The Innovation and Entertainment of the 1920s

Life in America during the 1920s was a time of innovation and entertainment due to new food and beverages, the development of Mickey Mouse, and the invention of the Ford Model T. World War I had just ended at the beginning of the 1920s, so there wasn’t much food at first. Then, all of the men returning home needed jobs and that’s when all of the innovation and entertainment began to appear. A lot of men started farming again, so food supply would increase.

Men would get bored, so they started coming up with cartoons. The cartoons gave everyone something to entertain them when they were bored. Ford Model T’s gave all Americans an affordable car that almost everyone could afford. During WWI and WWII there was very little food supply because all the men were at war, so there weren’t as many farmers. They also had to supply the soldiers with food. The people decided to have meatless Mondays and wheatless Wednesdays in order to supply everyone with food.

People practiced Hooverization, in order to increase food supply for the war (Canfield).

When all the men came home from the war, they needed jobs. That was when a lot of men got back into farming, so there was plenty of food supply. “Data from 1920 reveals that 44 hours were spent on preparing meals and cleaning up after them each week” (“1920’s Food”). Most dinners throughout the winter included: clam broth, baked ham, stuffed celery, carrots, peas, fried cauliflower, potatoes and cheese, walnut bread, and caramel custard (Canfield).

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Everyone was converting to electric at this time, so most food was either ready to cook or frozen. They ready to cook and frozen foods had more preservatives. Rabbits became a very popular meat, do to lack of food. Ice cream became a very popular snack. Soft drinks started coming out, due to prohibition (“1920s Food”). Mickey Mouse was a popular cartoon for kids in the 1920s: that is still around today. After that, Walt Disney came up with Mickey Mouse. Mickey Mouse was something that kids could watch while there parents were working or fighting for their country. Mickey Mouse has been a popular show since it started airing.

Mickey Mouse was one of the first cartoons that had sound. Walt Disney made all of the 7 minute long cartoons by himself. Mickey Mouse is still the icon of the Walt Disney Company. It is also one of the most recognizable trademarks (Schwartz). “In April 1928, cartoonist/animator Walt Disney had just had his heart broken when his distributor stole his popular character, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, from him” (Schwartz). Disney was devastated that he didn’t trademark Oswald in time, but came up with Mickey Oswald the Rabbit stopped airing in 1943. As soon as Disney finished drawing Mickey Mouse, he immediately copyrighted him. He did that because he didn’t relive what happened with Oswald (Schwartz).Ford was one of the first three major inventors of cars. Ford is still around today and is one of the top car companies still. The Model T was built from 1908 to 1927. It was the first car that was affordable for almost all Americans.

They were three different body styles; a five-seat touring, a two-seat runabout, and a seven-seat town car. In 1908, it sold for $850, but went down to $300 in 1925. The Model T had 20 horsepower and a 10 gallon gas tank under the front seat. When you were going up a steep hill, you had to go backwards up it.  At first, everyone thought of Model T’s as a luxury and credit risks.(The Compulsion to Wheels) Car dealers didn’t have much experience, so not many of them sold. Once you finally bought the car, you spent even more money on it. There was always something going wrong with it and there weren’t many car shops to get them fixed at. (“The Compulsion to Wheels”). Even though the war had just ended and everyone was trying to reconstruct, there was still a lot of innovation and entertainment.

The war had just ended and people were trying to get their lives back together. They were in the middle of prohibition and illegally buying, selling, and drinking alcohol. There were multiple strikes and raids during the 1920s. There was a lot of entertainment beginning to appear such as; new movies, sports, books, and music. All of the new foods and beverages were due to having people returning home and needing more food. The development of Mickey Mouse and other cartoons gave people something to do when they were bored. The invention of Ford Model T was important because it was one of the most affordable cars during this time period. Overall, 1920s was one of the best and worst time periods and a time of innovation and entertainment.