the 1920s, tragedies, war

  movies, epics, and horror films were popular, as were comedies, westerns,

  romances, and later musicals.

  The most well-known comedy players included Charlie Chaplin,

  Harold Lloyd, Buster Keaton, and members of Mack Sennett’s company.

  Popular actresses from the early years of the twenties included Clara Bow,

  Mary Pickford, the exotic Pola Negri, and flappers Louise Brooks and

  Colleen Moore. In the later twenties, actresses such as Greta Garbo,

  Claudette Colbert, and Jean Harlow began their rise to stardom. By the

  end of the decade, Gloria Swanson was the highest paid woman in the

  world (Richardson 1982). The first real heartthrob, Rudolph Valentino,

  was extremely popular until his untimely death in 1926. Adventure star

  Douglas Fairbanks and cowboys like Tom Mix grew in popularity, helping

  to establish the action genre as an early favorite.

  70

  ART AND ENTERTAINMENT

  Films had a huge impact on both the industry and their audiences,

  especially if they were epics made by Cecil B. de Mille or D. W. Griffith.

  Erich von Stroheim’s Greed left a lasting impression, as did King Vidor’s

  Big Parade. Foreign horror films such as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and

  Nosferatu expanded audience’s imaginations and stretched actors’ skills.

  Other famous films of this era include the futuristic Metropolis, the drama

  Sunrise, Greta Garbo’s Anna Christie, and The Taming of the Shrew, star-

  ring husband and wife team Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford.

  RADIO

  During the 1920s, radio developed significantly as a medium. Before ra-

  dio had been established, rural areas were more isolated and less aware of

  national events and trends. In 1920, the first commercial radio station

  (KDKA) was established by the Westinghouse Electric Company in Pitts-

  burgh by Robert Conrad. Westinghouse planned to create demand for

  their newly engineered commercial radio equipment through programs.

  Initially, the sets were small, cheap crystal sets, but, as popularity grew,

  large console sets were sold as living room furniture pieces. In 1920, the

  first news station went on the air. By the end of 1921, there were ten ra-

  dio stations, and, in 1922, ninety more went on the air. By 1925, 50 mil-

  lion people were listening on these sets. By 1927, listeners across the

  country had access to both local and national programming. Amazingly,

  the first car radio had been designed by 1928, but its reception was too

  poor and its design was too bulky to be commercially viable (Kyvig 2002;

  Andrist 1970).

  This larger audience necessitated greater governmental regulation and

  control. In response, Congress established the Federal Radio Commission

  (which later became the Federal Communications Commission) as a part

  of the Radio Act of 1927. This act acknowledged that airwaves belonged

  to the people and that the government must be responsible for managing

  them in the common interest (Kyvig 2002).

  Even in the early twenties, radio helped to link urban and rural areas

  with common information and entertainment. KDKA’s first program

  reported that Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge had won the pres-

  idential election. The station’s early programs attracted more than 6,000

  listeners by 1920, who tuned in for the vocal and musical broadcasts.

  Their schedule also began to be printed in the local newspaper (Kyvig

  2002).

  As time went on, competition built, with NBC establishing a station

  in 1926. With an estimated audience of 12 million, their first broadcast

  The 1930s

  71

  included performances by musical acts such as the New York Orchestra

  and a soprano from Chicago, as well as comedian Will Rogers.

  Generally, radio in the 1920s included a wide variety of programming,

  including
news and weather reports, religious programming, music, edu-

  cational and children’s programming, as well as recorded music and live

  performances. In general, some of the most popular programs included

  ‘‘Real Folks’’ with Agnes Moorehead, along with sportscasts by Graham

  McNamee, the news with Floyd Gibbons, and comedian Jack Pearl. Edu-

  cational programming included exercise instruction, auto repair, baby care,

  and health care.

  Sports broadcasts were especially popular and from the start had

  drawn large audiences. The boxing match between the American Jack

  Dempsey and the Frenchman Georges Carpentier was broadcast over ra-

  dio in July 1921. It was heard by approximately 300,000 people, at least

  100,000 of those gathered in New York’s Times Square to listen via loud-

  speakers (Kyvig 2002).

  Musical programming was also popular. Radio helped jazz and country

  music to reach greater numbers and encouraged the establishment of more

  local bands and orchestras. In 1925, the Grand Ole Opry began broad-

  casting over the radio (Kyvig 2002).

  Although some technological elements of television were in develop-

  ment by the late 1920s, it was not commercially viable at this point.

  T H E

  1930S

  ART MOVEMENTS

  Many artists and movements that began in the 1920s hit their stride in the

  1930s. Although the art deco movement reached its zenith in the 1920s, its

  influence remained visible through the 1930s. Although it began in the pre-

  vious decade, surrealism became more widespread and well known to the

  general population. Painters such as Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali contin-

  ued to create and shape the direction of surrealism. Andre Breton, who wrote

  the surrealism manifesto in 1924, held major exhibitions in 1936 and 1938.

  Modernism in general continued its upswing, and, in the 1930s, Constantin

  Brancusi, a Roman sculptor who worked in Paris, garnered more attention in

  the art world with his abstract egg- and bird-shaped sculptures.

  Alongside art deco, the ‘ machine aesthetic’ became popular, in part

  because of the Machine Age Exhibition held in 1934 at the Museum of

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  ART AND ENTERTAINMENT

  Modern Art in New York. The film Metropolis (1927) reflects this style,

  as did the modernist architecture of Charles Edouard Jeaneret-Gris, who

  was also known as Le Corbusier. His work was ‘ like a Cubist painting,

  the house is a precise, rational, abstract statement about materials and

  forms and their interrelationships’’ (Cole and Gealt 1989).

  Architect Frank Lloyd Wright, who was 60 in the 1930s, was by

  now generally accepted as the leader of modern architecture (Timeline of

  Art History: Frank Lloyd Wright, n.d.). His work continued to emphasize

  the relationship between landscape and design. One of his most famous

  houses, Fallingwater, was constructed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from

  1935 to 1939. During this period, he also designed the first of his

  ‘‘Usonian’ houses, simple house designs that were aimed at middle-class

  clients. These houses set the design for future suburban houses.

  New art movements of the 1930s wielded great influence over the arts

  and artists. Neo-classicism and an interest in Greek simplicity greatly

  influenced the fine and visual arts during this decade. The Great Depres-

  sion focused many American artists on ‘‘regionalism,’’ realism, and every-

  day life in rural and urban America. Examples include Grant Wood’s

  ‘American Gothic,’’ Georgia O’Keeffe’s southwestern themed paintings,

  and photographer Dorthea Lange’s documentary-style realism.

  Murals, often supported by the Federal Works Projects, rose in popu-

  larity during this time as well. Two of the most well-known muralists

  were Mexican Americans Diego Rivera and Jose Clemente Orozco. Rivera

  was especially controversial because of his apparent connection to Lenin

  and his depictions of laborers.

  In terms of new architectural movements, skyscrapers were considered

  modern marvels and had increasing influence on visual culture and design

  in general. The Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, and Rockefel-

  ler Center were built during this decade. This style of architecture was

  sleek and aerodynamic in appearance; it influenced everything from indus-

  trial design to commercial design.

  In addition to the Great Depression, other historical events that

  affected the arts included Hitler’s 1933 appointment as chancellor of Ger-

  many, after which some 60,000 artists, writers, actors, and musicians

  began leaving Europe. Many relocated to the United States, helping to

  make it the ‘ new artistic center of the West’ (Cole and Gealt 1989).

  The influence of these various art movements on fashion design was

  especially evident with art deco-style orientalism and surrealism. Baby

  clothes in particular reflected the earlier interest in orientalism. Season

  collections frequently showed little kimonos, or kimono sleeve details, of-

  ten in silk and cotton (Bevans 1930). In adult fashions, it was the mixing

  The 1930s

  73

  of Chinese designs with art deco that influenced printed silks and detail-

  ing. Valentina, Mainbocher, and Molyneux in particular focused on these

  tactics in the mid to late 1930s and often included brightly colored gar-

  ments with mandarin collars, kimono sleeves, narrow tube skirts, and

  forked trains in their collections.

  Surrealist art strongly influenced the world of fashion in the mid to

  late 1930s. Schiaparelli worked directly with several surrealist artists,

  including Salvador Dali, Christian Berard, and Jean Cocteau. To capital-

  ize on the new movement, fashion marketers used surrealist imagery in

  advertising and window displays to lure potential shoppers inside (Mendes

  and De La Haye 1999).

  Modernist fashion photographers such as Steichen and Hoyningen-

  Huene enjoyed continued success in the 1930s, as did the surrealist

  photographer Man Ray. Newcomers included Horst P. Horst and realist

  photographers such as Martin Mankasci and Toni Frissell. Surrealist pho-

  tography remained a favored style in fashion magazines into the early 1940s.

  MUSIC AND LITERATURE

  The 1930s saw a continued interest in the musical forms and artists of the

  previous decade, with new artists and genres contributing to the mix.

  Thanks to technological innovation in recorded music and radio, music as

  a whole gained a wider audience. Aaron Copland, George Gershwin, and

  Roy Harris contributed significantly to the cultural landscape, as did the

  Russian emigre Sergei Rachmaninoff. Additionally, ‘ The Star Spangled

  Banner’ was declared the official U.S. national anthem on March 3, 1931.

  As white America accepted jazz as a genre, the style began to change.

  Big bands rose in popularity, including those led by Tommy and Jimmy

  Dorsey, as well as Guy Lombardo. These big bands often highlighted

  high-profile singers such as Bing Crosby and the four Mills Brothers.

  Country stars remained popular on many radio programs, and ‘‘foreign’ or

  ‘ ethn
ic’ music saw a slight rise in popularity. On the whole, however, the

  Depression stifled record sales.

  The major literary figures of the thirties included authors with vastly

  different styles and intentions. William Faulkner, John Steinbeck, and

  Harlem Renaissance authors emerged at the forefront. Nobel Prize-winner

  William Faulkner published the Sound and the Fury in 1929, continuing

  with A Light in August, Sanctuary, and others into the thirties. Steinbeck,

  focusing on the plight of dispossessed California migrant farm workers,

  published The Grapes of Wrath in 1939, for which he later received the

  Pulitzer Prize. The Harlem Renaissance was in full swing, highlighting

  74

  ART AND ENTERTAINMENT

  African-American writers and poets such as

  Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, Zora

  Neale Hurston, and Claude McKay.

  Other novelists of the era included

  Thomas Wolfe and W. Somerset Maug-

  ham. Thomas Wolfe was interested primar-

  ily

  with

  ‘Americana,’’

  in

  both

  Look

  Homeward, Angel, and Of Time and the

  River. Maugham’s Of Human Bondage is

  considered one of the best books to emerge

  from the twentieth century (Richardson

  1982). Nathanael West wrote surrealist and

  fantasy social commentaries such as Miss

  Lonelyhearts and The Day of the Locust.

  Another notable book to come out of the

  thirties was the bestselling How to Win

  Friends and Influence People by Dale Carne-

  gie. Especially popular with the newly

  emerging teen and young-adult market was

  the Nancy Drew series, which got its start

  in 1930.

  Joan Crawford in the 1932 film Letty Lynton. [Courtesy

  of Photofest]

  THEATER AND MOVIES

  Despite the increasing success of Hollywood films and the rising toll of

  the Great Depression, the theatrical world remained vibrant. The Works

  Projects Administration’s Federal Theater Project provided much-needed

  work for many of the theater’s unemployed. In December 1932, Radio

  City Music Hall opened, and, at the time, it was the largest indoor thea-

  ter in the world, with seating for 6,200 (Andrist 1970).

  Some of Broadway’s most successful plays, playwrights, and composers