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On the date

Friday, February 13, 1920

From the day

Perspective: The Anxious Local · Sight

The morning fog clings to the newsstand where the headlines scream of traitors and grand juries, making me clutch my wool coat tighter against the chill. I watch a local sheba dash past in her beaded silk and a cloche hat, looking far too carefree while the world feels like it’s rotting from the inside. I squint at the baker’s chalkboard and hiss at the sight of $0.11 for a single loaf of bread, wondering how much more they can squeeze from us before the city breaks. Between the talk of shooting Socialists and these soaring prices, I can’t help but fear that the glow of the new electric signs is just a mask for the coming ruin.

Memories from that day

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The Headlines

PROSECUTE SOCIALISTS, NEWTON DEMANDS; SENDS EVIDENCE TO FEDERAL OFFICIALS; SHOOT OR SEAT THEM, SAYS LAGUARDIA; EXPECT GRAND JURIES TO ACT District Attorneys Also to Get Copies of Evidence COMMITTEE COUNSEL SUM UP Brief Affirms Suspended Assemblymen Should Be ConvictedUnder Espionage Act.CALLED TRAITORS TO NATION Expulsion from Assembly Demanded-Destruction of Government Declared Their Aim.

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

38,829 days ago

(106 years, 139 days)