Gliided Age Essay - 4498 Words

The 1920’s in the United States was a decade of great change, often called the roaring twenties. With the end of World War One America was entering a new era, the United States was quickly becoming a major player in global affairs after the world war, it was becoming an economic powerhouse, and its influence grew in general. Things at home were also quickly changing as traditional values were quickly going out of fashion. The twenties saw both a rise in consumerism, and a change in values. Sports was becoming increasingly important in the new mass culture which was emerging in the 1920’s, and among the most popular sports was the game of baseball, but why was it one of the biggest spectator sorts of this decade? This paper will argue that baseball was one of the most popular spectator sports during the twenties because baseball like American culture was becoming obsessed with excess and prosperity and this was seen in the new style of baseball which emerged in the twenties, in the game’s top player, Babe Ruth, and in how the game changed to meet the demands of the masses. First this paper will look at the changes which occurred during the twenties and then contrast them with similar developments in baseball. The twenties were a time of great change in the United States, a lot of old American values were quickly changing during this decade. Americans in general were acting out much more on their inhibitions; the 1920’s were a decade of sexual liberation. This is seen in the literature of the time, for example in The Great Gatsby when Nick discovers that Tom has a mistress he is not really surprised by this. Fitzgerald’s novel shows how sexual standards have changed as Nick does not really seemed to be phased that Tom is sleeping around even though he is married. Freud’s writings were seen as liberating during this time period, Freud put sex at the forefront of everything, and many people felt that being more open sexually was liberating. The twenties were therefore a decade in which sexuality was becoming freer; it was out in the open as seen in Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby. It would not just be sexuality which would change during this decade, and many areas of American life would become more liberalised. This was also an era of prohibition but it would just go to prove that a large portion of America no longer really cared about restrictions. Although alcohol could not be made during the twenties there would be a lot of illegal smuggling of alcohol which the government simply could not deal with as it was so widespread people simply loved their alcohol. There was a feeling like prohibition was causing more problems than it solved, there was a lot of other side crime which would go along with smuggling , such as a rise in prostitution, and a rise in corruption, alcohol was simply too difficult to regulate. Alcohol could not be regulated, and sexuality was liberated during the same period, this was an era in which inhibitions simply no longer mattered, America was shaking off whatever seemed to inhibit it, whether it was the law preventing liquor, or old values which restricted sex. Not only was America acting on inhibitions but the role of money was also on the rise during the twenties. The twenties would also be a decade of great wealth in the United States. The twenties would be a decade in which business would be glamorised, the government would not interfere too much in this decade, and it seemed possible to make easy money on the stock market at the time. The Great Gatsby once again provides some good insight into the celebration of money which was going on at the time as seen in the mentality of the Nick, “I decided to go East and learn the bond business. Everybody I knew was in the bond business, so I supposed it could support one more single man”. Once again money’s importance in society is shown in Gatsby, when Jay Gatsby is reflecting on whether his love interest Daisy ever loved her husband, “She

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