Category: Development
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Tenting on the New Camp Ground
As more cars entered consumers’ hands, by summer 1922, Americans were driving across the country for vacations and trips at at unprecedented level. This New York Times Magazine article described the phenomenon, as seen on highways and roads: Turns into any trans-continental highway, the Lincoln or the Dixie, the old trails of New York and New…
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Pocket Flask and Younger Set
By the second year of Prohibition, a generational divide had emerged: young people used hip flasks to consume alcohol, while older people mostly did not. Something has really happened to cleave the Young Generation of today from the generations that have gone before it. Something specific has happened in the history of sociology to mark…
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The Rising Tide of Immigration
World War I had significantly reduced U.S. immigration. But by 1920, “they are pouring in as they have not done since 1914,” an article that year wrote. “For America is not merely the land of freedom now. It is the land of peace.” “As it is, nearly thirty thousand immigrants are being handled at Ellis Island…
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Brand of the Movies on Babies’ Names
As motion pictures gained popularity in the 1910s and 1920s, baby names changed based on the most popular characters and stars. The Social Security Administration (SSA) tracks the popularity of baby names over time, starting in 1900. After this quote, I track the the trajectories of some of the names which proved popular around 1920.…
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Population Centre Moving East, Cities Lead
Several questions about U.S. population trends loomed over the 1920 Census. Here they were, along with their ultimate answers. Are we entering on a new period in which our proportionate increase in population will be less than in the past? Yes. The growth rate between 1910 and 1920 was +14.9%, the lowest on record up…
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Project to Make Great Lakes Another Mediterranean
Should the five Great Lakes be connected for transportation and navigation, like the Panama Canal? In 1920, it was being seriously debated. Pro: the economics. New exports would be developed. Our export of coal is in its infancy. The United States is said to have half of the world’s coal. It will be called for…
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First Woman Magistrate Judges Fallen Sisters
In 1919, Jean H. Norris became the first female judge in New York City history. But her name isn’t celebrated today, because in 1931 she was disbarred and removed from the bench. Upon first rising to the position, Norris’s promotion was trumpeted: The first few rows of the courtroom were filled with women. A few…
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Putting American Women “On Another Footing”
A 1919 campaign sought to end high heeled shoes for women. Clearly, it didn’t work. No other country except China has set itself up seriously as a rival to America in the business of mutilating women’s feet, and China has reformed. Footbinding is obsolete there, or at least obsolescent. In the United States footbinding by…
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Plans for a Roosevelt Memorial at Oyster Bay
Mere months after President Theodore Roosevelt’s 1919 death, memorials were planned at his home in Oyster Bay, New York and also Washington, D.C. Interestingly, this 1919 article about the man refers to him more than once as “Colonel Roosevelt,” despite his having served as president. This implies the military title was considered the higher honor,…
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The World Metropolis: New York or London?
In 1919, London’s long-held title as “the world metropolis” was threatened by the sharp rise of New York City. Which would win out? There are a few ways to measure this. By population, it looked like greater New York would soon overtaken Greater London around 1932. Indeed, today the NYC metropolitan area is much larger…
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