Sullivan's Travels

Sullivan's Travels

Sullivan's Travels was a film released in 1941 so just a few years after The Great Depression of the 1930s.  It was hugely successful. The two actors were Joel McCrea and Veronica Lake who were huge box office draws during this time. I've already talked about the film industry in a previous post so this is mainly going to talk about the movie and my opinion about it.

This film is very telling of America during a period where things were much more conservative and people just wanted to return to a period of normalcy. 

There are many things in this film that shows how conservative America was during this time.

First off, Joel's character and his wife are sleeping in separate beds.

Secondly, you never once see Veronica and Joel kiss at all. 

The most scandalous things during this movie were when one of the women has her legs showing when the bus is jumping around and when Veronica and Joel are sleeping together at a homeless shelter.

In the eyes of society today, that is nothing compared to what people see today in movies. There is lots of violence and plenty of sex in movies.

During the 1930s there were codes installed by the Motion Picture Association of America, this is where films get their ratings as well.  Also the Catholic Church had set aside a Legion of Decency where they got to deem which films were appropriate for audiences.

This know is a Hollywood during Code Period. There were things that could and couldn't be shown. Often times, films had to be edited in order to fit the standards of both codes.

 Sullivan's Travels overall was a great movie despite all the rules that had been placed upon it because of the time period in which it had been produced and created.

If I could, I would watch the movie again just to catch more of the historical aspects of the time. There are so many are telling of the times. I personally wished that Veronica and Joel had kissed at the end to signify that they were together and that didn't happen which was kind of disappointing to say the least.

Sexual Revolution Part 2

The Sexual Revolution Part 2

In this blog post, I will focus on homosexuality and more of the sexual revolution during the 1920s as stated in my previous post about the sexual revolution and women.

The views of homosexuality have constantly changed throughout time and the 1920s and the 1930s was no exception to this change. During the 1920s, homosexuality was very geographically specific, meaning that there were locations that in larger cities dedicated to the homosexual community and partially that continues today.

In Chicago, there is a district that was known as the red light district which was south of the loop. Even today, we know the district as Boys Town.

The views on homosexuality have continued to change throughout time itself and even today, the debate continues as more and more states begin to legalize gay marriage.  There are people who view homosexuality as sinful and that marriage should only be between a man and a woman and then there are those who view homosexuality from a neutral point.

Personally, I identify more with the LGBTQ community just because I fall into one of those letters. I think that the 1920s were a hard time to be party of that community just because everything was so conservative and people were so religious as well. Nowadays people are more open minded and religion tends to take a back burner sometimes as much as more conservative people try to throw the bible at homosexuality.

I'm personally glad things are changing for the homosexual community and I just hope that the change continues to happen and grow in a positive manner. Who knows, maybe someday all 50 states will allow gay marriage.

Sexual Revolution Part 1

Sexual Revolution Part 1

In this blog, I will be talking about the sexual revolution that began to take place during the 1920s. There will be a part 2 to this particular topic that will follow right after this post.

I'd like to think about this blog post as more of a blog post dedicated to mainly women during this period and how the sexual revolution affected them.

The introduction of birth control was huge during the sexual revolution of the 1920s.  Margaret Sanger had her clinic open for women who were looking to have abortions and have access to affordable to birth control during a period in which it was completely unheard of.

You also have the introduction of the Flapper culture. Women were were wearing their hair shorter, dresses were shorter and that continues up until the Great Depression and there is a reverse of the culture at some points.

The notion that women had to wait before marriage was slowly fading but it was acceptable for a couple to have sex before marriage if they were engaged to one another.  It's during the sexual revolution of this time that the film industry began to put up standards for their films as well but I've kind of touched based on the film industry in another blog.

Women had just received the right to vote and were definitely gaining power during this period. They were slowly becoming sexually liberated, especially with birth control being more widely available.

I think the 1920s served as a large catalyst for so much to happen. You have the boom of the film industry, the Red Scare, the Great Depression and the sexual revolution of the homosexual culture which I will talk about in my next blog post.

I think that the women during the 1920s truly set the bar for the following generations of women to come in the United States.

Film in the 1920s

Film during the 1920s

This blog post will mainly focus on film during the 1920s and partially the 1930s and there is so much to talk about during this time but I'm going to attempt to hit on a lot of the main points about film.

First off, the introduction of sound during the 1920s was a major hit. The first film with sound was The Jazz Singer in 1927 and many people believed it would be a phase. The introduction of sound to films allowed for musicals to be produced and movie studios slowly began to transition their theatres to allow for sound even though about equal amounts of silent and sound films that were being produced well into the 1930s.

Second, the film industry during the 1930s boomed and ticket sales began to double during the Great Depression.  People needed an escape during the depression from all what was going around them. The movies provided a great outlet for this. It provided an escape and a cool place to stay while the depression took hold around them and the heat during the summer.

Third, the 1920s was pre-code Hollywood. Film producers slowly began to push the limits as to what could and couldn't be shown. It was not uncommon for there to be violence and as always, sex always tended to sell.

It's not until in the 1930s were there is a code put into place in Hollywood which determined what could be shown on film and what couldn't be shown on film.

I personally believe that film was an escape as film is an escape in today's society. It's a way for people to be entertained for very little money and during the Great Depression what other forms of entertainment were there. People could sit in a comfortable movie theatre for hours and hours and forget the world around them.

I believe that the film industry is constantly changing and for some reason the 1920s and 1930s were the catalyst for creating what the film industry is today.

Herbert Hoover

Herbert Hoover

Herbert Hoover probably is best known for being the president during the Great Depression. His presidency is also probably known as one of the worst as well.

The Historical Narrative given about his presidency is that of failure and the word that immediately comes to mind is Hoovervilles which were just little shacks and towns that people who had lost their homes built on the outskirts of cities. They were made with whatever people could find and they were like little communities.

Hoover attempted many times to assure the nation that everything would be fine and that the Depression would soon be over. The interesting thing is that Hoover had a background in business so it amazes me that he wasn't more successful in his programs to bring an end to the Depression.

I think Hoover really let down the nation during this time. They were looking towards federal government to fix the problem and the federal government was looking towards the people to fix the problem.  I think there was a major stalemate and there wasn't a right solution to it all. Federal government thought that trickle down economics was going to solve the problem and the people thought that the government needed to step in more to solve the issue.

I feel like Hoover was ahead of his time as well. I feel like had he not been president during this period, he would've been a lot more successful. I think he was president at the wrong possible time and thus it made his presidency a complete failure.

Bull Market

The Bull Market 

In this blog post, I will be talking about The Bull Market and President Calvin Coolidge just before the stock market crash of 1929. 

First things, first.  President Calvin Coolidge. 

In 1928, he assured American's that business was good in his address to the union. He states that America had never met with a more pleasing prospect than that which appears at the present time."

There were things that made this statement completely true. First off, the economy was doing extremely well. It seemed like the party was never going to end. People were buying and spending. They were also buying things on credit.

Items such as cars, stoves, fridges were hot commodities during this period.

Second of all, the Stock Market was like a fantasy. It seemed like everyone could get rich off the Stock Market during this period from butchers to business men. Everyone wanted a piece of the pie.  I think this idea that people could get rich quickly added to the appeal of the market.

There has always been this ideology of America. That America was the place to go if you wanted to make money and get rich. The Stock Market definitely added to this ideology. If you wanted the American dream, you had to invest in the Stock Market.

People came to America for all sorts of reasons but one of the biggest was to make money, to become rich and the Stock Market appeal that even local people could make a lot of money.

I think that people thought the party would never end, I think that the wealth would just keep on flowing during this time and that things couldn't be more perfect. In my opinion, they were looking at the world through rose colored glasses.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end sooner or later.

Rural America

In this blog post, I will be talking about Rural America during the Great Depression.  More importantly, I will be talking about The New Deal and how Black Farmers were impacted by the Great Depression during this period.

First of all, What was the New Deal?

The New Deal was a series of acts that were put in place between 1933 and 1936. It was to attempt to relieve the pain of the Great Depression.


Black Farmers were hit the hardest during the Great Depression because they were a minority. Many minority groups were hit extremely hard during this period. I think because they were a minority and the fact that they were farmers, had a lot to do with why they were so hit hard during the depression.

Farmers themselves hadn't been doing well since World War I and it was just spiral downhill from there that they continued to go down. People weren't buying and things weren't selling. People just didn't want to do business with them at all and the New Deal did nothing to relieve their struggles and in fact only served to throw them more under the bus.

It's not until after the Great Depression that they slowly start to rise back up.

I do believe that their heritage had a lot to do with why people didn't want to do business with them but I also believe that industrialization during this time had a lot to do with it as well. People no longer were looking to be farmers, they were moving to larger cities and suburbia began to take place in America during this time. There were just a lot of factors that took place in the fall of farming during this period.

Sacco and Vanzetti Part 2

In my first blog post about Sacco and Vanzetti, I talked about the basics of the trial of Sacco and Vanzetti, In this blog post, I will be focusing more on the impact the trial made and what followed after the trial itself as well as my own opinion on the verdict.

So the whole trial of Sacco and Vanzetti stirred up a lot of debate in the United States and there would be another trial later on in the decade that would spark just as much debate. That case would The Scopes Trial but that's for another blog post.

In the Sacco and Vanzetti case, each man had to recount their anarchist beliefs in court and it wasn't that hard for the jury to find them guilty for their crimes.There were many appeals after this but to no avail. 

There were protests in many countries on their behalf for those who truly believed in their innocence but also were anarchists themselves and these protests were too no avail. The two men were eventually sentenced to death.

After they were put to death, there were riots that occurred in various places and there's been debated on whether or not they were executed because of their Italian heritage and anarchist beliefs.  

I personally believe they were wrongly tried for their crimes and the time period in which they lived in played a huge part as to how the verdict came out to be. It was time where there was much going on from The Red Scare to just getting out of a war to pure chaos. I don't think America was quite ready for such a trial. I think because the Red Scare had been taking a hold of in American society, I think it just served to fuel the fire for this trial and hence why the trial was just made so huge and blown to such a large proportion.

People in America during this time needed something else to focus on besides The Red Scare alone.

The Scopes Trial

The Scopes Trial 

The Scopes Trial was probably one of the most famous trials of the 20th century.  It was known as The State of Tennessee V.S. John Thomas Scopes

It refers to a legal case in which John Scopes was accused of violating Tennessee's Butler Act which made it unlawful to teach human evolution in any state-funded school.

Scopes was found guilty and fined 100 dollars but the verdict was overturned on a technicality.

The case funded the Fundamentalist-Modernist controversy regarding what was appropriate to be taught in school. 

During the 1920s, America was very conservative.  America was very church going. I think the Scopes Trial was simply a way for America to start talking about something else.  The 1920s were filled with The Red Scare and the idea that Communists were going to take over the United States.

Being that America was so conservative, I think the Scopes trial really was the one case that kind of lit everyone into a stir of sorts because a lot of people during that time were church going, very religious people. 

The Scopes Trial got people talking again about something after The Red Scare.

I almost feel like the United State purposefully blows things out of proportion to create a stir. The Scopes Trial wouldn't have made such a stir if it had occurred today due to so much else going on. But there needed to be something after The Red Scare for America to talk about and debate about and The Scopes Trial was the perfect thing for this.