yesterwire.comBack to search

On the date

Monday, March 1, 1920

From the day

Perspective: The Anxious Local · Sight

The morning fog clings to the iron tracks as the railroads fracture into hundreds of private units, and I fear I’ll be the fall guy left standing on a cold platform with no way home. Every headline screams of labor disputes and shifting powers, while my stomach knots at the sight of the corner store window. I handed over $0.11 for a single loaf of bread today, a price that feels like a heavy weight against my dwindling wages. Between the bobbed-hair girls in their beaded silk darting past and the static hum of those new radio stations, the world feels far too fast and much too expensive.

Memories from that day

No memories yet. Add yours if you remember this day.

The Headlines

RAILROAD SYSTEMS PASS TO OWNERS; EXECUTIVES APPEAL FOR PUBLIC'S HELP; LABOR EXPECTED TO ACCEPT SETTLEMENT; HINES TURNS OVER CARRIERS Great Federal System Breaks Up Into 230 Separate Units. DIRECTOR STAYS IN OFFICE Administration Has Hundreds of Disputes with Labor and Owners Still on Its Hands. ROADS FACE NEW CONDITIONS Must Meet Situation Caused by War and Enlarged Powers of Commerce Commission.

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

38,812 days ago

(106 years, 122 days)