What are the origins of this fun-filled festive custom?
Labor unions lost their influence in the '20s after their popularity in the World War I efforts. Americans grew fearful of communist influences, and massive strikes in the steel and mining industries ended in failure. This resulted in the decline of labor union memberships. Conditions for American workers declined, and the US Supreme Court outlawed the minimum wage in 1923, a ruling that would stand for 14 years.
The number of motorized vehicles on America's roads more than tripled during the '20s, with around 26 million registered in 1929. For the first half of the decade, Henry Ford's Model T accounted for nearly half of car sales.
The 1920 US Census was the first to show that more than half of the country's population lived in urban areas. This was because factories were located near cities and the jobs they provided.
Rooted in the post-Civil War Reconstruction era, the Ku Klux Klan grew in the '20s. Dozens of people were killed in a race riot in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1921, and in 1925, more than 50,000 Klan members marched in Washington D.C.
The stock market soared, and in 1929, the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a high that was six times its value in 1921. However, fewer than 1% of Americans owned stock at the time.
The number of American homes with electricity nearly doubled from the beginning of the decade to the end, when two-thirds of homes had power. As a result, people bought refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, and washing machines.
Sears opened its first retail store in Chicago in 1924. By the end of the decade, there were more than 300 Sears stores around the nation.
In 1922, the Girl Scouts of the USA published a cookie recipe in its magazine, The American Girl. The article estimated girls could bake up to seven dozen cookies for 26 to 36 cents, and then sell them by the dozen for about the same price. Girl Scouts made the sugar cookies and started selling them door to door.
Still consumed to this day, Wonder Bread made its debut in 1921. Popsicles were patented in 1923, and Kool-Aid was introduced in 1927.
Changing the future for diabetics, insulin was discovered in 1921 by scientists who figured out how to extract it from a dog's pancreas. In 1922, a child from Toronto became the first human patient with diabetes to be treated with insulin, and commercial production began. Before insulin, diabetes was fatal.
The first vaccine for diphtheria was developed in 1923 to fight a disease that killed nearly 16,000 people in 1921 alone. Children were especially vulnerable to diphtheria.
Made from cellulose fiber, rayon was popularized in the '20s. Sometimes called artificial silk, it could be used to simulate the qualities of the expensive fabric. The more affordable price allowed more women to wear shiny, shimmery styles.
Founded in 1923, Time magazine revolutionized the way Americans got their news. It was the nation's first weekly news magazine, and the articles were short and meant to be read quickly.
Air passenger travel took off in the 1920s. However, passenger planes were small, holding less than 20 people, and flew at altitudes of 3,000 feet or lower. The flights were also loud and cold.
Barnstorming entertained rural America in the 1920s. Stunt pilots performed aerial stunts, staged airshows, and offered passenger rides. It came to an end with federal safety and new aviation regulations in 1927.
Consumer credit spread throughout the 1920s, allowing Americans to buy goods they previously could not have afforded. In 1927, almost two-thirds of new cars were purchased on credit.
In 1925 in the Scopes Monkey Trial in Tennessee, a high school science teacher was accused of violating a state law that forbade the teaching of evolution. He was found guilty in a verdict later overturned on a technicality.
Sources: (Stacker) (History) (CBS News)
See also: The most epic trials in history
When women started to vote, significant efforts to address public health followed. Child mortality rates dropped as much as 15% a year, as better hygiene drove down the spread of deadly infectious diseases.
In 1920, women won the right to vote in the United States with the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. That meant more than 26 million new voters could cast a ballot.
The first commercial radio broadcast was produced in 1920 out of station KDKA in Pittsburgh. Four years later, there were 600 commercial stations across the country. By the end of the decade, there were radios in more than 12 million US households.
Linked to the women's vote, spending on public education jumped in the '20s. In the South, studies show that school spending per student increased by about a third, which then resulted in increased income. This was, however, only the case for white people.
The popularity of cars soared in the '20s, thanks in part to assembly line production that brought costs down. On top of that, new cars had more effective brakes, safety glass that didn't shatter, and heaters.
As more Americans started driving, the number of roads built in the US increased. The Federal Highway Act of 1921 was passed by Congress to address the need for paved interstates, which provided federal aid to build those highways.
In 1920s Hollywood, a system was created in which actors, directors, and writers were put under contract by the studios. Production and distribution were tightly controlled by these giant studios. Independent movie theaters were subject to so-called block booking, which required them to rent a package of films and often denied them access to box-office hits. A 1948 US Supreme Court decision brought an end to the monopolistic system.
After World War I, all young Americans wanted to do was dance the Charleston, the cakewalk, and the black bottom. Jazz became popular and artists embraced the new era of experimental Art Deco and modernist creativity.
Anti-immigration sentiment grew in the '20s due to national security concerns from World War I and the Russian Revolution. Congress passed the Immigration Act of 1924, which limited immigration using a quota system and banned almost all immigrants from Asia.
The 18th Amendment to the Constitution, which banned the making and sale, but not possession or consumption, of liquor, formally took effect in 1920. The black market flourished with bootlegging and speakeasies, and organized crime profited handsomely. The 21st Amendment repealed Prohibition in 1933.
Local radio stations formed networks to share programming, and the first nationwide broadcast was produced by the National Broadcasting Company, of the 1927 Rose Bowl football game out of Pasadena, California.
The short bob is a staple 1920s hairstyle. Cutting off their long locks became part of women's new cultural liberation.
The 1920s was a period of dramatic social, economic, and political change in American history. The nation celebrated freedom from war but was still haunted by its weight. Peacetime prosperity raised the standard of living for millions, and the country's total wealth more than doubled between 1920 and 1929. It was also the first time more Americans lived in cities than on farms, and people took to the dance floor to do the Charleston. But it wasn't all glitz and glamour, as Prohibition resulted in lawlessness and organized crime, and racial tensions brewed below the surface.
Curious to learn more about life during the Roaring Twenties? Then click through this gallery.
What was life like in 1920s America?
From flappers to Prohibition, this was the Roaring Twenties
LIFESTYLE History
The 1920s was a period of dramatic social, economic, and political change in American history. The nation celebrated freedom from war but was still haunted by its weight. Peacetime prosperity raised the standard of living for millions, and the country's total wealth more than doubled between 1920 and 1929. It was also the first time more Americans lived in cities than on farms, and people took to the dance floor to do the Charleston. But it wasn't all glitz and glamour, as Prohibition resulted in lawlessness and organized crime, and racial tensions brewed below the surface.
Curious to learn more about life during the Roaring Twenties? Then click through this gallery.