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On the date

Wednesday, May 5, 1920

From the day

Perspective: The Street Photographer · Sight

Adjusting my lens, I catch a dame in a beaded silk shift and a velvet cloche hat; she’s truly the cat’s pajamas as she struts past a newsstand shouting about Colby’s fight against the Knox proposal. The morning sun glints off her T-strap heels, a sharp contrast to the gritty shadows of the subway entrance where a busker is endlessly whistling "Whispering" by John Schonberger. I snap the shutter just as a gust of wind catches a discarded Raggedy Andy doll in the gutter, its red yarn hair matted with city soot. Nearby, a shop window displays those new electric hair dryers, their chrome finishes gleaming like the silver pocket watches of the men debating the Senate’s certain veto.

Memories from that day

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The Headlines

COLBY BACKS FIGHT ON KNOX PROPOSAL; Tells Democrats Peace Resolution Is Likely to Draw Criticism from Allies. VETO DECLARED CERTAIN Debate Begins in Senate Today and Passage Is Likely in Two Weeks.

Read in The New York Times →

Best-selling Sheet Music

Whispering

John Schonberger

The must-have

Raggedy Andy

On This Day

  • Authorities arrest Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti for alleged robbery and murder.

    Wikipedia →

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

38,747 days ago

(106 years, 57 days)