ans veered away from traditional song anddance and began exploring other types of music such as jazz. The cheerful, light, easyfeeling accompanied with jazz music was just an extension of American feelings during the Twenties; joyous and free spirited.Americans found many ways to entertain themselves in the 1920's. They flocked to thetheaters to see such stars as Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Rudolph Valentino.Other Americans swarmed to baseball stadiums to watch such top athletes as home runslugger Babe Ruth and boxing champion Jack Dempsey.Radio also opened the doors for new entertainment such as nightly shows for audiencesto listen to. Parents and their children would sit around the radio listening to suchnightly comedy shows as "Amos and Andy". Families across the United States wouldgather around the radio to get the latest news and information from around the world.The radio gave the news hungry Americans what they wanted and took America closerto a more technologically advanced society.When the Twenties rolled around, Americans found themselves engulfed in a bolsteringeconomy. In the 1920's business was an obsession. Economic expansion createdbooming business profits which in turn raised the standard of living for most Americans.Large businesses were expanding. In 1920, for example, Woolworth had 1,111 stores. In1929 they expanded to 1,825. J.C. Penney expanded from 312 stores to 1,395,(Time-Life 102). Small business entrepreneurs took advantage of the good times asthey began popping up all over the United States. Americans were moving into a periodof economic prosperity. Even industrial workers, whose strikes for higher pay hadavailed them little in previous decades, benefited. From 1922-1929, the national incomewas up 40% from $60.7 billion to $87.2 billion, (Cronon 341). The use of labor savingmachinery in factories and on farms enabled workers to produce more goods faster andless expensively. This led to higher amounts of...
