Lecture 13: America in the 1920s and 1930s
A. The Revolution of the 1920s
1. Emancipation of women- smoking, drinking, dancing, The Dolly Sisters
2. The Automobile
3. Clara Bow and "It"
4. The Saxophone
5. Crooning vs. the microphone and megaphone
6. Getting modern- post World War I attitudes
7. The Roaring '20s- Sex, Prohibition
B. 1920s and 1930s
1. The Housework Revolution
a. Commercial laundries, electricity, department stores, readymade clothes
b. The Icebox
c. Linoleum
d. Women freer until married [view this drawing of "The Ideal Woman - 1926 A.D."]
e. Cosmetics--rouge, lipstick, facial creams, miracle cures, pogo sticks
f. The Cult of the Sun- Auguste Rollier's Heliotherapy clinic 1924
g. Attitudes towards the beach
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C. Art Deco 1925-1932
Typical Art Deco designs
1. 1925 International Exposition of Decorative Arts in Paris
2. René Lalique [view an image of Lalique's L'Exposition d'Arts Decoratifs, Paris, 1925]
3. Sumptuous materials- ivory inlay, lacquered wood, chrome
4. Modern materials
5. Cubist and Egyptian influences- 1922 Howard Carter and Tutankhamun [view an image of Howard Carter's The Pyramids and The Great Sphinx]
6. Craftsmanship and quality
7. South American/Mayan architecture
8. Bolder attitude to the nude female form
D. The Modernistic Style of the 1920s in Mainstreet America
1. Machine reproductions of Deco patterns
2. Glitzy, stylized, ahistorical [view images of Art Deco and Modernisitic designs: Main Street, Columbia, MO, Miami Beach Art Deco Home, and
Modernistic Storefront]
E. Influences on Art Deco
1. Art Nouveau
2. Bauhaus
3.Machine aesthetic
F. The Skyscraper
1. The Both-And- Style-- Gothic, classical, Deco skyscrapers
2. Louis Sullivan- The Tall Office Building Artistically Considered 1896
3. Wainwright Building, St. Louis- 1890 ahistorical
4. Iron, steel, glass, reinforced concrete
5. 1916- the zoning setback ordinance
6. William Van Alen (1882-1954)- the Chrysler Building, New York City
7. The Empire State Building 1930- Raymond Shreve, William Lamb, Arthur Harmon [view an image of the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building]
Lecture 14: America in the 1930s--Responses to the Depression
A. The Great American Depression 1929-1940
1. The Herbert Hoover Years 1929-1933
2. Hitting rock bottom- the stock market crash of 1929
3. End of overly costly design
4. FDR- Franklin Delano Roosevelt
B. Depression Modern Style-
1. Streamline, simplify and curve
2. Radio City Music Hallin New York City- Samuel Rothafel (Roxy)
3. Frank Lloyd Wright- Johnson's Wax Factory 1936-1939, Racine, Wisconsin
4. The Industrial Design of Raymond Loewy [view an image of the elegant Raymond Loewy and a salon he created and Contributions of Raymond Loewy]
5. Blonde, portholes, form expressing function
6. Cult of the Airplane and the Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers look- [view an image of Busby Berkeley's film Golddiggers of 1935]
a. Flying Down to Rio (1933)
b. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers- perfect Depression Modern paired dancing, curvolinear patterns matched to her clothing as it swirls, Ginger most effective matching his steps like a synchronized water ballet, highly impressive in slow motion [view an image of Fred Astaire and Hermes Pan]
7. Jean Harlow
C. Busby Berkeley (1896-1976) and the transformation of the movie musical
1. Daredevil dance designer- develops overhead shots, complex drilling patterns
2. Pure escapism- removal of the stage from the movie musical
3. Sex, closeups, cosmetics, racism
4. Sadistic and sexist treatment of women- humiliation
5. The Mayan setback look= Deco-dent Style!
6. Films Include: The Golddiggers of 1933, Footlight Parade (1934), The Gang's All Here (1943)
7. NOT a complex choreographer- was song and dance man
Lecture 15: The Great Popular Dancers
A. Anna Pavlova-1881- 1931 Russian popularizer of Ballet across the world, dies for her art
B. Origins of Tap
1. Bill "Bojangles" Robinson- 1878-1949 clarity of steps, slow pace, stair dance, shuffle dancer, grandson of slaves rises to superstar [view an image of Bill Robinson and Shirley Temple]
2. Nicholas Brothers (Fayard Nicholas 1914-2006 and Harold 1921-2000)- flash dancing, acrobatic dancing, leaps and somersaults, slip and slide on Bakelite floors, Dorothy Dandridge-her life and tragedy
3. Ray Bolger-1904- 1987 rubber legged dancer, always appears to have legs separately controlling him and about to fall over, famous for leg muscle control and incredible splits.
4. Hal Leroy 1913- 1985
a. Legomania- rubber legged legend faster than the eye could see, had longest legs in dancing
b. One of few non- blacks admitted to Harlem Hoofer's Club- admired by Bojangles
5. Paired Dancing- Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in the 1930s- curvolinear patterns
