Flappers: A Guide to an American Subculture (Guides to Subcultures and Countercultures)

164 Pages·2009·1.13 MB·English

by  Kelly Boyer Sagert

Flappers
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Guides to
Subcultures and Flappers
Countercultures
A Guide to an American Subculture
Kelly Boyer Sagert
GREENWOOD PRESS
An Imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC
Copyright 2010 by Kelly Boyer Sagert
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without prior
permission in writing from the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sagert, Kelly Boyer.
Flappers : a guide to an American subculture / Kelly Boyer Sagert.
p. cm.—(Guides to subcultures and countercultures)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-313-37690-0 (hbk. : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-313-37691-7 (ebook)
1. Women—United States—History—20th century. 2. Women—United States—Social
life and customs—History—20th century. 3. Women—United States—Social conditions—
History—20th century. 4. Nineteen twenties. 5. Popular culture—United States—History—
20th century. 6. United States—Social life and customs—1918–1945. I. Title.
HQ1420.S24 2010
305.242’2097309042—dc22 2009035383
ISBN: 978-0-313-37690-0
EISBN: 978-0-313-37691-7
14 13 12 11 10 1 2 3 4 5
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Visit www.abc-clio.com for details.
Greenwood Press
An Imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC
ABC-CLIO, LLC
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Santa Barbara, California 93116-1911
This book is printed on acid-free paper
Manufactured in the United States of America
To my niece, Erin Nicole, who is intelligent, beautiful, and athletic—
and who has inspired me countless times with her double thumbs-up
gesture and these four words: ‘‘Remember, Kelly . . . Girl Power!’’
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Contents
Series Foreword ix
Preface xi
Timeline xiii
Chapter One The Decade of the 1920s:
The Flapper Era 1
Chapter Two The First Modern Liberated Woman:
The Flapper 11
Chapter Three F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald:
The Flapper Era Personified 23
Chapter Four From Silent to Talkie: The World of Film 33
Chapter Five Prohibition in the Flapper Era 43
Chapter Six Legacy of the Era 53
Biographical Sketches 63
Glossary 105
Primary Documents 115
Selected Bibliography 139
Index 143
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Series Foreword
From Beatniks to Flappers, Zoot Suiters to Punks, this series brings
to life some of the most compelling countercultures in American his-
tory. Designed to offer a quick, in-depth examination and current
perspective on each group, the series aims to stimulate the reader’s
understanding of the richness of the American experience. Each book
explores a countercultural group critical to American life and introdu-
ces the reader to its historical setting and precedents, the ways in
which it was subversive or countercultural, and its significance and
legacy in American history. Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary
defines counterculture as ‘‘a culture with values and mores that run
counter to those of established society.’’ Although some of the groups
covered can be described as primarily subcultural, they were targeted
for inclusion because they have not existed in a vacuum. They have
advocated for rules that methodically opposed mainstream culture, or
they have lived by their ideals to the degree that it became impossible
not to impact the society around them. They have left their marks,
both positive and negative, on the fabric of American culture.
Volumes cover such groups as Hippies and Beatniks, who impacted
popular culture, literature, and art; the Eco-Socialists and Radical