WELCOME TO
NEW YORK CITY
You have just arrived in New York City, year 1920. We are now in the era known as "The Roaring Twenties"! This was a time where the Big Apple became the center for culture, consumption and mass consumerism as industries boomed- whether it was finance and the economy, to underground and organized crime, to infrastructure and society, to music, art and literature. It was supposed to be a decade long celebration of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, but with the stock market crash of 1929, the world would enter The Great Depression and the gleaming lights of the "city that never sleeps" would go dark in an instant.
It was the turn of the decade, WWI had finally ended and people from all over were flocking to America to "get in" on all the action and... MONEY. Women had found a new outlook on life and wanted to break free of societal norms and contruct, following a new and rebellious style of the Flapper. Short bobbed hair, dramatic makeup, short sleeveless beaded dresses, headbands, and a cigarette as the main accessory.
A new generation of wealth had allowed for people to have excess money to spend. Lavish parties, fine clothing and jewelery, alcohol and automobiles were among the main vices. Although the Prohibition was in full effect, that did not dismay or keep people from gathering in speakeasies and secret clubs all over the city, where you can booze, schmooze and dance the night away.
The Roaring 1920s was also known as the "Jazz Age". Black Americans from the deep racist South, moved their whole lives and families to
Times Square 1920Sights to See: Times Square, The Apollo Theater, The Cotton Club, Gatsby's Mansion | People To Meet:F.Scott & Zelda Fitzgerald, Josephine Baker, Louis Armstrong, Babe Ruth, Charlie Chaplin, Clara Bow, Langston Hughes, Duke Ellington & Albert Einstein | Sounds to hear:"I'll Be Seeing You"- Billie Holiday, "It Don't Mean A Thing"- Duke Ellington, "Puttin' on the Ritz"- Leo Reisman & Orchestra |
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