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Vintage photos show what life looked like in the 1920s

Girls perform the Charleston dance in the 1920s.
Women at a cafΓ© in Paris, circa 1920.

Hulton Archive/Getty Images

  • Life in the 1920s was defined by many cultural, political, and economic developments.
  • Jazz music and flapper fashion defined the era's sound and look.
  • The Harlem Renaissance brought popularity to art created by Black Americans.

The Roaring Twenties β€” now 100 years ago β€” looked vastly different than our world today.

Coming after a war-torn decade where military efforts redefined women's role in society, the 1920s saw a period of cultural and social realignment.

The decade brought artistic, cultural, and technological advancements in the form of jazz, new voting rights, radio, and more. But while the decade is best known for its glitz and glamour, there's a darker side to its history, too, that includes many of the same societal issues the world continues to grapple with, like racism, sexism, and wealth disparities.

Take a look at these vintage photos that show society's progress, the simple pleasures we all still enjoy, and where we can look to improve in the next century to come.

Suffragettes rallied for women's right to vote in America.
Suffragette Protesting 1920
A flag and ballot box supporting women's suffrage.

Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

On August 18, 1920, the 19th Amendment was ratified, granting women the right to vote. However, the law largely applied to white women, as Black women, Indigenous women, and other women of color were prohibited from voting for many decades to come.

Suffragettes across the US celebrated the moment the 19th Amendment was ratified.
suffrage 19th amendment
Women wave American flags to celebrate the ratification of the 19th Amendment.

Bettmann/Contributor/Getty

Here, a photographer captured celebrations after the newly ratified 19th Amendment in August 1920.

Women also broke tradition with short hairstyles, which defined the look of the Roaring Twenties.
Woman getting her hair cut in the 1920s.
Many women opted for getting their hair "bobbed" during the decade.

PhotoQuest/Getty Images

With the rise in women's liberation movements came a wave of modernist short hairstyles.

Luxe fabrics, flapper girl silhouettes, and art-deco style dominated the fashion world.
1920s fashion
A woman wearing a fur coat and hat in the '20s.

Popperfoto via Getty Images/Getty Images

In the Roaring Twenties, fashion was characterized by fringe, loose fabrics, and glamorous details. The garments differed immensely from the athleisure and street style-inspired looks that fill clothing racks today. But as fashion historians explain, trends are cyclical β€” '20s-inspired clothes could (and will likely) make a comeback into mainstream fashion again.

Swimwear became more form-fitting.
Two women at a beach.
Two women at a beach in the early 1920s.

Universal History Archive/Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Prior to the 1920s, women's bathing suits often included stockings and full-length skirts.

With an increase in popularity in water activities, the decade saw a rise in swimwear fashion styles with less fabric, making it more comfortable for wearers to swim.

Wedding-dress styles from the '20s included ornate headpieces.
wedding dresses 1920
Brides and grooms gathered in the St. George Church on Christmas Day in 1920.

Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images

Brides Magazine reported that beaded headbands were common additions to wedding gowns during the Jazz Age, as were dresses with high necklines and cape- or flutter-style sleeves.

The decade also marked a new era of automobile advancements.
chrysler car 1920s style fashion
A woman with a Chrysler vehicle, circa 1920s.

Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images

The 1920s are often looked at as one of the most influential decades of automobile advancements.

The Model T vehicle defined much of the 1920s β€” it was sold until 1927.
model T 1921 tudor san francisco car
A Ford Model T descending a hill in San Francisco, circa 1921.

Underwood Archives/Getty Images

The Model T was sold by the Ford Motor Company 1908 until 1927, per History.com. The vehicle was the earliest effort to make a modern car that was affordable to the masses.

As explained by the History Channel, the Model T was so affordable that it helped rural Americans connect to other parts of the country, which eventually led to the creation of the numbered highway system that's known throughout the US today.

Long before Uber and Lyft, cabs were stylish vehicles.
woman gets into cab 1920s car
Cabs looked a tad different than they do now.

Dick Whittington Studio/Corbis via Getty Images

Here, a woman was photographed outside a cab vehicle in Los Angeles, circa 1925.

The shift from rural to urban living was prominent in the 1920s.
Aerial view of lower Manhattan, New York City, 1923.
Aerial view of lower Manhattan, New York City, 1923.

FPG/Staff/Getty Images

The US Census Bureau reported that the 1920 census marked the first time over 50% of Americans reported living in urban areas compared to rural ones.

Public transportation advancements gave people new ways to travel around cities.
london tube entrance 1924 subway station
A London Underground entrance.

Topical Press Agency/Getty Images

Pictured here is a subway entrance in London, circa 1924. Transport for London reported that the city's Underground was the first subway in the world, having opened in 1863.

Beyond underground trains, rail trains were also a central part of life in the 1920s.
train travel 1920s
Rail trains were a popular mode of transportation in the 1920s.

JHU Sheridan Libraries/Gado/Getty Images

Here, a group of employees stand in front of a train in 1920.

Train travel in the 1920s was often comfortable and glamorous compared to the cramped cars that many commuters know today.
new york rail commuters 1920s
Commuters on a train, circa 1920s.

Historica Graphica Collection/Heritage Images/Getty Images

Train travel was arguably its most glamorous from 1910 through 1950.

However, much of public transportation has stayed the same over the decades, like the realities of crowded bus and subway stops.
1920s chicago group of people bus stop
Waiting at the bus stop.

Kirn Vintage Stock/Corbis via Getty Images

Here, a group of people wait to board a bus in Chicago around 1925.

Fire engines in the 1920s looked much more ornate than today's modern, large trucks.
fire truck pittsburgh
Firefighters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, circa 1920.

Underwood Archives/Getty Images

Here, members of a fire department in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, were photographed around 1920.

Cruise ships were often extravagant.
cruise ship 1920 fancy dinner dance
Passengers dance on the Saturnia ship.

Touring Club Italiano/Marka/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Here, passengers onboard the Saturnia ship partake in an evening dance in the 1920s. The Saturnia was an Italian liner that sailed until the 1960s. Along with its sister ship, Vulcania, it was among the first large transatlantic liners driven by diesel engines, the Italian Liners Historical Society reported.

Prohibition banned the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcohol within the US until 1933.
prohibition 1920s
People by a Prohibition sign reading, "No booze sold here."

Ullstein Bild/Getty Images

Prohibition went into effect in 1920 with the 18th Amendment. Until it was repealed in 1933, the law greatly impacted American culture and society, giving way to organized crime and speakeasies.

Prohibition led people to create speakeasies, or secret bars where they could drink in private.
1920s speakeasy
A speakeasy cellar, circa 1920.

Bettmann / Contributor

Here, people drink at a speakeasy around 1920.

In the 1920s, drugstores weren't only places to pick up prescriptions β€” they were also soda and candy counters.
drug store chemist
Frankfurt Pharmacy in Rosemead, California, in 1927.

Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Drugstores weren't just places to grab quick convenience items like they are today; they were central gathering spots in the community. At a 1920s-era pharmacy, customers could sit at the counter and enjoy a root beer float or an egg cream.

These pharmacies of a bygone era were much more ornately decorated β€” with marble countertops and beautiful light fixtures β€” than the fluorescent lighting-clad drugstores of today.

General stores were the go-to spots for workers, food, and household items.
general store 1920s
A group of people gathered in a small general store, Utica, Mississippi, circa 1920.

Underwood Archives/Getty Images

General stores became less common after the 1920s, but throughout the decade, they were still popular for various goods for farmers and industrial workers, as well as equipment and food.

Schools for young students around 1920 were typically large classrooms that fit as many pupils as possible.
kids students classroom 1920s
Young students in a classroom, circa 1920.

JHU Sheridan Libraries/Gado/Getty Images

At the time, classrooms and schoolhouses were designed to hold as many students as possible to maximize space.

But in the 1920s, more educators and administrators started to support "progressive" schools that were built to house programs that were new at the time, allowing more open-air, light, and access to outdoor activities, per a 2012 report from the National Institute of Building Sciences about school design.

The `1920s saw the birth of historic figures, such as Queen Elizabeth II, who was born in 1926.
Queen elizabeth II in 1929
Queen Elizabeth II (then Princess Elizabeth) with her grandmother in 1929.

Edward G. Malindine/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images

Here, the Queen β€” then known as Princess Elizabeth β€” was pictured in 1929 at a train station, apparently on the way to the family's Sandringham Estate for Christmas.

Prominent civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was also born in the 1920s.
Martin Luther King Jr. delivering a speech at UC Berkeley's Sproul Plaza in 1967.
Martin Luther King Jr. delivering a speech at UC Berkeley's Sproul Plaza in 1967.

Michael Ochs Archives/Stringer/Getty Images

He was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta and became one of the most important figures in the Civil Rights Movement during the '50s and '60s.

A hundred years ago, the Charleston was the dance of choice.
charleston dance 1920s man woman
The iconic Charleston dance move.

Bettmann / Contributor

Here, two people photographed around 1926 do the Charleston dance.

The moves came from a song in the Broadway show "Runnin' Wild."
girls dancing the charleston in harlem 1920
A group of girls dancing in Harlem, New York City, circa 1920s.

NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images

Per the Charleston County Public Library, it became a mainstream dance after the musical's release in 1923 and defined the rest of the decade.

Jazz music was the most popular genre of the decade.
louis armstrong
American jazz musician Louis Armstrong poses on stage with a band for the WMSB radio station in New Orleans, Louisiana, 1920s.

Transcendental Graphics/Getty Images

Jazz music dominated 1920s culture in America thanks to popular musicians like Louis Armstrong.

The genre was a key feature of the Harlem Renaissance, which encompassed music, literature, and art created by Black Americans.
Left to right: Honore Dutrey, Baby Dodds, King Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Lil Hardin, Bill Johnson, and Johnny Dodds.
King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band in Chicago circa 1923. The band included Honore Dutrey, Baby Dodds, King Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Lil Hardin, Bill Johnson, and Johnny Dodds.

JP Jazz Archive/Contributor/Redferns

The National Museum of African American History and Culture reported that after the end of the Civil War, the Great Migration brought over 100,000 Black Americans from a wide variety of backgrounds to Harlem, New York City.

Throughout the 1920s and '30s, Black creatives across disciplines shared their art en masse, documenting what it was like to be Black in America during a period known as the Harlem Renaissance.

Iconic works from the likes of Nella Larsen, W.E.B. Du Bois, Zora Neale Hurston, and more were all produced during this era.

However, throughout the 1920s, Black people continued to face barriers like segregation, discrimination, and even violence.
Segregated waiting rooms in Rosslyn, Virginia, circa 1928.
Segregated waiting rooms in Rosslyn, Virginia, circa 1928.

Bettmann/Contributor

In the photo above, the waiting room on the right was designated for "Colored" individuals while that on the left was for white people.

Segregation was a prominent aspect of life in the US following the Civil War, especially in the South where Jim Crow laws were harshly enforced.

Other minority groups also faced discrimination. Below are Japanese "picture brides" who immigrated to the US in 1920 to marry American men as a result of exclusionary immigration laws.
Japanese picture brides having their passports investigated by members of Congress in 1920.
Japanese picture brides having their passports investigated by members of Congress in 1920.

Bettmann/Contributor

Immigration from Japan to the US was largely limited during the 1920s as a result of the 1907 Gentlemen's Agreement.

However, it had an exception for Japanese wives of current American residents, which led to the practice of American men choosing Japanese women to be their wives solely based on photos.

Many of the Japanese "picture brides" faced discrimination, spousal abuse, and poor living conditions upon arrival to the US, Women & the American Story reported.

Such marriages were made illegal by the 1924 Immigration Act, which barred any immigrant who wouldn't be eligible for citizenship from coming to the US.

People of Asian descent were denied full US citizenship until the 1950s.

The year 1920 also saw the first Olympic Games since before World War I.
1920 summer olympics antwerp belgium
Swimmers at the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp, Belgium.

Bob Thomas/Popperfoto via Getty Images/Getty Images

After the 1916 Olympic Games were canceled due to World War I, the 1920 summer Olympics were set in Antwerp, Belgium, as a way to honor "the suffering that had been inflicted on the Belgian people during the war," the OlympicsΒ reported.

It was also the first year the Olympic Rings symbol was publicly displayed.

Back then, sporting equipment like tennis balls, footballs, and other athletic gear was often handmade.
Tennis sports 1920s
Workers carried freshly manufactured tennis balls.

General Photographic Agency/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Here, people carry newly manufactured tennis balls.

In the 1920s, athletic wear was very different from the nylon pants we're familiar with now.
sports 1920s
A football team lined up for a portrait in Winchester, Kentucky, 1921.

Underwood Archives/Getty Images

Pictured here, a football team poses in sporting uniforms at Oliver High School in Kentucky in 1921.

Gym class appeared much more elegant in the '20s than it is today.
gym class in 1920s
People throwing balls in sync in a 1920s gym class.

Time Life Pictures/Mansell/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images

This looks way more sophisticated than a sweaty game of kickball.

Horse races were a ritzy leisure activity that often involved fabulous outfits and hats.
fashion 1920s
A woman wearing a voluminous feather hat at a horse race.

Topical Press Agency/Getty Images

Here, people attend a horse race at Ascot RacecourseΒ in Ascot, England, around 1920.

In the 1920s, a trip to the fair became a popular pastime. Fairgoers could go for a spin on the carousel ...
people enjoy a fair ride in 1920
People enjoying a fair attraction, circa 1920.

Central Press/Getty Images

Carnivals and state and county fairs in the US were popular summertime activities during the early 20th century.

... or make a go-around on bumper cars.
dodgem bumper cars 1920
People ride bumper cars, circa 1925.

Kirn Vintage Stock/Corbis via Getty Images

USA Today reported that Coney Island's Luna Park is believed to have had one of the first bumper car attractions.

Coney Island in Brooklyn represented a new era of entertainment at the turn of the 20th century in America.
coney island 1920s
Advertisements at Coney Island, circa 1920s.

Irving Browning/The New York Historical Society/Getty Images

Coney Island was an iconic part of the early 20th century that transformed how Americans spent their free time.

Here, groups of couples competed in a dance contest at the Coney Island boardwalk.
coney island couples dancing
People dancing at the Coney Island boardwalk, circa 1928.

Bettmann / Contributor

The Brooklyn park gave locals and visitors new ways to stay entertained and spend time with one another in the form of roller coasters and rides, animal exhibits, and a lively boardwalk and beach.

Here, women competed at a patriotic-looking beauty pageant at Coney Island.
miss coney island 1920s
Women at a Miss Coney Island pageant.

Bettmann / Contributor

Miss Coney Island 1924 and 1925, respectively, appeared to stand on the Coney Island boardwalk sometime during the mid-1920s.

Long before the days of Instagram, photographers captured the moment at county fairs.
people at a fair photographer 1920
All smiles at a county fair, circa 1920.

H. Armstrong Roberts/Retrofile/Getty Images

This snapshot from around 1920 shows fair attendees having their picture taken.

Spending time at the beach in the '20s sometimes meant catching shrimp with huge nets, apparently.
swimming 1920 family
A family at a beach around 1920.

The Montifraulo Collection/Getty Images

Around 1920, a family was photographed at a beach in Germany holding up shrimping nets.

Silent films dominated the movie industry in the 1920s ...
silent film
The filming of a German silent film in the 1920s.

ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images

The National Endowment for the Humanities reported that the silent film era began in 1894 and continued through the 1920s. Before there were "talkies," audiences were dazzled by films starring actors like Charlie Chaplin and Clara Bow.

... but the decade also saw the transition to the "talkies," or movies with spoken dialogue.
the jazz singer scene 1927
A scene from "The Jazz Singer," 1927.

John Springer Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images

In 1927, "The Jazz Singer" became the first feature-length movie to feature dialogue scenes, marking a transition from the silent film era, per the Museum of Modern Art.

The World reported that the first film (that wasn't a feature-length movie) with talking scenes was actually created in 1898 by Alice Guy-BlachΓ©.

As film began to include sound, musical movies captured the hearts of audiences.
movie filming 1920
A shot from the filming of a movie with dancers, circa 1920.

Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Musical movies produced in the late 1920s, like "Broadway Melody," continued to push "talkies" into the mainstream.

Vaudeville, which consisted of short acts of dancers, musicians, magicians, and comedians, was also a popular form of entertainment.
The Dolly Sisters Vaudeville performance entertainment in 1920s
The Dolly Sisters were German Vaudeville performers.

adoc-photos/Corbis via Getty Images

The Dolly Sisters, pictured here, were famous vaudeville performers in the early 20th century.

Another iconic vaudeville production during the 1920s was the Ziegfeld Follies, PBS reported, which preceded the modern Broadway musical and helped launch the career of many theatrical stars of the time.

Leo, the lion that became a symbol of MGM Studios, made his debut in 1927.
leo lion mgm filming 1920
The first MGM lion was named Leo.

Bettmann / Contributor

MGM's first lion named Leo was shown on screen in 1927, per The Hollywood Reporter.

Circus shows also featured animals 100 years ago.
1920s circus elephant
A woman is held up by elephants at a circus in 1926.

ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images

In the almost 100 years since this photo was taken, some states in the US have banned the use of animals in circuses, while others have enacted partial bans.

The famous Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus show, "The Greatest Show on Earth," shut down in May 2017 after 146 years of shocking the nation with its acrobatic and animal performances. It reopened five years later, but without animals.

In recent years, changing attitudes toward animal rights, as well as high operating costs of shows, and declining attendance rates, have led to the demise of the circus.
coney island women with pigs
Women outside of a circus in New York.

Bettmann / Contributor

Here, women are photographed holding pigs outside of a circus in New York around 1920.Β 

Before modern conveniences like central air conditioning, people found creative ways to stay cool in the summer, like this group of women who appeared to be sitting on a chunk of ice.
women cool off on ice 1920s
A group of women on a golf course, circa 1920.

Library of Congress/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images

Willis Carrier invented the first air conditioner in 1902, but it wasn't until 1929 that Frigidaire introduced a unit that was suitable for use in homes, the US Department of Energy reported.

Any curiosity about what was going on in the world required a look at the daily newspaper.
newspaper
Josephine Baker reading a newspaper in 1928.

Bettmann/Contributor

People relied on newspapers for local, national, and global updates, as well as advice columns, entertainment, and other stories.

The world's first commercial radio broadcast was made in 1920.
frank conrad radio braodcast kdka
Frank Conrad, the founder of KDKA radio station.

Bettmann/Contributor/Getty Images

The Pennsylvania Center for the Book reported that Pittsburgh radio station KDKA produced the world's first radio broadcast on November 2, 1920.

Frank Conrad is known as the "father of radio broadcasting" for inventing the first station, which was located in his garage.

Throughout the '20s, radio continued to expand, changing the way people received the news, communicated, and connected with pop culture.
First Black Radio Station Operator
Rufus P. Turner was a student at the Armstrong Technical High School.

Library of Congress/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images

Per MIT Black History, Rufus P. Turner was the first Black radio station operator. He began operating his station, W3LF, in Washington, DC, in 1928.

Telephones looked just a tad different from the smartphones we know today.
woman using telephone 1920s
A woman uses a mobile-type telephone in London, circa 1920.

Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images

Phones of the 1920s and '30s were characterized by their rotary dials and "spit cup" receivers.

Being a switchboard operator was a common job for many women in the early 1920s.
1920s telephone switchboard operators
Telephone switchboard operators, circa 1920.

GraphicaArtis/Getty Images

Being a switchboard operator often required saying the phrase "number please" hundreds of times per hour for eight hours a day, according to a 1922 op-ed in The New York Times, as cited by Time.

Kitchen appliances were much different than they are now.
cooking school 1920s kitchen
Women at the Soho School of Cookery in London in the 1920s.

FPG/Getty Images

The beginning of the 20th century brought many advancements to the home β€” from gas ranges to the advent of refrigerators, which became commonplace in homes by the 1920s β€” but kitchens certainly didn't have the multi-functional, high-tech gadgets many homes are equipped with today.

While much has changed in the past century, from cars and technology to pastimes, many of the simple pleasures of life have remained constant, like getting ice cream from a snack stand ...
kids ice cream soda stand paris 1920
A summer day in Paris.

Harlingue/Roger Viollet via Getty Images

Here, kids were photographed at a soda stand on a street in Paris around 1920.

The only thing that would make this sweeter was if Coca Cola still cost a nickel.

... and catching up with good company at a cafΓ©.
cafe paris circa 1920
Women at a cafΓ© in Paris, circa 1920.

Branger/Roger Viollet via Getty Images

Here's to all the changes and all the lasting pleasures of the next 100 years.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Vintage photos show what American car manufacturing looked like 100 years ago

1914: Flywheel production at the Ford motor plant in Highland Park, Michigan.
1914: Flywheel production at the Ford motor plant in Highland Park, Michigan.

Hulton Archive/Getty Images

  • Gas-powered automobiles were first invented in Europe in the late 1800s.
  • Innovative manufacturing techniques allowed the US to dominate the car industry.
  • Photos from 100 years ago show how it looked like to work in car factories.

Auto manufacturing didn't always look like the automated process it is today.

Since the invention of the first gas-powered car with a combustion engine in 1885 by Germany's Karl Benz, the car manufacturing industry has found ways to make production faster and cheaper.

In 1903, Henry Ford established the Ford Motor Company in Detroit, Michigan. High demand for his signature vehicle, the Model T, led the manufacturer to innovate techniques that improved production, like the use of moving assembly lines inspired by the agricultural industry.

Later in the century, there was a rise in overseas car manufacturing and by 2024, nearly half of the cars purchased in the US were produced abroad. As such, President Donald Trump's newly proposed 25% tariffs on imported cars is shaking up the market, threatening higher costs for manufacturers and customers.

Take a look back at what American car production looked like a hundred years ago, when domestic manufacturers like Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler dominated the industry, and what it looked like to be on the assembly line for workers.

Early car manufacturing resembled the making of bicycles and carriages.
CHASSIS PAINT SHOP, CLEVELAND, OHIO, 1900.
Chassis Paint Shop in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1900.

Archive Holdings Inc./Getty Images

In the US, the earliest car manufacturers were metalworkers, blacksmiths, and the makers of bicycles and carriages, according to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.

In the early 20th century, over 100 companies throughout the country were building small numbers of cars.
Hudson Motor Car Co., Detroit, Mich., between 1900 and 1915.
Hudson Motor Car Co., Detroit, Michigan, between 1900 and 1915.

Heritage Art/Heritage Images via Getty Images)

The cars were powered by electric, steam, and gas.

The Ford Model T was introduced in 1910.
Picture shows women working on an early outdoor Ford assembly line, 1910.
Women working on an early outdoor Ford assembly line in 1910.

George Rinhart/Corbis via Getty Images

By 1910, Henry Ford had introduced the next model of his in-demand automobile, the Model T, and William Durant had founded his company, General Motors, per History.com.

Henry Ford established manufacturing production in Michigan.
Photograph of the Ford Motor company production line. Detroit. Usa 1910.
The Ford Motor company production line in Detroit in 1910.

Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Henry Ford had big plans for improving how his cars were manufactured, so he constructed a new plant in Highland Park, Michigan, in 1910, helping to establish the state as the industry's home, according to the company's history.

Ford's innovative assembly line technique sped up production times.
1913: Workers on an assembly line inside the Ford Motor Company factory at Highland Park, Michigan, constructing steering systems.
Workers on an assembly line inside the Ford Motor Company factory at Highland Park, Michigan, constructing steering systems.

Hulton Archive/Getty Images

At his plant, Ford innovated mass-production techniques with his moving assembly line, which was first used in 1913.

The assembly lines were inspired by agricultural techniques.
1913: Ford's first moving assembly lines at Highland Park.
Ford's first moving assembly lines at Highland Park, Michigan, 1913.

Hulton Archive/Getty Images

His innovation was inspired by conveyor belts he'd seen in grain warehouses and assembly lines in slaughterhouses, according to Ford's website.

The moving assembly line meant the car moved to the employee rather than the other way around.
1914: Workers constructing a Model-T engine on an assembly line in a Ford Motor Company factory.
Workers constructing a Model-T engine on an assembly line in a Ford Motor Company factory.

Hulton Archive/Getty Images

The vehicle was initially pulled into place by a rope β€” later, a chain β€” so the car could be built step-by-step.

The assembly line dramatically reduced production times for the Model T.
View of a portion of the assembly line for Model T automobiles at a Ford manufacturing plant (probably the one in Highland Park, Michigan), 1913.
View of a portion of the assembly line for Model T automobiles at a Ford manufacturing plant, 1913.

Underwood Archives/Getty Images

With the moving assembly line, his Model T could be built in only 93 minutes, a dramatic decrease from the 12 hours it previously took, according to Ford.

The new assembly lines led to workers quitting en masse.
1914: Flywheel production at the Ford motor plant in Highland Park, Michigan.
Flywheel production at the Ford motor plant in Highland Park, Michigan.

Hulton Archive/Getty Images

The innovation also made employees' jobs more repetitive and tedious β€” like those pictured making flywheels β€” and they began quitting in droves.

In response, Ford raised wages.
1917: Factories of the Ford cars in Michigan, USA.
Factories of the Ford cars in Michigan, 1917.

Boyer/Roger Viollet via Getty Images

In 1914, Ford doubled wages to $5 per eight-hour day, which is about $150 in today's money, per The Bureau of Labor Statistics. This competitive wage and its impact on productivity helped the middle class thrive, NPR reported.

Changes in labor dynamics led to the creation of more jobs.
NEW FORD MOTORCARS GROUPED IN WAREHOUSE, 1925.
New Ford Motorcars grouped in a warehouse, 1925.

Archive Holdings Inc./Getty Images

A shorter workday also allowed Ford to create a third shift, and the plant was able to hire more workers and essentially make the company a 24-hour operation, according to Ford.

Ford was one of the first companies to implement a 40-hour work week.
Assembly line production of the Model A at a Ford automobile plant in Detroit, Michigan, 1927.
Assembly line production of the Model A at a Ford automobile plant in Detroit, Michigan, 1927.

ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images

By 1926, the Ford Motor Company would become one of the first companies in the US to implement a five-day, 40-hour work week in its factories, History.com reported.

The popular Model T car was phased out by 1927.
Workers on a motor car production line at a factory, USA, circa 1930.
Workers on a motor car production line at a factory, circa 1930.

Herbert/Getty Images

Ford halted production of its Model T in 1927, by which time 15 million units had been sold.

The three biggest car manufacturers were founded in Michigan, which became an industry hub.
1927: The production line at a Ford motor factory in Michigan, USA.
Michigan, 1927.

Hulton Archive/Getty Images

By the 1920s, Ford, Chrysler, and General Motors β€” all founded in Michigan β€” would be known as the Big Three automakers.

In 1929, three manufacturers produced 80% of the industry's output.
Factory workers assembling an engine in the body of a car, USA, circa 1930.
Factory workers assembling an engine in the body of a car, circa 1930.

Frederic Lewis/Getty Images

By 1929, the Big Three were responsible for 80% of the industry's output, History.com reported.

Big manufacturers dominated the industry by the 1930s, leaving smaller manufacturers behind.
Manufacturing Of Transmission Items Of The American Buick Cars In The General Motors Factory In Detroit, USA around 1930
Manufacturing of transmission items of the American Buick cars in the General Motors factory in Detroit around 1930.

Keystone-France/Getty Images

By the 1930s, smaller manufacturers were going out of business, unable to keep up with the large-scale production of the Big Three.

Car manufacturing factory lines thrived during the 1930s.
Overhead view of a motor car production line at a factory, USA, circa 1930.
Overhead view of a motor car production line at a factory, circa 1930.

Welgos/Getty Images

Photos from the 1930s show how the production line continued to thrive in America's car factories. That decade, European car makers adopted the same processes.

Women entered the car manufacturing industry en masse during World War II.
A woman braces with her foot to operate an axle lathe at a car wheel manufacturer in Buffalo, New York. The company began employing women for the war effort when its men went to fight. April, 1943.
A woman braces with her foot to operate an axle lathe at a car wheel manufacturer in Buffalo, New York, in April 1943.

CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images

More than 6 million women stepped up in response to the shortage of male labor during World War II. In the car industry, the population of female employees increased from 28,300 in October 1941 to 203,300 by November 1943, according to The University of Michigan-Dearborn.

By 1947, Ford employed over 120,000 people in the US.
Automobile workers putting the finishing touches to 1947 models of the Mercury, one of three automobiles manufactured by the Ford Motor Company, at the company's River Rouge Complex in Dearborn, Michigan, 1947.
Dearborn, Michigan, 1947.

Keystone Features/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Here, workers are putting the finishing touches on the 1947 models of the Mercury, one of three cars made by Ford at the time, at the River Rouge Complex in Dearborn, Michigan.

That year, the company employed over 120,000 people in the US, according to the company's annual reports.

Assembly line production maximized the output of car factories.
Ford workers put the finishing touches to the Custom Deluxe as they roll off the production line of the Ford assembly plant at Dearborn, Michigan, circa 1950. The vehicles have reached the end of the 1,000-foot assembly line, capable of producing 500 new cars in an eight-hour shift.
Dearborn, Michigan, circa 1950.

FPG/Archive Photos/Getty Images

Ford workers in Dearborn, Michigan, are photographed finishing the Custom Deluxe at the end of the assembly line, which could produce 500 cars in a single, eight-hour shift.

By the 1950s, a few manufacturers made the vast majority of cars in the US.
Section of body of car on assembly line at Nash Automobile Factory, November 1, 1950.
Section of the body of a car on an assembly line at Nash Automobile Factory, November 1, 1950.

Jerry Cooke/Getty Images

In 1955, General Motors, Chrysler, American Motors (Nash-Hudson), Ford, and Studebaker-Packard were making 99.7% of all cars, The Saturday Evening Post reported.

Imported cars didn't become common until decades later.
Imported cars arriving in New York, 1940.
Imported cars arriving in New York in 1940.

Keystone/Getty Images

In the 1960s and 1970s, the practice of importing foreign-manufactured cars began to rise. The trend continued through the end of the century and until today, when nearly half of cars purchased in the US are imports from foreign countries, as reported by the BBC.

Read the original article on Business Insider

55 vintage photos show what life was like for women in the 1920s

12 March 2025 at 07:58
A woman smiled and held her lipstick and a stencil used to provide the perfect Cupid's Bow in 1925.
Exaggerated Cupid's Bows were a popular beauty trend in the 1920s.

Keystone View/FPG/Getty Images

  • In the 1920s, some women's lives changed radically due to the introduction of new rights and jobs.
  • The 19th AmendmentΒ was ratified in August 1920, and some women voted in the November 1920 election.
  • Societal changes were reflected in fashion, which incorporated shorter, looser skirts and dresses.

The 1920s brought huge changes for women. During World War I, they proved they could handle the jobs left by men who'd gone to war; the right to vote helped solidify some women's new position in society; and the fashion pendulum swung away from constricting corsets and bustles toward shorter, looser dresses and skirts.

However, despite this period of immense change, American beliefs surrounding race remained firmly rooted in the past. Black, Asian, Latina, and Indigenous women were still subjected to overt racism, violence, and prejudicial lawmaking that hindered β€” and even barred β€” their access to the rights and privileges afforded to many white women.

Before the Great Depression hit, it was also a time of great prosperity, but only for a select few: In 1928, the highest 1% of families earned almost a quarter of all pretax income, the Pew Research Center reported. Thus, the Roaring Twenties were marked by the juxtaposition of the glitz and glamour of Gatsby's New York City and the harsh realities often overlooked throughout history.

In honor of Women's History Month, here are 55 photos that offer a glimpse at what life was like for women in the 1920s.

The 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote, was passed more than 100 years ago, although it would be many decades before all women could vote.
Women in the early 1920s sitting around a table that has a "Votes for Women!" banner across it.
The 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920.

Underwood Archives/Contributor/Getty Images

The women's rights movement reached a national scale after the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention, in which leaders Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott spoke on the need for women's suffrage.Β 

When the 19th Amendment was ratified in August 1920, it largely benefited white women.

Voter intimidation and discriminatory policies kept many Black women from the polls. The government also often denied Native American and Asian-American women citizenship, so they were also unable to vote.Β It wasn't until the Voting Rights Act of 1965Β andΒ voting rights amendments in 1975 that some Black women and other women of color were finally able to cast their ballots.

The 19th Amendment's passage was the result of nearly 100 years of protests.
A suffragette standing next to a National Ballot Box in 1920. Above the ballot box is a sign that reads, "Women of America! If you want to put a vote in in 1920 put a ($0.10, 1.00, 10.00) in now." She also appears to be holding a flag.
Suffragettes protested for the right to vote.

Hum Images/Contributor/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Women protested for their right to vote for nearly a century before the amendment was finally passed in 1920.

Those who protested faced arrest, jail time, and harassment in their efforts to secure women's rights.

These were some of the first women to cast their ballots, just a few months after it became legal in 1920.
Women casting their first votes for president in November 1920, New York City.
Women cast their first votes for president in November 1920, New York City.

Bettmann/Contributor/Getty Images

They voted in the 1920 election for either Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge on the Republican ticket or James Cox and Franklin Delano Roosevelt on the Democratic ticket. Harding won by a landslide and became president in 1921.

Women in London also protested for their right to vote.
Labour Party Vice President Susan Lawrence, left, in front of a group of women protesting for the right to vote in London. Another woman holds a large sign that reads, "We want an equal franchise votes for women from 21 years."
Women rally for the right to vote in London, 1920.

Keystone-France/Contributor/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images

Women's suffrage in Great Britain was put into law differently than in the United States, The Independent reported. The country saw two stages of granting women the right to vote: the 1918 declaration of suffrage for women, and then the declaration of full suffrage for women in 1928.

The 1918 declaration was highly exclusionary, only allowing women over the age of 30 who were married to members of their local government register.

It was only in 1928 that women were granted equal voting rights to men, allowing women over the age of 21 to cast a ballot.

Women both supported and protested Prohibition 100 years ago.
A group of people in a car protesting Prohibition. The car is decorated with a sign that reads, "I'm no camel I want beer!"
Women supported and protested Prohibition.

Archive Photos/Getty Images

Though the Women's Christian Temperance Union was behind the movement that sparked Prohibition, there were also women against the alcohol ban.

Female bootleggers were often far more successful than men at the time, reported "Whiskey Women" author Fred Minnick, because it was illegal for male officers to search women.

Here, a woman demonstrates how to use a Prohibition-era book, which was made to hide a liquor flask.
A split image of a woman with a Prohibition era book showing how it hides a liquor flask.
A woman with a Prohibition-era book that hides a liquor flask.

Bettmann/Contributor/Getty Images

In addition to using devices like this, women would hide bottles of liquor in their socks or under their jackets to smuggle alcohol.

In addition to being excellent bootleggers, some women enjoyed drinking, too.
A group of four women drinking bottles of liquor in 1925.
Women drinking liquor in 1925.

Kirn Vintage Stock/Contributor/Corbis via Getty Images

Prohibition lasted nationwide from 1920 to 1933, but that didn't stop these ladies from enjoying a drink in 1925.

Women had been working members of society for years.
Black women in uniform attending the Marcus Garvey rally in Harlem.
Black women in uniform attend the Marcus Garvey rally in Harlem.

George Rinhart/Corbis via Getty Images

Georgia Ann Hill Robinson was the first Black female police officer appointed to the Los Angeles Police Department, and possibly the country, in 1916. She worked for the LAPD for 12 years, and fought against segregation and for women's welfare.

Many women took jobs as switchboard operators, answering telephones and connecting calls.
A group of women operating a switchboard in 1925. Another woman stands behind them, watching.
Switchboard operators, circa 1925.

George Rinhart/Corbis via Getty Images

Before the job became popular for women, teenage boys worked as the first switchboard operators, History.com reported. However, they reportedly proved to be too rude and unruly, and bosses brought in women instead, believing them to be naturally more polite and soft-spoken.

Other women worked in manufacturing jobs, like at this tennis-ball factory.
Workers, one man and five women, carrying trays of freshly manufactured tennis balls.
Workers carried freshly manufactured tennis balls.

General Photographic Agency/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

World War I saw the first time that factory jobs, previously viewed as male positions, were taken over by women in the US.

This woman also worked in manufacturing, at a milk bottling plant.
A woman at a milk bottling plant in the 1920s.
A woman at a milk bottling plant in the 1920s.

Fox Photos/Getty Images

Women began doing all sorts of jobs in the 1920s, per CCSU. They ran drill presses, did welding, operated cranes, used screw machines, and many other jobs that required heavy machinery.

Factory work was often long and tedious, requiring workers to do the same task all day, every day.
Women in York, England, weighing and packing Rowntree Fruit Pastilles in 1923. They all wore white dresses.
These women weighed and packaged Rowntrees Fruit Pastilles.

Heritage Images/Contributor/Getty Images

These women spent their days weighing and packing candies in York, England.

Life on the farm was difficult for women, too.
A woman holding a chicken while sitting on a stool in front of a chicken coop, 1925. Other chickens are seen on the ground.
Some families in the Midwest produced eggs in addition to fruits and vegetables.

Kirn Vintage Stock/Contributor/Getty Images

In the 1920s, farms still didn't have electricity, plumbing, or heating and cooling, PBS reported. Despite the hardship, families in the Midwest focused on growing fruits and vegetables, while also producing eggs and meat.

This young woman in 1925 was operating a plow.
A woman operating a plough in 1925.
A woman operated a plow in 1925.

Paul Thompson/Stringer/FPG/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Farmers across the US struggled to make a profit throughout the 1920s as a result of overproduction and the subsequent drop in prices. With farmers unable to pay their debts, "between 1920 and 1932, one in four farms was sold to meet financial obligations," theΒ Library of Congress reported.

Though slavery was abolished in 1865, Black women were still not afforded many of the same opportunities as white women.
Women, men, and children picking cotton in Texas.
Women and men pick cotton in Texas.

FPG/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

As pictured above, many Black women in the South picked cotton to make ends meet.Β 

A study indicated that two in three Black women from Black landowning families were involved in cotton farming in the 1920s.

The 1920s were a part of the segregation era in the South, in which Black women faced discrimination at work.
Black female construction workers in the South holding wheelbarrows of materials.
Black female construction workers in the South.

FPG/Getty Images

Black women were often barred from working in the same jobs as white women, like these construction workers pictured above.

Segregation, both de jure and de facto, continued to exist into the 1960s and we can still see its legacies today.

These women worked in a lumber yard in Louisiana.
Four Black women holding pieces of lumber at a lumber yard in Louisiana, circa 1925.
Some women worked in a lumber yard.

FPG/Staff/Archive Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

The Louisiana lumber boom lasted from about 1880 to 1925, resulting in 4.3 million acres of trees being cut down, the Louisiana Forestry Association reported.

Other working women included the Black Cross Nurses, established in 1920 and modeled after the Red Cross.
Black Cross nurses in a parade through Harlem during the world convention of the Universal Negro Improvement Association.
Black Cross nurses in a parade through Harlem during the world convention of the Universal Negro Improvement Association.

George Rinhart/Corbis via Getty Images

Henrietta Vinton Davis established the Black Cross Nurses in 1920 as a part of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League. They offered health services and hygiene education to Black members of the community.

At the time, hardly any nursing programs would admit people of African descent and many health facilities provided unequal care to Black patrons, an issue that persists today especially in maternal health care. The Black Cross Nurses became key figures for civil rights.

Black women also faced racist acts of violence, like during the Tulsa Race Massacre in 1921.
A woman rides on the back of truck during the Tulsa Race Massacre in 1921.
A woman rides on the back of a truck during the Tulsa Race Massacre in 1921.

Greenwood Cultural Center/Contributor/Getty Images

In early 1921, the Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma was home to an affluent Black community who ran newspapers, churches, and scores of businesses and was known as the "Black Wall Street." By June 1, it would largely be burned to the ground in "the single worst incident of racial violence in American history," per the Oklahoma Historical Society.

Although the exact details remain lost to history, it's believed that on May 30, 1921, a Black man named Dick Rowland stepped on the foot of a white woman named Sarah Page when he entered the elevator of the Drexel Building. Page screamed and the town quickly exaggerated their tellings of the incident, leading to an attempted lynching of Rowland that night.

An altercation at the courthouse led the unsuccessful, angry members of the white mob to riot and attack Black people and their businesses. The Tulsa Historical Society and Museum reported that 35 city blocks were burned down in the attacks, possibly killing as many as 300 people and injuring more than 800.

In Japan, women were also working in factories. Here, they're seen protesting unfair working conditions.
Japanese women holding a demonstration to protest low wages paid to female factory workers.
Japanese women hold a demonstration to protest low wages paid to female factory workers.

Mansell/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images

In 1918 and 1919, there was a surge in protests at textile mills in Japan, where women demanded shorter working hours and wage increases. They were receiving far less money than their male counterparts, and they were doing important work like constructing war uniforms, for which there was huge demand at the time.

Women began to take cooking positions outside the home.
Women taking a cooking class in the 1920s; each of them stood by their own stove and wore white coats over their dresses.
Women at the Soho School of Cookery in London in the 1920s.

FPG/Getty Images

Though women were perceived as cooks, the role was relegated to the home, rather than a restaurant. However, the 1920s began to see women studying to be professional chefs.

Many women worked as homemakers. Their lives were slowly made easier by new technologies, like the dishwasher.
A woman demonstrating how to use one of the earliest dishwashers.
A woman with one of the earliest dishwashers.

Bettmann/Contributor/Getty Images

Though the first practical dishwasher was invented in 1886 by Josephine Cochrane, The Independent reported, they did not become popular in homes until the 1920s.

The introduction of permanent plumbing in homes made machines like dishwashers possible, though they were expensive and only found in the homes of wealthy families.

Driving afforded women a freedom and mobility they hadn't before experienced.
A woman sitting in a car wearing a polka dot dress. A wide-brimmed hat sits on the seat next to her.
A woman in her car in 1927.

General Photographic Agency/Getty Images

In 1909, 22-year-old Alice Ramsey (not pictured) became the first woman to drive across the continental United States, in part to prove that women were capable behind the wheel, the Smithsonian reported.

Women 100 years ago also knew how to have fun.
Dorothy Kelly, Virginia Hunter, Elaine Griggs, Hazel Brown, and Mary Ka Minsky laughing and sitting on a large block of ice on a golf course in 1920.
Dorothy Kelly, Virginia Hunter, Elaine Griggs, Hazel Brown, and Mary Ka Minsky laughing and sitting on a large block of ice on a golf course, circa 1920.

Library of Congress/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images

These women are seen cooling down on a block of ice on a hot summer day. Bikinis were not yet popularized, so these outfits were likely the most skin women in the 1920s would be seen showing.

Dancing was a popular pastime for adults and children alike.
A group of Black girls smiling and dancing in Harlem, New York City, in 1920. They wore coats and hats.
A group of girls dancing in Harlem, New York City, circa 1920.

NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images

The 1920s was the first decade to see free and unbridled movement on many dance floors. Dances called the Charleston, the Black Bottom, and the shimmy were all highly popular.Β 

Women who went dancing at late-night parties were referred to as "good time girls."

One of the most famous women 100 years ago was Josephine Baker, who was known for her singing and dancing.
Josephine Baker posed sitting down with her leg extended. She wore an elaborate ruffled dress that was on the floor all around her.
Josephine Baker in the early 1920s.

Keystone-France/Getty Images

The National Women's History Museum reported that Baker first became known in the US for her Vaudeville shows, but she really became a star when she moved to Paris. Baker's shows became famous for her African-inspired dance moves, her singing, and her elaborate costumes.

She was a key figure in the French Resistance during World War II as well as an activist for civil rights in the US. Although she died in 1975, Baker became the first Black woman to be buried in France's PanthΓ©on, the country's highest honor, in 2021.

Actress Mary Pickford led the silent-film era.
Mary Pickford (front center) and other Warner Brothers' actresses posed for a photo at her tea party in 1928.
Mary Pickford (front center) was one of the most popular movie stars of her generation.

John Springer Collection/Contributor/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images

The Oscars described Pickford as the definition of a "movie star," known best for her work throughout the silent film era with movies like "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm," "Stella Maris," "My Best Girl," and "Sparrows."

She was a founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and in 1930 was the recipient of the second Oscar for best actress.

Clara Bow was nicknamed "The It Girl."
A photo of Clara Bow resting her head on her hands circa 1928.
Clara Bow was one of the most popular actresses in Hollywood in the 1920s.

John Kobal Foundation/Contributor/Getty Images

She starred in the first best picture winner, "Wings," alongside Charles Rogers and Richard Arlen, and was widely known as a popular movie star throughout the decade.

You may also recognize her name from Taylor Swift's 2024 album, "The Tortured Poets Department," which had a song titled "Clara Bow."

Tennis was a popular sport for women.
Helen Willis playing in the Wimbledon final in 1924.
Helen Wills playing in the Wimbledon final in 1924.

The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images

Wimbledon opened its famous courts to women in 1884. Here, American Helen Wills competed against Brit Kitty McKane in the 1924 Ladies' Singles Final.

Sporting outfits were definitely different from what we know today.
Kitty McKane and Suzanne Lenglen posed together after their women's singles final at the French National Hard Court Championships in 1925. They wore loose-fitting white shirts and long white skirts to compete. They also each wore thick headbands.
French tennis champion Suzanne Lenglen, right, was known for her provocative tennis fashions.

Topical Press Agency/Stringer/Getty Images

Though modest by today's standards, French tennis star Suzanne Lenglen, right, was known for her provocative style on display above.

The International Tennis Hall of Fame reported that Lenglen was first female player to forgo bulky undergarments and was known for wearing tops that displayed her bare arms and silk dresses that were trimmed above her calf. Coupled with painted nails, red lipstick, bobbed hair, a tendency to drink alcohol between sets, and a winning record, Lenglen was "a rare and fascinating champion."

Swimsuits were different, too, as seen on these women in the 1924 Miss Coney Island pageant.
Marcella Miller, Kathryn Ray, and Agnes Leonard at a Miss Coney Island pageant in the 1920s. Ray wore a sash that read, "Miss Coney Island 1925" and Leonard wore a sash that read, "Miss Coney Island 1924."
Marcella Miller, Kathryn Ray, and Agnes Leonard at a Miss Coney Island pageant in the 1920s.

Bettmann/Contributor/Getty Images

The first swimsuits were actually made of wool, as other materials like nylon and elastane weren't yet invented.

Not only were their swimsuits different, so were views on tanning.
A group of men and women on a cruise ship in 1920. Many of the women wore large wide-brimmed hats.
Women on a cruise ship in 1920.

The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images

It wasn't until the 1920s that tanning became popular. The Guardian reported that fashion designer Coco Chanel "may have inadvertently" created the trend with a photo showing her stepping off a cruise ship in Cannes after too much sun. The image was in every paper and created a new standard of beauty.

Exercise was often a group event.
Wives of the members of the Philadelphia Elks organization working out. The nine women all hung from a bar with their knees raised at a 90 degree angle, while a man stood nearby.
Wives of the members of the Philadelphia Elks organization work out at the club gym.

Underwood Archives/Getty Images

Stretching, rather than vigorous exercise, was viewed as the ideal method for women's bodies and health, Byrdie reported.

Stationary bikes and rowing machines were also invented in the 1920s, along with the Vibro-Slim, a machine with a vibrating belt that was meant to reduce belly fat.

They also participated in exercise fads.
A woman riding a 1920s mechanical bull while two women stood nearby and watched.
Women riding a mechanical bull in the 1920s.

Bettmann/Contributor/Getty Images

Before the mechanical bull became a fun attraction at a bar, it was invented to train rodeo competitors. In the 1920s, it became a popular exercise fad after women realized it could help tone their abs and strengthen their core.

They also used very simple rowing machines to work out.
Helen Chadwick smiling and using a 1920s rowing machine.
Helen Chadwick used a rowing machine in the 1920s.

Bettmann/Contributor/Getty Images

Here, movie star Helen Chadwick used the rowing machine to stay fit.Β 

Baseball was a popular sport for men and women. Pictured is Barnard College's baseball team practicing in 1925.
Barnard College's baseball team training in 1925 as others watched nearby.
Barnard College's baseball team training in 1925.

General Photographic Agency/Stringer/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

With New York Yankees stars like Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, it's no surprise that the sport attracted the attention of both men and women in the city.

Women would go on to make their mark in baseball in the following decades, with 60 playing in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League during World War II, the National Baseball Hall of Fame reported.

American women were allowed to compete in swimming at the Olympics for the first time in 1920.
US Olympic swimmers Aileen Riggin, Gertrude Ederle, and Helen Wainright posed in uniform.
US Olympic swimmers Aileen Riggin, Gertrude Ederle, and Helen Wainright.

Library of Congress/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images

Women's swimming was the first aerobic sport accepted by the International Olympic Committee, according to USA Swimming, and was first introduced at the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm.

Pictured are US Olympic swimmers Aileen Riggin, Gertrude Ederle, and Helen Wainwright.

Ethelda Bleibtrey won three gold medals at the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp.
Ethelda Bleibtrey at the 1920 Olympics wearing a Team USA swimsuit.
Bleibtrey won three gold medals in swimming.

Bettmann/Bettmann Archive/Getty Images

Bleibtrey won all three women's swimming races, including the 100-meter freestyle, 4x100-meter relay, and the 300-meter freestyle, per the Olympics.

Just one year prior, she had been arrested at Manhattan Beach for taking off her stockings before swimming, an act considered "nudity." However, outrage from her arrest sparked a change in "acceptable" swimwear β€” women no longer had to wear stockings β€” and Bleibtrey was not penalized.

The Harlem Renaissance was a major period for Black literature, art, and music. Poet and critic Jessie R. Fauset was a key figure.
A photograph of poet and critic Jessie Redmon Fauset in 1920.
Poet and critic Jessie Redmon Fauset in 1920.

Library of Congress/Contributor/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images

After graduating from Cornell University with a degree in classical languages in 1905, Fauset spent time as a teacher before turning to writing in 1912.

Poets.org reported that she wrote poems, essays, and reviews for the NAACP's magazine, The Crisis, for seven years before becoming literary editor.

During the 1920s, Fauset introduced the world to legendary writers like Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, and Anne Spencer while also publishing her own novels "There Is Confusion" and "Plum Bum."

Jazz music was popularized during the 1920s.
Joe "King" Oliver and his Creole Jazz Band posing in 1922. The band included: Johnny Dodds, clarinet; Baby Dodds, drums; Honore Dutrey, trombone; Louis Armstrong, second trumpet; King Oliver, lead trumpet; Lil Hardin, piano; and Bill Johnson, banjo.
Lil Hardin, Louis Armstrong's wife, played piano for King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band.

Bettmann/Contributor/Getty Images

Lil Hardin Armstrong (pictured above) was just one of many women who would influence jazz music from the 1920s on.

The New York Times reported that Hardin helped her future husband Louis Armstrong become band leader of King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band; she also served as his first manager and was a pianist and frequent co-composer.

"Empress of the Blues" Bessie Smith was a popular blues and jazz singer during the Harlem Renaissance.
A closeup of Bessie Smith smiling in 1925.
Bessie Smith was the highest-paid Black entertainer of the time.

Edward Elcha/Michael Ochs Archives/Handout/Getty Images

The National Museum of African American History and Culture reported that Smith was mentored by "Mother of the Blues," Ma Rainey, who taught her how to navigate the music industry and capture an audience's attention. Smith signed a record deal with Columbia Records in 1923, releasing "Down-hearted Blues," a major hit.

Smith became the highest-paid Black entertainer of the time and she recorded with iconic jazz musicians like Sidney Bechet and Louis Armstrong.

The Great Depression caused Smith's career to be cut short, and she later died from injuries sustained in a car accident in 1937.

Beauty standards can be seen through women's popular fashion at the time.
A woman in the 1920s shows off the decade's classic fashion, which included a headband, loose dress, and long chain necklace..
A woman in the 1920s shows off the decade's classic fashion.

Photo byΒ Edward Steichen/CondΓ© Nast via Getty Images

1920s female fashion was characterized by loose fabrics, lots of fringe, and glamorous jewelry and details. Hair cut short into a bob was also popular, as seen in the woman above.

Among the wealthy, large brimmed hats with fringe and long pearl necklaces were popular accessories.
A woman at an Ascot horse race wore a loose, short-sleeve dress, a long necklace, and a ruffled, wide-brimmed hat.
A woman at an Ascot horse race, circa 1920.

Topical Press Agency/Getty Images

Long, straight skirts with low waists were the dominant style.

The loose skirts and dresses were very different from the constricting clothes of the previous decades, and were far more movable and comfortable.

Flappers and showgirls show another facet of 1920s female beauty.
The Dolly Sisters on stage in the 1920s. They wore elaborate, detailed costumes and headpieces.
The Dolly Sisters were German Vaudeville performers.

adoc-photos/Corbis via Getty Images

Art Deco style and Gatsby-esque outfits were also popular for 1920s women. Showgirls and Vaudeville performers would dress up in decadent velvet and satin dresses, with pearl and gem details throughout.

Zelda Fitzgerald, wife of author F. Scott Fitzgerald, was a popular flapper.
Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald posing together in 1926.
Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald in 1926.

Photo12/Contributor/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Zelda was a major influence on Scott's writing, with the couple drawing lots of public attention throughout the 1920s. A writer and painter, too, Zelda's first and only novel, "Save Me the Waltz," was released in 1932.

Unfortunately, her life was largely cut short after being diagnosed with schizophrenia (now understood as bipolar disorder) and committed to sanatoriums. She died at age 47.

Fur coats and soft, form-fitting hats were also in style.
Two women sit at an outdoor cafΓ© table in Paris in 1920.
Women at a cafΓ© in Paris, circa 1920.

Branger/Roger Viollet via Getty Images

Though they were popularized 100 years ago, there are plenty of vintage outfits like these that are still trendy today.

But women also got dressed up for fun, as seen through these women and their Halloween costumes.
Women in the 1920s dressed up for Halloween; one is wearing a witch mask and carrying a broom while the other appears to hold a basket for candy that resembles a cartoon head.
Women in the 1920s dressed up for Halloween.

George Rinhart/Corbis via Getty Images

1920s Halloween costumes were more about inspiring fear than dressing up as celebrities and TV characters. Clowns, ghosts, and witches were all highly popular costume choices back then.

Elizabeth Arden's products became a key part of 1920s beauty standards.
Elizabeth Arden in 1922 at the Southampton Fair and Circus.
Elizabeth Arden in 1922 at the Southampton Fair and Circus.

Bettmann/Contributor/Getty Images

Elizabeth Arden helped popularize makeup β€” once believed to be exclusively for movie stars β€”for the masses in the early 1920s. Arden started a marketing campaign that helped create the idea that wearing makeup was "appropriate and even proper," per the Library of Congress.

By 1925, Arden had salons open around the world in cities like New York, Paris, and London.

Dark-red lips with an exaggerated cupid's bow was a popular beauty trend of the time.
A woman smiled and held her lipstick and a stencil used to provide the perfect Cupid's Bow in 1925.
Exaggerated Cupid's Bows were a popular beauty trend in the 1920s.

Keystone View/FPG/Getty Images

Beauty companies even made stencils, like the one above, to help women achieve the perfect Cupid's Bow.

Nail polish became popular, too.
A'Lelia Walker, daughter of Madame C.J. Walker, getting her nails done in the 1920s.
A'Leila Walker, daughter of Madame C.J. Walker, got her nails done at one of her mother's beauty shops in the 1920s.

George Rinhart/Contributor/Corbis via Getty Images

Though the first nail salon in the US was opened in the late 1870s, nail polish began to really take off in the 1920s, Byrdie reported, thanks to the work of brands like Cutex and what would later become known as Revlon.

Wedding dresses from the 1920s were inspired by the modern, shorter style.
Captain W Howard Green and Irene Harman were married in London in 1928. Harman wore a mid-length white gown with a long veil. Her bridesmaids are seen in the background in matching dresses.
Captain W Howard Green and Irene Harman's wedding in London, 1928.

London Express/Getty Images

Wedding dresses followed the 1920s style: They were short, like the flapper dresses, with form-fitting bucket hats.

These brides and grooms gathered to get married on Christmas Day, which used to be a tradition.
A large group of brides and grooms at St. George Church on Christmas in 1920.
Brides and grooms gathered in the St. George Church on Christmas Day in 1920.

Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images

It used to be popular to have weddings on Christmas Day in Britain, as churches would hold nuptials for brides and grooms every year. It was often the only time that working class couples could get married, as they'd have Christmas and Boxing Day off.

Another key part of American society was the impact of immigration. Shown below are Japanese "picture brides" who immigrated to the US in 1920 to marry American men.
Japanese picture brides lined up at Angel Island in 1920.
Japanese picture brides faced many hardships in the US.

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The 1907 Gentlemen's Agreement limited immigration from Japan to the US, but it had an exception that Japanese wives of current American residents could enter the country. This exception started a system where men would choose Japanese wives based on their pictures alone.

These "picture brides" immigrated between 1907 and 1924, and faced many hardships. Many of their husbands were older and poorer than the women anticipated, and the wives faced spousal abuse in addition to societal racism fueled by anti-Asian sentiments, Women & the American Story reported.

The 1924 Immigration Act ended the practice, as it barred any immigrant "who by virtue of race or nationality was ineligible for citizenship," per the US State Department. People of Asian descent were denied full citizenship based on laws dating from 1790 and 1870.

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Immigration policies of the 1920s heavily favored migrants from northern Europe.
A group of immigrant women doing embroidery on Ellis Island in 1920.
Immigrant women doing embroidery on Ellis Island in 1920.

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In 2015, the Pew Research Center reported that in the 1920s, the US government enacted quotas reducing the number of immigrants granted entry. The first quota on immigration was passed in 1921 and allowed only 350,000 total immigrants; this was decreased to 165,000 in 1924. Nationality quotas were also imposed on Europeans.

The quotas were largely fueled by xenophobic fears toward Southern and Eastern European migrants, who'd come to the US during the second wave of migration from 1890-1919.

Meanwhile, immigration from most countries in Asia was already prohibited.

Prior to the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act, passed in 1965, 70% of the quota visas available belonged to residents of Ireland, Germany, and the UK, the Pew Research Center reported.

Indigenous women throughout the US were subject to racist violence and prejudicial laws.
A portrait of an Osage woman and her three children circa 1918-1922.
Portrait of an Osage woman and her children circa 1918-1922.

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Women of the Osage Nation were among those targeted and killed by William K. Hale and his accomplices in the early 1920s.

The Osage Nation reported that Hale and his associates are believed to be connected to more than 20 killings, though there were more than 60 murders total from 1920 to 1925. The killings were motivated by Hale's desire to inherit money held by the Osage people from the oil boom.

The tragedy was the subject of Martin Scorsese's Oscar-nominated film "Killers of the Flower Moon."

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