t, granted their wish by winning a Nobel Prize for playwriting.American painters took care of an America of dreams and realities. Edward Hopper depicted the loneliness of American life in his paintings of empty streets, simple storefronts, and solitary people. Hopper attended the Ashcan school of painting, which was known for painting everyday realities. Georgia O’Keeffe painted intense colored canvases that show the magnificence of New York. She painted dark buildings piercing into the sky, the glaring sun reflecting from windows as high as the sky, and nighttime streets forming ribbons of orange light in the blackness. In each of her paintings, she describes the reality of America in the 1920s, not the fantasized world others have painted. Americans enjoyed her paintings, although they liked the painting techniques, not the precision of the way she painted their lives. The radio and phonograph helped the music business greatly. Americans loved popular songs like “Yes, We Have No Bananas,” “It Ain’t Gonna Rain No More,” and “My Blue Heaven.” Some of the most excellent songs played on the radio came from the musical stages. Famous composers such as Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, and Cole Porter wrote music, which became American classics. Big-band music was perfect for dancing, so Americans danced like they never danced before. Flappers wore short skirts and danced the fox trot, the tango, and the camel-walk. In 1924, they learned the ever so popular Charleston, which was a fast dance that came from a black Broadway show called Runnin’ Wild. Preachers called this jazz and dancing sinful, but few young people cared, at least they were having a good time. The Jazz Age was born in the early 20th century in New Orleans. Musicians blended instrumental ragtime and vocal blues into new high-spirited sounds. In 1919, Joe “King” Oliver and his Cr...
