So what then was the jazz age?   Downloadable Flapper Lesson Plan

                                                                                              Like these lessons? Global Citizens 

The 1920s Jazz Age was described with superlatives such as golden and roaring.  Until the crash came there was opulence and partying and JAZZ.   After The Great War old perceived social conventions broke down and there was a revolution of thought, behaviour and style.

By style we mean of music, dance, dress standards and behaviour.  It was a time of freedom and experimentation and this blatant rebellion was met with shock, and disbelief.

This new rebellious alternate generation, embraced whole heartedly what came to be called Jazz. Young men and women engaged with the new music by improvising outlandish dances, .which alienated them from the older generation The young blamed the older generation for the insanity and senselessness of the First World War.  The Charleston, One Step and Black Bottom signalled the battle lines between the young and the old.   The most famous jazzmen were Louis Armstrong,  Fats Waller and Benny Goodman.

The combination of the new music, new dances and new fashions outraged many.  It seems that contentious women of the time were called Flappers!

In the Roaring Twenties, before the great crash, people would do crazy things for fun, you can see this from the old movie footage featured above.  Marathon dances went on until everybody was exhausted.

Please see Downloadable Flapper Lesson Plan

Resources:

• So What Was the Jazz Age? The Artists Critique.
• Murphy,J. (2013) Global Citizens Creative Arts Text
• The Jazz Age.
• Press photograph from the George Grantham Bain collection