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On the date

Monday, February 16, 1920

From the day

Perspective: The Street Photographer · Tactile

The slush of February turns the pavement into a gray soup, but it can’t dampen the shimmer of beaded silk peeking out from beneath heavy wool coats. I adjust my viewfinder on a young woman in a cloche hat who has quite the crush on her own reflection in the department store window. She's clutching a brand-new Raggedy Andy to her chest, the coarse red yarn of its hair contrasting sharply against the smooth rayon of her drop-waist dress. I catch the shutter click just as she adjusts her T-strap heels, the cold wind biting at her bobbed hair.

Memories from that day

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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

38,826 days ago

(106 years, 136 days)