Introduction

The decade of 1920–1929 is often called the “Roaring Twenties.” It was a decade that roared with a booming economy, new inventions, progress in women’s rights, and a vibrant arts scene.

The prohibition of alcohol was also introduced and had been instigated mostly by the temperance movement.

Canada had to shift from a full production war economy to a more balanced peacetime, supply-and-demand economy. At first, this caused a slump in the economy, until business activity levelled itself allowing the economy to regain its balance.

• Business activity started to improve.
• Discussions about fair wages, social responsibility, and democracy for everyone began.
• Labour movements started up.
• Farm co-operatives were formed.
• The economy began to shift from a rural, agricultural base to an urban, manufacturing base.

Economic growth in the U.S. continued to speed up throughout the 1920s, and Canada’s economy followed along. The positive trend affected regions which relied on manufacturing and production. Agricultural and resource-based industries did well as long as production was good and demand was high. However, many of the resources used to fuel manufacturing, agricultural and mining growth came at the cost of Indigenous treaties and land claims.

Governments pulled out of most large wartime programs. The thinking was that private industry ran business better than the government could. The federal government’s focus shifted to industry regulation, and Canada’s economy continued to grow.

The affluent economy of the 1920s encouraged innovation. Radios, snowmobiles, and improved air travel are some of the inventions which appeared at that time.

The positive energy and excitement of the time provided an excellent platform for the development of women’s rights.

Prohibition was also a significant, but temporary, change. The national government passed a law that made it illegal to produce or buy alcohol in Canada. It was considered a “blip” in Canada’s history, but exploring why it happened, why it ended, and how it impacted Canadians will give you some insight of Canadian society at the time.

The entertainment and leisure industries also transformed and expanded greatly in the 1920s. This will include popular movies, arts, and music of the times.

The following are a few other revealing facts about the 1920s:

• In 1920, one family in four had a telephone; by 1929, two out of four families had one.
• In 1921, 55 percent of Canadians lived outside cities; by 1929, over half lived in cities.
• In 1919, there were about 100 golf courses in Canada; by 1925, there were 292.

What you will learn

After completing this learning activity, you will be able to:

• Identify economic changes in different regions in Canada
• identify some major developments in science and technology during this period, and assess their historical significance
• explain the goals and accomplishments of some groups and/or movements that contributed to social and/or political cooperation during this period (for example, temperance organizations, women’s suffrage organizations, and the Famous Five)
• describe some significant changes in the arts and popular culture in Canada in the 1920s
• organize relevant evidence and information from a variety of primary and secondary sources

Canada’s Changing Economy

The 1920s witnessed many changes to the lives of Canadians.

Although called the ‘Roaring Twenties,’ 1920-1924 actually witnessed a weaker economy in Canada. After the war, exports from Canada to the United States were lower than they had been because of US tariffs. Similarly, in the early 20s, the Western provinces suffered a severe drought that hurt farmers.

However, by the 1924, the 20s began to roar with economic growth. The drought in the west had ended, trade barriers with the US had fallen and investment in the Canadian economy started to grow.

Inventions of the 1920s

Radio

Edward (Ted) Samuel Rogers invented the battery-less radio/AC tube in 1923.

Today: “Rogers Communications remains a Canadian icon in the telecommunications industry to this day.”

Source: Coyler, Jill. Canadian Sources Investigated. Toronto: Emond Montgomery, 2010. 37.

Children listen to a radio program in the 1920s.

Snowmobile

In 1922, Joseph Armand Bombardier made the first ever snow machine. It helped Canadians who lived in snowy climates travel in winter. Bombardier perfected this invention after losing his young son, who he could not get to the hospital due to snowy, impassable roads.

Joseph Armand Bombardier built the first ever snow machine in 1922.

The variable pitch propeller

In 1922, Wallace Turnbull invented the variable pitch propeller. Before his invention, “planes could only fly in one gear. This meant that the gear was always set for takeoff.” If the plane had a larger load, it could not get off the ground, so Turnbull’s invention also allowed planes to carry large loads.

Source: Coyler, Jill. Canadian Sources Investigated. Toronto: Emond Montgomery, 2010. 43.

Wallace Turnbull invented the variable pitch propeller in 1922.

Insulin

In 1921, Dr. Frederick Banting and his colleague Dr. Charles Best discovered insulin as a treatment that helps control diabetes because it lowers blood sugar. The doctors tested their invention on dogs, one of which is in the following picture.

What about women?

The First World War and the 1920s changed the role of women in Canada and in other Western countries. Women made measureable and lasting progress toward social equality during that decade. While it is undeniable that improvements were made, did they change the everyday lives of women in a tangible, dramatic way? In this topic, you will conduct some research in order to voice your own opinion about the changing conditions of women’s lives.

Some say that the 1920s really “roared” for women in Canada. It will be up to you to challenge that statement.

In order to prove or disprove that statement, you will need to conduct some research to find evidence.

You will have to review a variety of sources, both primary and secondary, which are reliable and accurate. You’ll then review the information they provide and select relevant evidence to support your position. Finally, you’ll organize the evidence so it’s easily understood.

As a method of research, you’ll use the inquiry process, which proceeds as follows:

• Develop your research question and record it.
• Write a position statement based on your research question. This is the statement you will prove through research.
• Select sources that contain accurate and trustworthy information, include a variety of viewpoints, and include both primary and secondary perspectives.
• Review the information in your sources for specific, relevant evidence that helps prove your position statement.
• When you find useful evidence, record it. Use your own words to paraphrase the content or select relevant quotations from the source that encapsulate the evidence you need.
• Document the source; that is, record the reference information for the source you used. Keeping a record of the source is necessary in order to identify and acknowledge the originator.
• Organize your evidence/information so the key points you have gathered stand out and support your position statement.
• Summarize your findings.

Now you’ll walk through the research and inquiry process using an example.

The research question is as follows:

• Did the 1920s really “roar” for women in Canada?

The position statement that was developed from the research question is as follows:

• Canadian women made measureable and lasting progress toward social equality during the 1920s – the decade really did “roar” for women in Canada.

Over the next several sections, use the sources of information which have been selected for you to find evidence to support the position statement.

Source 1: Status of Women

Refer to the following excerpt and find evidence that describes what happened to women in the workplace after World War I was over.

Following is an excerpt from an article from The Canadian Encyclopedia, titled “Status of Women (Opens in new window).” This is a secondary source from a reliable website.

Evidence

For this first example, the evidence has been extracted from the source for you. In subsequent readings, you’ll have to identify and record the evidence from the source yourself. You’ll either paraphrase the source (rewrite in your own words to make it simpler) to state your evidence, or use a direct quotation from the source.

You’ll also have to keep a record of the source of this evidence.

In the article that you have just reviewed, what evidence describes what happened to women in the workplace after World War I was over?

Your answer should include the following:

In the years immediately after the war, a lot of women lost their jobs. In the 1920s however, women gained access to new professions, such as social and library work, and even physiotherapy; the majority of positons were still clerical and domestic, “but for the first time in the century the percentage of women working as domestics fell below 20%.” Women also started going to university and, by 1930, women represented 35 percent of all undergraduates.

You’ve just examined how to use a reliable source to find evidence that can support a position statement.

You will also have to cite your source as follows:

Anderson, Doris. “Status of Women.” The Canadian Encyclopedia. Accessed February 7, 2006. http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/en/article/status-of-women/

Source 2: Women: 1921–1930

Following is the second source suggested for this research.

This excerpt from the United Food and Commercial Workers’ Canadian website is titled “Women: 1921–1930 (Opens in new window).” The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) is Canada’s private sector union, and it represents workers in North America, primarily in the food industry. This is a secondary source – it was written after the events occurred.

As you review, find evidence to answer the following question: What do the milestones that women achieved in the 1920s tell you about how their role in society changed during that time?

Evidence

Women achieved many milestones in the 1920s. What do these milestones tell you about how the role of women changed in society during that time? Put the evidence you selected in the space provided using paraphrased text or direct quotation. For this activity, the sources have been documented for you. When you’re doing your own research you’ll keep your own records of sources.

You’ve just used a reliable source to find evidence to support a position statement, and you’ve documented the source.

Source 3: Miss Lottie Jones’s teacher’s contract, 1923

This is your third source. It is a primary source document: This is a real contract for Miss Lottie Jones, a teacher in 1923.

As you review, find evidence about the status of women. Do some rules in the teacher’s contract surprise or interest you? Do the rules relate to the job of a teacher, or do they indicate something else? Now, examine Miss Lottie Jones’s teacher’s contract in the following section:

Source 4: Flappers

The fourth source is an article from The Encyclopedia.com titled “Flappers.”

Source 5: The Person’s Case

Following is the fifth and final source suggested for this research. It is an article from the website of the University of Calgary, titled “The Person’s Case (1929) (Opens in new window).”

As you examine the source, try to find evidence about what these five women achieved.

Evidence

What did the Famous Five – Henrietta Muir Edwards, Nellie McClung, Louise McKinney, Emily Murphy, and Irene Parlby – achieve for Canadian women through The Person’s Case?

Draw your own conclusions

You have just explored five sources. What questions might you still have? What topics might still need to be explored before best weighing your evidence?

It can be challenging to draw conclusions from evidence when studying history. Sometimes you use reliable sources and find evidence that is all true, but one source can contradict another. What do you do with contradictory facts?

The answer is that you weigh the evidence and come up with what you think is the best, most balanced interpretation that you can.

These beliefs are also presented in the following political cartoon. Examine the cartoon, then interpret it based on the question afterward.

The word “intemperance” is used to label the tree. What does intemperance mean? What sort of things make up the “roots” of the intemperance tree?

What five “evils” make up the main branches of the intemperance tree? (Corporeal means “of the body.”)

What do the people on the left represent? What about the people on the right?

What animal is wrapped around the tree? What is in its mouth? On its head? Why is this animal represented in the cartoon?

What is the main message of this political cartoon?

The 1920s are sometimes referred to as the “Roaring Twenties” because the economic prosperity of the period led to the emergence of many technological innovations and new forms of entertainment. The status of women also vastly improved. Women were legally ruled to be persons and thereby acquired the right to be appointed to the Senate; they also got the right to vote and to get a divorce on the same grounds as a man. New work and career avenues opened up for women, and they started attending university in greater numbers. During the 1920s, Canadian women took a bold step toward more independence and a stronger sense of self and confidence.

Much progress remained to be done, however, so women could become men’s equals in the eyes of society (and it still does today). Most women did not experience a significant improvement in political or economic opportunity. They continued to be paid less than men and, despite the famous “flapper” image, many women were restricted by old standards of behaviour. Furthermore, not all women experienced the improvements that came in this decade. In the 1920s, improvements for women were inequal along racial lines.

Canada’s working classes did not fully share in the prosperity of the urban elites. Some workers still had few rights, worked in poor conditions, and still received low salaries. Their standards of living had increased, but work continued to demand long hours and there was still little time for leisure.

Moreover, many men were prone to alcohol abuse, and this resulted in financial hardship for a lot of families, as men still remained the main wage earners of a household most of the time. Prohibition came about after decades of work by temperance workers (who promoted temperance, abstinence, and prohibition), many of whom were women. In the end, Prohibition didn’t last long enough to have an enduring effect, but it did allow and motivate women to voice their opinions and get involved in political causes.

The 1920s were packed with change – increased industrialization and urbanization, the growth of mass entertainment and sports, and other social and cultural changes; but this was also a decade of struggle, and not everyone enjoyed “boom” times.