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On the date

Sunday, July 4, 1920

From the day

Perspective: The Future Historian · Tactile

The July heat prickles against my skin, tempered only by the slick, cool sensation of my beaded rayon chemise as I press through the sweltering convention crowds. My fingers idly smooth the coarse yarn hair of a Raggedy Andy doll, a tactile reminder of the domesticity these bickering politicians claim to protect while they shout baloney about dark horse candidates. I duck into a corner shop, the rough paper of a bakery bag scraping against my palms as I drop $0.11 for a loaf of bread, feeling the weight of a changing world in that simple copper exchange. The grain feels gritty and real, unlike the ethereal whisper of the new jazz tuning in over the wireless or the hollow promises of men in smoke-filled rooms.

Memories from that day

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The Headlines

LEADERS BUSY IN RECESS; Managers Seek to Make New Combinations or Hold Fast Their Lines. COX MEN REBUFF ADVANCES Insist McAdoo Is Eliminated and It Is Their Man or a Dark Horse. CABINET MEMBERS ACTIVE Fight the Ohio Governor Because His Leaders AreMostly Anti-Wilson. Cox Said They Would Stick. LEADERS BUSY IN RECESS Anti-Cox Forces Voted Recess. Reported McAdoo Move. Cox Men Had Plans Ready. Palmer Predicted a Deadlock. Small Changes on Early Ballots. Taggart and Murphy Go Over. Governor Cox Climbs Steadily.

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

38,687 days ago

(105 years, 362 days)