The 1900’s pop culture

By: Mehru Khurshid and Kelsey Mills

Table of contents

• Background Information• Music• Dance• Fashion• Iconic Figures• Government• Art• Fads and Slang• Films and literature

Background Information

• The average life expectancy for men in America was 46 years, for women it was 47 years

• An average worker made $12.78/week for 59 hours of work• There were 115 recorded lynchings • Police had arrested a woman for smoking in public• Part of the “Second Industrial revolution”

Music

In the 1900s families got together to sing songs, many song sheets were produced and sold in this decade. In addition, another way to listen to music was to pay song pluggers, who carried pianos on their horse draw carriages. Barbershop Quartets sung every Saturday night for audiences and many Americans purchased Opera recordings. Furthermore, Ragtime had been brought out from the red light district onto the stage. The person responsible for this was Scott Joplin, who composed popular songs such as the “Maple Leaf Rag”.

During the 1900’s Broadway musicals flourished, Irving Berlin and George M. Cohan produced many spectacular shows. During this time many memorable Vaudeville songs were preformed. (Vaudeville was a type of entertainment that consisted of acts and performances that were completely unrelated, but were grouped together on a common bill.) One very famous song was, “A Bird in a Gilded Cage,” recorded by Harry MacDonough. Also, songs were sung such as “Bill Bailey Won’t You Please Come Home,” that symbolised racial prejudice in the decade.

Dance~ In the 1900’s ball room dancing had replaced

the traditional waltz, (although, the waltz was still popular with the higher class). Dances such as the Jitterbug were created and ragtime dances were widely known. Some popular ragtime dances included: the cake walk, castle walk, and the One step. Furthermore, during 1909 to the 1920’s the tango was immensely popular, as was Russian ballet. Anna Pavlova ran her own company during this time, (she’s credited as one of the most famous ballerinas in history.)

Fashion

Fashion in this decade consisted of formal outfits and flashy dresses, women wore long dresses and men were clothed in suits. Ladies were corseted to achieve a fashionable S-curve, however, there were lingerie dresses worn in hotter climates. These dresses were made of light materials, like cotton, and adorned with simple decorations. Large hats were worn by women and were stylized with flowers, ribbons and/or stuffed birds (if one could afford it.)

Men were attired in short hair, curled moustaches, bow ties for the evening and ascot ties for less formal functions. Blazers and lounge coats were also worn for casual activities. Still, for the most formal occasions only the dark tail coat and trousers would do. Men generally wore stiff bowler hats, but higher class men preferred to adorn themselves in top hats.

Iconic Figures

Government In America from 1901-1909 a president

unlike none other was elected, Theodore Roosevelt. He was the youngest president elected at the time and was widely known as a soldier, a hunter, a naturalist, as well as a politician. Theodore Roosevelt won a Nobel Peace Prize and earned himself a Medal of Honour leading the Rough Riders, (when the Spanish American war broke out.) Theodore was a very influential person in the 1900’s for the United States of America, almost like Barrack Obama is for us. Other parts of the world were also

undergoing changes in their popular culture due to the government. In China binding of women’s feet was outlawed, this was decreed by the dowager empress Tzu Hsi. London became the capital of the largest empire in the world and transportation evolved. A tram system was constructed thanks to the London City Council.

Art• Art was undergoing a revolution at this time, Pablo

Picasso and Georges Braque were heading the new art form Cubism. Cubism is an abstract form involving the reconstruction of an analyzed subject.

• Fauvism began at the start of the decade. A work of art that has strong colour over representational or real values, it emphasizes painterly qualities. Some of the well known artists of this art movement were Henri Matisse and Andre Derain.

• Expressionism is artwork that are the artists perception of the meaning of “being alive.” It’s a subjective type of art that reflects emotional angst.

Fads and SlangIn the 1900’s fads such as ping pong and speeding existed. Ping

pong was mostly played by people who couldn't afford the luxury of lawn tennis. Speeding was a dangerous motoring sport that was popular amongst males. Teddy bears were invented during this decade and they soon became very big. Both Europe and America claim to have first invented the teddy bear, regardless the product was a huge success.

A lot of the slang used in the 1900-1909’s is still used today. Here’s a list of popular expressions (that I at least) use now a days: •I have “Butterflies in the stomach”•It’s “in the bag”•He’s a “bone head”•He got “screwed” by a crafty salesman•She’s so naive, it’s like she’s “just off the boat”

There is other slang that was used but this is just a small sample of the colourful language people used to use.

Films and Literature

Films in this period were very cheap and short, they played at nickelodeons which cost 5 cents. Theses were extremely popular and sometimes played naughty films. One film that was widely known was “The Great Train Robbery,” because it was rather long (7 minutes) and it used a lot of innovative techniques.