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On the date

Tuesday, May 25, 1920

From the day

Perspective: The Future Historian · Sight

The sun catches the sharp, bobbed edges of a woman’s hair as she strides past a newsstand, her straight-cut silk dress shimmering like oil on water. I watch her adjust her dark cheaters against the glare, ignoring the bold headlines shouting for a revised treaty in Constantinople and the new world order. At the baker's window, she pauses to count out exactly $0.11 for a single loaf, a price that feels like a heavy anchor to the common man while empires crumble. From a nearby window, the tinny, mechanical melody of "Whispering" drifts into the street, signaling the precise moment our modern, wireless age began to take root.

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

38,727 days ago

(106 years, 37 days)