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On the date

Monday, August 30, 1920

From the day

Perspective: The Future Historian · Sight

The neon glow of the shopfronts catches the swaying beads of a silk dress, a silhouette so straight it signals a clean break from the old world's corset. I watch a real sheba pause to check her bobbed hair in a window reflection, ignoring the jarring headlines of coal strikes to marvel at a handheld electric hair dryer on display. Nearby, a man fumbles with a fresh Band-Aid on his thumb while the crackle of a KDKA broadcast bleeds into the humid air from a second-story window. The future is pulsing here, hidden in the hum of primitive radio waves and the sharp geometry of a cloche hat.

Memories from that day

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The Headlines

175,000 THREATEN HARD COAL STRIKE; Miners at Big Meeting Send Three-Day Ultimatum to President Wilson. DEMAND MINORITY AWARD Repudiate Their Officers as "Betrayers" and Say They Will Disregard Lever Law.

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

38,630 days ago

(105 years, 305 days)