1. ART DECO
Art Deco is an influential visual arts design style that first appeared in
France after World War I and began flourishing internationally in the
1920s, 1930s, and 1940s before its popularity waned after World War II. It
combines traditional craft motifs with Machine Age imagery and
materials. It characterized by rich colours, bold geometric shapes, and
lavish ornamentation. It represented luxury, glamour, exuberance, and
faith in social and technological progress.
Art Deco" has its origins in the 1925 French art
exposition at Le Musee des Arts Decoratifs. Art
Deco following the Paris exposition included all the decorative
arts including furniture, flatware and interior design.
The Jazz Age was a feature of the 1920s (ending with The Great Depression) when jazz
music and dance became popular. This occurred particularly in the
United States, Britain, France and so on. Jazz music originated
mainly in New Orleans, and is/was a fusion of African and
European music.
The growth of an alternate generation, was the growth in jazz. This lead
to new dances being created which further angered the older
generation. The Charleston, One Step and Black Bottom were only for
the young and the last one angered the establishment by name alone. The most famous jazzmen
were Louis Armstrong, Fats Waller and Benny Goodman. The combination of the new music, new
dances and new fashions outraged many.
Along with jazz went the ‘crazies’ when people would do crazy things for fun such as sitting
on top of a flag pole for as long as possible; marathon dances that went on until everybody
had dropped and wing flying when you stood strapped onto the wing of a flying plane until
it landed.
