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On the date

Thursday, January 22, 1920

From the day

Perspective: The Teenager · Sight

I’m itching to chop my locks into a bob, but Mama is busy clutching her pearls over those "Red" headlines and my little brother’s Raggedy Andy doll. I just want to slip into a beaded silk shift and find a speakeasy where the jazz is the bee’s knees and the neon glows like a fever dream. I won't be the fall guy for their stuffy morals while the world is finally waking up. Through the frost-rimmed window, the city looks like a blurred charcoal sketch waiting for the flash of a T-strap heel to bring it to life.

Memories from that day

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The Headlines

WASHINGTON OPENS HEARING ON 'REDS'; Labor Secretary Promises Early Decision Affecting 3,000 Now Awaiting Deportation. COUNSEL DENIES BLOODSHED Communist Lawyer Admits, However, That They Want Soviet Government Here.

Read in The New York Times →

Best-selling Sheet Music

Whispering

John Schonberger

The must-have

Raggedy Andy

Slang

Slang of the decade

General

applesaucebaloneycheaterscrush

Flapper

bee's kneescat's pajamasgiggle watershebahotsy-totsy

Gangster

big cheesebump offstool pigeongatfall guy

Catchphrases of 1920

  • Return to normalcy

Tech Check

Commercial Radio Stations (KDKA), Hair Dryer & Band-Aid.

Style of 1920

Silhouette: Straight and drop-waisted (Flapper)

Material: Beaded silk and rayon

  • Bobbed hair
  • Cloche hats
  • T-strap heels

Cost of Living (1920)

Loaf of Bread

$0.11

Gallon of Gas

$0.30

Average Home

$6,296

New Car

$575

Meanwhile

  • Post-WWI RecessionSevere deflation and collapse of agricultural prices.

Time Elapsed

38,851 days ago

(106 years, 161 days)