Speech

During the 20th century, adults nationwide were, for the first time, experiencing free range of American culture with excess money in their pockets and weeks without work. So, rather than sit in their microscopic apartments in the city, or work on their rural farms, they went to the movies, they got blatantly intoxicated at parties and jazz clubs, they bought new fridges, and they joined the Ku Klux Klan if they wanted to abide by the traditional values of Americans and become "community leaders". I believe that these are the most important facts, because entertainment was the central concern of adults, teenagers, and children during the 1920s as they received higher wages, vacation time, and shorter work hours. With a loss of things they had to do, individuals in the 1920s developed education, societal norms and statuses, appliances and amenities, social events and groups, and other forms of entertainment to occupy their modern minds contrasted with the traditional culture they lived in during the 20th century. 

            Since children and teenagers didn’t have to go to work all day in factories, they went to school and left each day with new interests, hobbies, and relationships. Universities and colleges were attended by teens with a higher education who had the time and money to develop their studies. Through education, college graduates received higher paying jobs, and spent their paychecks on appliances, social events, or drinking. The money made from jobs fueled innovations in appliances that we still use today. If education hadn’t been such a driving force behind the modernization of American culture in the 20th century, we wouldn’t place such high value on education in this century.

            Through education, society was born. Social norms, societal groups, and status derive from the knowledge shared among peers at universities, jobs, and in public. Groups like the “KKK” arose from a general consensus made by traditional Americans when the expansion of their free time allowed for the development of hobbies. Participation in social groups gave a person a certain status and a sense of community. It was a form of entertainment that was important to Americans who had an excessive amount of time on their hands.

            The use of movies and other forms of entertainment like partying and intoxication, played a large role in the commercializing of products by age and by status. Like the “KKK,” parties and social events were attended by people with a lot of time and money. Important forms of entertainment such as movies, the development of society, amenities, education, and technology helped to modernize the traditional 1920s values of America to the standards and societal norms we uphold today.