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On the date

Sunday, October 31, 1920

From the day

Perspective: The Street Photographer · Sight

The subway stairs belch a frantic crowd of wool overcoats and bobbed hair onto the damp pavement, their cloche hats casting deep shadows over their eyes like dark helmets. A young woman in a drop-waisted silk dress pauses to adjust her T-strap heels, oblivious to the newsie shouting about the city’s bursting transit lines through the autumn chill. I adjust my lens to catch the glint of the streetlights off a dandy’s "cheaters" as he whistles a jaunty rendition of John Schonberger’s "Whispering." The silver flash of my camera pops, capturing a flickering world of beaded rayon and grit before the Sunday crowd swallows the silhouette whole.

Memories from that day

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The Headlines

SUBWAYS' GROWTH TOLD IN STATISTICS; Increase of 325 Per Cent. in Number of Passengers Carried in 16 Years. EXCEEDS PROMOTERS' HOPES Riding Habit and City's Population Grow Faster Than Transportation Facilities.

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

38,568 days ago

(105 years, 243 days)