Only Yesterday

An Informal History of the 1920s

Frederick Lewis Allen

• Publisher: Open Road Media
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9781504011372
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: History

A history of roaring prosperity—and economic cataclysm: "The one account of America in the 1920s against which all others must be measured" ( The Washington Post ). Beginning November 11, 1918, when President Woodrow Wilson declared the end of World War I in a letter to the American public, and continuing through his defeat, Prohibition, the Big Red Scare, the rise of women's hemlines, and the stock market crash of 1929, Only Yesterday, published just two years after the crash, chronicles a decade like no other. Allen, who witnessed firsthand the events he describes, immerses you in the era of flappers, speakeasies, and early radio, making you feel like part of history as it unfolds. This bestselling, enduring account brings to life towering historical figures including J. Pierpont Morgan, Henry Ford, Sigmund Freud, Albert Einstein, Al Capone, Babe Ruth, and Jack Dempsey. Allen provides insightful, in-depth analyses of President Warren G. Harding's oil scandal, the growth of the auto industry, the decline of the family farm, and the long bull market of the late twenties. Peppering his narrative with actual stock quotes and breaking financial news, Allen tracks the major economic trends of the decade and explores the underlying causes of the crash. From the trial of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti to the inventions, crazes, and revolutions of the day, this timeless work will continue to be savored for generations to come.

INDEX

A & P Gypsies, 143

Ablin, David, 231–232

Adams, Franklin P. (F.P.A.), 223

Adams, Henry, 70

Adams, James Truslow, 201, 205

Adams, John T., 37

Adams, Samuel Hopkins, 117

Addams, Jane, 52

Advertising:

competition and, 146–151

fashion, 303

in magazines, 163–164

radio, 143

Agricultural Marketing Act, 274, 299

Agriculture:

elections and, 261

land prices and, 246, 247–249

relief sought for, 138–139, 144, 162

supply and demand in, 299

Aiello family, 225

Alcock, Sir John William, 3, 190

Alcohol:

alky-cookers, 219, 225, 230

bootleggers, 62, 132, 216, 219–220, 223, 225, 230, 232, 309

corn sugar and, 219

speakeasies, 86, 95, 218, 219, 225, 229

women and, 10, 77, 78, 81, 86, 95–96

see also Prohibition

Aldrich, Capt. Malcolm, 69

Alien Property Custodian, 130–131, 133

Allied Patriotic Societies, 51, 52

All Quiet on the Western Front (Remarque), 275

American Academy of Arts and Letters, 199

American Can Company, 255, 276, 278, 292, 293

American Defense Society, 52

American Federation of Labor, 45, 66, 152, 213

American Hairdresser, 91

American Language, The (Mencken), 201

American Medical Association, 151

American Mercury, 153, 197, 199–200, 210

American Metal Company, 131

American Red Cross, 244

American Slicing Machine Company, 147

American Telephone & Telegraph, 255, 269, 275, 276, 293

American Tobacco Company, 146

American Tragedy, An (Dreiser), 98, 210

Amos ’n’ Andy, 307

Anaconda Copper, 255, 276, 293

Anarch...