WEBVTT - Short Stuff: Flappers

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<v Speaker 1>Hey, and welcome to the Short Stuff. I'm Josh, and

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<v Speaker 1>there's Chuck, and Jerry's here doing the Charleston on Dave's behalf,

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<v Speaker 1>and this is Stuff You Should Know Short Stuff. Let's

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<v Speaker 1>go now. All right.

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<v Speaker 2>The year is 1915, everybody, and the word flapper is

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<v Speaker 2>about to be introduced to the world by way of H. L. Minkin,

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<v Speaker 2>a writer who wrote a, I guess, an essay about

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<v Speaker 2>called the flapper for the literary magazine, The Smart Set.

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<v Speaker 1>What a great mag.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>By the way, we should say that Private Eye is

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<v Speaker 1>not a rag over in the UK. So sorry, everybody.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm going to go ahead and assume The Smart Set

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<v Speaker 1>wasn't either. But in this article or essay, Mencken is

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<v Speaker 1>using a term that's already been established, flapper. It was,

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<v Speaker 1>I think, British slang for a young girl, right? He's saying, no, no, no.

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<v Speaker 1>We need to get more specific. There is a young

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<v Speaker 1>girl that's emerging. They're not here yet, but I can

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<v Speaker 1>see them coming out of the fabric of culture. And

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<v Speaker 1>they are not going to follow these standards and traditions

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<v Speaker 1>and moral codes that are handed down generation after generation.

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<v Speaker 1>There's this new thing called media that is coming up,

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<v Speaker 1>and that's what's going to influence them. And they're going

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<v Speaker 1>to be total trailblazers. And he was right. Yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>So the flapper would come along and kick what was

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<v Speaker 2>known as the Gibson Girl to the curb. The Gibson

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<v Speaker 2>Girl during the 1910s was created and popularized from an

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<v Speaker 2>illustrator named Charles Dana Gibson. And this was like if

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<v Speaker 2>you think of the Edwardian sort of corset wearing, updo

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<v Speaker 2>hair wearing, choker, you know, like choker. dress that goes,

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<v Speaker 2>a skirt that goes all the way to the past

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<v Speaker 2>the ankle and like a choker up to under the chin.

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<v Speaker 2>That's the Gibson girl look. And the flapper came along

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<v Speaker 2>and said, no, no, no, no. We want to have

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<v Speaker 2>more fun than that.

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<v Speaker 1>They did. And they did. And it took the death

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<v Speaker 1>of tens of millions of people to get them there.

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<v Speaker 1>Because World War I and the 1918 flu pandemic were

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<v Speaker 1>a one-two punch that killed a lot of people around

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<v Speaker 1>the world. And in doing so, both of those things

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<v Speaker 1>adjusted gender norms to the extent that all of a sudden,

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<v Speaker 1>like the world couldn't afford to just keep women off

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<v Speaker 1>to the side any longer. They were needed more than ever,

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<v Speaker 1>like in the workforce, they needed to be educated. And

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<v Speaker 1>so it opened all these opportunities for women to just

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<v Speaker 1>kind of come out from under the thumb of their

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<v Speaker 1>fathers and then their husbands. Yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>And this kind of happened around 1920. When the Roaring

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<v Speaker 2>Twenties came on the scene, there was a new woman

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<v Speaker 2>emerging from the cocoon that kind of coincided with like, hey,

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<v Speaker 2>we'd like to have a right to vote, kind of

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<v Speaker 2>early feminist causes as well. And both the 18th and

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<v Speaker 2>19th Amendments were both pretty crucial to the rise of

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<v Speaker 2>this new kind of style of woman, which was prohibition,

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<v Speaker 2>which sent people into underground bars hanging out and then

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<v Speaker 2>the right to vote. And both of these things were

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<v Speaker 2>sort of like a rejection of the Victorian code that

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<v Speaker 2>came before.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, big time. I mean, this wasn't like a transition over,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, the course of decades that just one piece

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<v Speaker 1>followed another. This was like a razor blade cutting off

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<v Speaker 1>the old guard and starting anew. And it was led

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<v Speaker 1>by this leading edge of young, like early 20s people.

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<v Speaker 1>late teens girls who just completely just changed everything. They

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<v Speaker 1>went against so many norms. They started smoking. They started drinking.

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<v Speaker 1>Women did not do those things at that time. They

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<v Speaker 1>started wearing makeup. Women did not wear makeup unless you

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<v Speaker 1>were a sex worker or an actress. They just did

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<v Speaker 1>all this stuff that up to that point was just

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<v Speaker 1>not done. And they just started doing it all of

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<v Speaker 1>a sudden. Yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>Two other big things that kind of spurred this was

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<v Speaker 2>the rise of the automobile. More and more people had cars.

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<v Speaker 2>So all of a sudden, not only could young women

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<v Speaker 2>like drive themselves places and they weren't literally sort of

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<v Speaker 2>under lock and key of their of their home or

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<v Speaker 2>their parents homes. But all of a sudden, boys and

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<v Speaker 2>young men could come along and pick them up and

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<v Speaker 2>take them out on a date. And, you know, sometimes

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<v Speaker 2>things would happen in cars and like everything was changing.

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<v Speaker 2>The other big one was the radio. KDKA in Pittsburgh

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<v Speaker 2>was the first, I guess, commercial broadcast station. And by 1924,

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<v Speaker 2>there were more than 600 of those. And all of

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<v Speaker 2>a sudden there was like music happening and movies happening

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<v Speaker 2>that featured different styles and young women like, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>dancing and having fun.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah. People driving around in convertibles in New York, booming Jay-Z.

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<v Speaker 1>It was amazing.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>I thought that was so stupid. No, it was great.

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<v Speaker 1>Let's take a break and we'll come back. Chuck and

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<v Speaker 1>I are going to work out whether that was actually

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<v Speaker 1>stupid or not.

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<v Speaker 2>&lt;HAL&gt; &lt;HAL&gt; &lt;HAL&gt; &lt;HAL&gt; &lt;HAL&gt;.

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<v Speaker 1>&lt;HAL&gt; &lt;HAL&gt; &lt;HAL&gt; Also, Chuck, before we get started again,

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<v Speaker 1>I want to shout out Conger for writing this. This

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<v Speaker 1>is a Conger joint from How Stuff Works, this article was.

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<v Speaker 2>That's right. Go check out Unladylike, the podcast. It's great.

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<v Speaker 2>And so is Kristen.

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<v Speaker 1>Exactly. So there was a new woman that emerged from

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<v Speaker 1>that right to vote. You can kind of say that

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<v Speaker 1>those two amendments that came out so quickly together, the

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<v Speaker 1>18th and 19th, One was for the flappers. That was

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<v Speaker 1>the prohibition on alcohol because it created speakeasies, like you said.

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<v Speaker 1>The right to vote, that created this kind of other

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<v Speaker 1>thread of women called the new woman who were very

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<v Speaker 1>interested in being active politically and socially. The flappers were like, yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>you go have fun with that. We're going to go

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<v Speaker 1>get wasted and hang out in speakeasies in New York

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<v Speaker 1>and just live our funnest lives. Yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>Or maybe go see a Clara Bow movie because in 1922,

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<v Speaker 2>Clara Bow debuted in Beyond the Rainbow and kind of

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<v Speaker 2>defined the flapper look. She had that hair bobbed. She

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<v Speaker 2>had a little bit of makeup on. The flapper style

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<v Speaker 2>was really coming in vogue. In real life, you had

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<v Speaker 2>none other than Zelda Fitzgerald as a late teen when

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<v Speaker 2>she was with F. Scott Fitzgerald when he first gained fame.

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<v Speaker 2>I think I think before she was writing even, uh,

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<v Speaker 2>and she was sort of one of the first big

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<v Speaker 2>it girls, uh, and certainly, um, embodied that flapper style.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah. Also, I don't want, I don't know who I

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<v Speaker 1>said was the first it girl, but I was wrong.

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<v Speaker 1>It was in some other, um, podcast a while back,

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<v Speaker 1>but I, I, whoever it was, was in like the

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<v Speaker 1>forties or fifties, but I think Clara Bow is the

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<v Speaker 1>actual first it girl. Okay. And then I guess Zelda

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<v Speaker 1>Fitzgerald was the first real life it girl, but, Let's

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<v Speaker 1>talk about some of those fashions that people like Claire

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<v Speaker 1>Bow and Zelda Fitzgerald rocked. A lot of it was

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<v Speaker 1>being designed by Coco Chanel.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>Like the real deal Coco Chanel was designing in Paris

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<v Speaker 1>during this time. And that whole like Victorian era corset

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<v Speaker 1>S figure shape was just thrown totally out the window.

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<v Speaker 1>And instead it was boyish bodies with drapey boxy skirts, essentially.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, that was like that sack dress was like the

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<v Speaker 2>flapper uniform. The fabric literally was lighter. Conger found this

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<v Speaker 2>is pretty staggering, but the flapper dress had about seven

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<v Speaker 2>yards of fabric. A Victorian gown had about 20 yards

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<v Speaker 2>of fabric. So they literally shed weight in their clothing

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<v Speaker 2>to just be freer. The flapper dress basically was about

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<v Speaker 2>mid-calf in length. Um, by the late 1920s, it inched

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<v Speaker 2>above the knee a little bit. Um, but you know,

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<v Speaker 2>so they could dance so they could do the Charleston

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<v Speaker 2>and the, and the Foxtrot. Yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>Um, they, people think like it immediately went up. That

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<v Speaker 1>is actually one thing that kind of slowly changed and it,

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<v Speaker 1>it was just that way for a couple of years. Yeah. Um,

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<v Speaker 1>one of the other things that is like, like you said,

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<v Speaker 1>the flapper uniform was the cloche hat. I never knew

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<v Speaker 1>that's what it was called. Yeah. But it's like a

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<v Speaker 1>almost brimless hat. It's very close to the head, usually

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<v Speaker 1>has a big bow. And it would show off their hairdo,

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<v Speaker 1>which is usually quite short. You mentioned that those Gibson

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<v Speaker 1>girls had like the big updo or else like long,

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<v Speaker 1>flowy hair. Another way to rebel against that was to

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<v Speaker 1>cut your hair very short and often very straight. And

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<v Speaker 1>sometimes with pomade, that was the flapper girl's haircut. I

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<v Speaker 1>think it was called the Eaton crop.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and they might use the pomade to like slick

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<v Speaker 2>it back like a man might. They would show their–

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<v Speaker 2>a lot of those flapper dresses had no arms, so

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<v Speaker 2>they were showing their arms for the first time.

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<v Speaker 1>Scandalous.

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<v Speaker 2>Very scandalous. A lot of times with a lot of

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<v Speaker 2>like necklaces and bracelets and things like that. And the wool,

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<v Speaker 2>those like heavy black wool stockings went out of fashion

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<v Speaker 2>for a more sheer hosiery. And sometimes– oh, boy. They

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<v Speaker 2>would roll down that hosiery a little bit to like

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<v Speaker 2>a makeshift knee high.

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<v Speaker 1>Not a good look.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh, I think it is.

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<v Speaker 1>Do you? You like the roll down knee high look?

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I was raised Baptist, all that stuff. is very titillating.

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<v Speaker 1>I think my problem is I associate that with mama

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<v Speaker 1>for mama's family.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, that'll do it. Yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>That'll definitely dampen your thoughts. Yes. So all of this

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<v Speaker 1>flapper party came and went in less than a decade.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, Clara Bow hit the scene in 1922, and

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<v Speaker 1>she was the one in Beyond the Rainbow that really

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<v Speaker 1>like kind of set the standard. And by 1929, it

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<v Speaker 1>was all over because the Depression hit and everybody's like,

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<v Speaker 1>we don't have time for parties anymore. We got bigger

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<v Speaker 1>fish to fry now. Yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>And that was kind of it. The stock market crash

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<v Speaker 2>was like literally the very end. It was October 29th, 1929.

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<v Speaker 2>And it was just one of those events that kind

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<v Speaker 2>of kind of signified like the end of an era

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<v Speaker 2>and definitely the end of the flapper era.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah. The fun was over. And so was prohibition, too,

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<v Speaker 1>because America really needed to start drinking again. So there

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<v Speaker 1>went the speakeasy and all that stuff.

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<v Speaker 2>And I think that means short stuff's over, too, though, right?

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah. It's not just over, Chuck. It's out.

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<v Speaker 2>Stuff You Should Know is a production of iHeartRadio.

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