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On the date

Saturday, December 4, 1920

From the day

Perspective: The Future Historian · Sight

The neon glow of the theater marquee catches the flash of beaded silk and the sharp, drop-waisted silhouettes of women darting through the winter chill. I watch a young sheba adjust her cloche hat while the fox-trot melody of John Schonberger’s "Whispering" drifts from a nearby window, its smooth tempo signaling the dawn of a streamlined, mass-producible century. She disappears into a side door, likely searching for a glass of giggle water to toast the "Dollar Princess" arriving in Greece. This is the precise moment where old-world royalty meets the new-world industrial hum of the radio age.

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

38,534 days ago

(105 years, 209 days)