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On the date

Monday, February 23, 1920

From the day

Perspective: The Street Photographer · Sound

The click of my shutter snaps over the frantic humming of "Whispering" from a nearby storefront, capturing a dame in a beaded silk shift and a cloche hat that looks absolutely hotsy-totsy against the grey slush. I side-step a newsboy shouting that Palmer finally declared those "Dry" officers have the authority to suppress any resistance to the law over in Michigan, his voice nearly drowned out by the metallic grinding of a passing Ford. I adjust my lens as the sharp smell of exhaust mixes with the yeasty scent of an eleven-cent loaf, focusing on a gentleman in a heavy wool coat who’s too busy scowling at the headlines to notice his t-strap heels-clad companion. The city is a loud, vibrating clutter of bobbed hair and the new mechanical whir of progress.

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

38,819 days ago

(106 years, 129 days)