Bring on the flappers with their fringe dresses, long cigarettes and boas. Don’t forget the hats for the pin-stripe suits. But most of all, remember your dancing shoes! Because the 1920s was all about jazz music and dancing! If you’re throwing a Gatsby themed party, we have a perfect Gatsby Speakeasy Band for your event. We also have some fun facts for you to show off throughout the party!
Fun facts about the Roaring Twenties for that Great Gatsby party!
- Jazz music was a staple in the Roaring 20s. The twenties are sometimes referred to as the “Age of Jazz.” There were dance halls with live jazz bands and jazz music on the radios. It was popular to “cut a rug” to jazz music, several new dances entered the scene including the Charleston, the Shimmy, the Lindy Hop and the Black Bottom.
- In France the Roaring twenties are referred to as “annees folles” meaning “crazy years.”
- Prohibition gave popularity to Speakeasies where people drank to excess.
- President Harding installed a radio in the White House. The invention of the radio allowed for the spread of jazz music making Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Cole Porter and Benny Goodman household names.
- Although Prohibition laws made the manufacturing and sale of alcohol illegal….it did not make it illegal to drink alcohol
- The “Lindy Hop,” a popular dance in the 1920s, is said to be named after Charles Lindbergh who flew the first solo nonstop transatlantic flight in 1927.
- Penicillin is discovered by accident, beginning an age of antibiotic use.
- The “Charleston” is named for Charleston, South Carolina.
- Walt Disney comes up with Mickey Mouse who appears in Steamboat Willie, the first cartoon with synchronized sound.
- Famous gangsters of the twenties had nicknames: Al “Scarface” Capone, George “Bugs” Moran, Jack “Legs” Diamond.
- Inventions including radios, automobiles, the ‘talkies’, and phonographs had a major impact on the culture of the Gatsby era.
- The Great Gatsby was published in 1925 exposing excess and consumerism of the twenties.
