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Centuries Collide

Cody Crouch - Party in the USA

January 11, 2025 | S2:E9

Cody Crouch - Party in the USA
During the second decade of the 20th century, America had a ton of reasons to celebrate. World War I was over, we had money to spend, new cars to drive, and jazz music was taking the stage. Welcome to the roaring 20s!
#Faith #AmericanHistory #War #History #Culture #Law #Government #Tradition-American #Technology #inActive #CodyCrouch #Violence #Documentary #Alcohol #Legalism

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Centuries Collide | Cody Crouch - Party in the USA | January 11, 2025
  • Cody crouch: i'm cody crouch, and this is the craziest crash
  • 00:00:00.590 --> 00:00:03.893
  • Course on american history you'll ever see.
  • 00:00:04.027 --> 00:00:04.794
  • Buckle up, it's time for "centuries collide."
  • 00:00:07.564 --> 00:00:11.101
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:00:11.101 --> 00:00:17.874
  • Cody: america loves a good party, am i right?
  • 00:00:17.874 --> 00:00:20.577
  • And during the second decade of the 20th century, america had a
  • 00:00:20.577 --> 00:00:24.180
  • Ton of reasons to celebrate.
  • 00:00:24.180 --> 00:00:26.983
  • World war i was over, and yes, the good guys won.
  • 00:00:26.983 --> 00:00:30.553
  • We had new cars to drive and jazzy new music to jazz out to.
  • 00:00:30.553 --> 00:00:36.126
  • It's time to party, and sure, alcohol might be illegal, but
  • 00:00:36.126 --> 00:00:40.130
  • When has a pesky little rule ever stopped americans
  • 00:00:40.130 --> 00:00:42.632
  • From partying?
  • 00:00:42.632 --> 00:00:44.634
  • Boston tea party, anyone, anyone?
  • 00:00:44.634 --> 00:00:48.738
  • The 1920s are here and this decade is one big party.
  • 00:00:48.738 --> 00:00:54.677
  • We've got booze, jazz music, flapper girls, gangsters, fast
  • 00:00:54.677 --> 00:00:59.249
  • Cars, more booze, and to top it all off, one of the biggest
  • 00:00:59.249 --> 00:01:03.319
  • Hangovers in american history.
  • 00:01:03.319 --> 00:01:06.222
  • Welcome to the roaring twenties, or as i like to call it, party
  • 00:01:06.222 --> 00:01:09.859
  • In the usa.
  • 00:01:09.859 --> 00:01:11.728
  • Cody: the beginning of the 20th century falls within a period
  • 00:01:11.728 --> 00:01:14.531
  • Called the progressive era.
  • 00:01:14.531 --> 00:01:15.932
  • There was a ton of immigration, the west had been one, we
  • 00:01:15.932 --> 00:01:18.635
  • Officially have 45 united states, and many of the reforms
  • 00:01:18.635 --> 00:01:22.805
  • That were sparked by the second great awakening a hundred years
  • 00:01:22.805 --> 00:01:25.575
  • Prior are finally coming to pass.
  • 00:01:25.575 --> 00:01:28.278
  • The progressive era focused on workers's rights, social
  • 00:01:28.278 --> 00:01:31.814
  • Welfare programs, and creating laws around the day's big
  • 00:01:31.814 --> 00:01:35.518
  • Moral issues.
  • 00:01:35.518 --> 00:01:36.853
  • For instance, thanks to child labor laws, kids weren't allowed
  • 00:01:36.853 --> 00:01:40.123
  • To work in factories anymore.
  • 00:01:40.123 --> 00:01:41.491
  • Male: sorry, kids, but you're fired.
  • 00:01:41.491 --> 00:01:44.093
  • You're fired, you're fired, and you're fired, especially you.
  • 00:01:44.093 --> 00:01:50.800
  • Oh, don't be a sore loser, kid, stop crying.
  • 00:01:50.800 --> 00:01:53.603
  • Cody: and women's suffrage was finally a thing.
  • 00:01:53.603 --> 00:01:56.506
  • The 19th amendment ensured that women could vote.
  • 00:01:56.506 --> 00:01:59.809
  • Finally, women could legally suffrage as good as any man.
  • 00:01:59.809 --> 00:02:03.379
  • So, let's hear it for the ladies.
  • 00:02:03.379 --> 00:02:06.349
  • During these big progressive changes, concerns about food
  • 00:02:06.349 --> 00:02:09.752
  • Safety led to upton sinclair's expose, "the jungle," which
  • 00:02:09.752 --> 00:02:13.523
  • Spurred the creation of the fda and established food
  • 00:02:13.523 --> 00:02:16.693
  • Safety laws.
  • 00:02:16.693 --> 00:02:18.027
  • These new forward thinking ideas like purified water, sanitary
  • 00:02:18.027 --> 00:02:21.798
  • Conditions, and meat packing plants, and putting labels on
  • 00:02:21.798 --> 00:02:24.701
  • The food we eat, kept us from getting e. coli and dysentery,
  • 00:02:24.701 --> 00:02:29.105
  • And even mad cow disease, which brings us to booze.
  • 00:02:29.105 --> 00:02:33.343
  • Now, america's always love to drink, right?
  • 00:02:33.343 --> 00:02:36.212
  • But thanks to the temperance movement, we were finally
  • 00:02:36.212 --> 00:02:38.815
  • Getting sober about getting sober, but maybe a little too
  • 00:02:38.815 --> 00:02:43.052
  • Sober though.
  • 00:02:43.052 --> 00:02:45.688
  • The thought was, banning booze would fix the world's problems.
  • 00:02:45.688 --> 00:02:49.292
  • It would end crime, prostitution, reduce poverty,
  • 00:02:49.292 --> 00:02:52.795
  • And create happy, healthy families, but you can't use
  • 00:02:52.795 --> 00:02:56.566
  • Legislation to create a moral society, doesn't work, never
  • 00:02:56.566 --> 00:03:00.703
  • Will, which they tried with prohibition in 1919.
  • 00:03:00.703 --> 00:03:05.275
  • More on that later.
  • 00:03:05.275 --> 00:03:07.210
  • The progressive era ended around the time our boys came home
  • 00:03:07.210 --> 00:03:10.146
  • From world war i.
  • 00:03:10.146 --> 00:03:11.481
  • America was a superpower, we were the richest
  • 00:03:11.481 --> 00:03:14.484
  • Country on earth, and we were ready to get down.
  • 00:03:14.484 --> 00:03:18.454
  • So, let's get the party started.
  • 00:03:18.454 --> 00:03:20.690
  • Male: let's get this party started.
  • 00:03:20.690 --> 00:03:24.327
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:03:24.327 --> 00:03:29.599
  • Cody: now, any good american teenager knows, if you wanna get
  • 00:03:29.599 --> 00:03:33.736
  • To the party, you gotta have transportation, which is where
  • 00:03:33.736 --> 00:03:38.041
  • Henry ford comes in.
  • 00:03:38.041 --> 00:03:40.376
  • Little henry grew up on a farm here in dearborn, michigan, but
  • 00:03:40.376 --> 00:03:43.479
  • Farming wasn't really his thing.
  • 00:03:43.479 --> 00:03:45.982
  • Boy: farming isn't my thing.
  • 00:03:45.982 --> 00:03:48.251
  • I like machines.
  • 00:03:48.251 --> 00:03:51.220
  • Cody: as a teenager, he moved to the big city of detroit where he
  • 00:03:51.220 --> 00:03:54.223
  • Worked as a machinist, which basically means he did machine-y
  • 00:03:54.223 --> 00:03:58.027
  • Kind of things, and this kid was hooked.
  • 00:03:58.027 --> 00:04:01.097
  • Male: i'm hooked on machine-y kinds of things.
  • 00:04:01.097 --> 00:04:04.167
  • Cody: henry eventually got a job at thomas edison's company, as
  • 00:04:04.167 --> 00:04:07.403
  • In the light bulb guy, where henry worked his way up to
  • 00:04:07.403 --> 00:04:10.373
  • Chief engineer.
  • 00:04:10.373 --> 00:04:11.741
  • In his spare time, henry worked on his machine-y things until
  • 00:04:11.741 --> 00:04:15.378
  • One day he had a lightbulb moment of his own.
  • 00:04:15.378 --> 00:04:18.514
  • Male: what if there were a gasoline powered machine?
  • 00:04:18.514 --> 00:04:22.518
  • Cody: henry ford built a gasoline powered machine that
  • 00:04:22.518 --> 00:04:25.355
  • Could take people from one place to another.
  • 00:04:25.355 --> 00:04:28.324
  • Male: i call it the quadracycle.
  • 00:04:28.324 --> 00:04:33.696
  • Cody: so, maybe branding wasn't his thing either.
  • 00:04:33.696 --> 00:04:37.567
  • Well, this poorly named machine of his, which was basically a
  • 00:04:37.567 --> 00:04:40.336
  • Lazy boy on top of a weed eater on top of four bicycle wheels
  • 00:04:40.336 --> 00:04:44.707
  • Was the start of an american revolution.
  • 00:04:44.707 --> 00:04:48.411
  • I mean, it changed everything.
  • 00:04:48.411 --> 00:04:51.314
  • Let me show you how.
  • 00:04:51.314 --> 00:04:52.982
  • A few years later, he created the model t, which kind of built
  • 00:04:52.982 --> 00:04:56.519
  • The modern world as we know it.
  • 00:04:56.519 --> 00:04:59.155
  • To create a car for the masses, the ford company invented the
  • 00:04:59.155 --> 00:05:02.525
  • Assembly line.
  • 00:05:02.525 --> 00:05:03.993
  • It used to take 13 hours to build a model t, but thanks to
  • 00:05:03.993 --> 00:05:08.131
  • The assembly line, it only took 93 minutes.
  • 00:05:08.131 --> 00:05:11.801
  • Cars only cost a few hundred bucks, which meant millions of
  • 00:05:11.801 --> 00:05:15.004
  • Americans could afford to buy one, even if they shouldn't.
  • 00:05:15.004 --> 00:05:19.942
  • By 1926, 75% of all car purchases were made using
  • 00:05:19.942 --> 00:05:24.814
  • America's favorite party slogan.
  • 00:05:24.814 --> 00:05:29.051
  • No, no, no, no, no, the other party slogan.
  • 00:05:29.051 --> 00:05:32.422
  • No, no, the other, other party slogan.
  • 00:05:32.422 --> 00:05:36.092
  • That's the one.
  • 00:05:36.092 --> 00:05:37.827
  • Of course, now we need gas stations, diners, motels, we
  • 00:05:37.827 --> 00:05:42.365
  • Need rubber for the wheels, we need petroleum to fill
  • 00:05:42.365 --> 00:05:45.101
  • The tanks.
  • 00:05:45.101 --> 00:05:46.436
  • Streets and highways had to be constructed, which cost millions
  • 00:05:46.436 --> 00:05:49.872
  • Of dollars and created new jobs, and here's where the party
  • 00:05:49.872 --> 00:05:54.644
  • Really gets exciting.
  • 00:05:54.644 --> 00:05:56.012
  • The invention of the car led to the invention of america's
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  • Favorite pastime, and i'm not talking baseball,
  • 00:05:59.715 --> 00:06:03.886
  • I'm talking dating.
  • 00:06:03.886 --> 00:06:07.023
  • No, really, courtship is what they called the old way of
  • 00:06:07.023 --> 00:06:10.593
  • Finding a mate.
  • 00:06:10.593 --> 00:06:11.928
  • It was usually more formal with adult supervision and not a lot
  • 00:06:11.928 --> 00:06:15.498
  • Of making out, but now kids could drive away from their
  • 00:06:15.498 --> 00:06:19.502
  • Chaperones and basically do whatever they wanted.
  • 00:06:19.502 --> 00:06:24.073
  • Male: what does that mean?
  • 00:06:24.073 --> 00:06:25.842
  • Female: oh, you know.
  • 00:06:25.842 --> 00:06:30.513
  • Male: well, let's hitch up the wagon.
  • 00:06:30.513 --> 00:06:37.003
  • Male: well, let's hitch up the wagon.
  • 00:06:37.003 --> 00:06:37.667
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:06:37.767 --> 00:06:41.071
  • Cody: so, we've got the transportation, we've got the
  • 00:06:45.208 --> 00:06:48.311
  • Cash, what else do you need to throw a good old
  • 00:06:48.311 --> 00:06:52.282
  • All-american party?
  • 00:06:52.282 --> 00:06:55.385
  • Oh, yeah, how about guns and alcohol, and why not throw some
  • 00:06:55.385 --> 00:06:59.523
  • Gangsters in there while we're at it?
  • 00:06:59.523 --> 00:07:01.191
  • Welcome to the most exciting part of the party, prohibition.
  • 00:07:01.191 --> 00:07:06.129
  • Let me break it down for you.
  • 00:07:06.129 --> 00:07:07.664
  • January 16, 1920, the 18th amendment becomes the law
  • 00:07:07.664 --> 00:07:12.636
  • Of the land.
  • 00:07:12.636 --> 00:07:14.004
  • It said the manufacture, sale, and transportation of
  • 00:07:14.004 --> 00:07:16.873
  • Intoxicating liquors were now prohibited.
  • 00:07:16.873 --> 00:07:20.010
  • That's right, booze was illegal.
  • 00:07:20.010 --> 00:07:23.380
  • This was a really big deal.
  • 00:07:23.380 --> 00:07:25.081
  • Americans loved their booze, so much so that it inspired
  • 00:07:25.081 --> 00:07:29.152
  • The architecture.
  • 00:07:29.152 --> 00:07:30.487
  • Here in chicago, the carbide building was designed to look
  • 00:07:30.487 --> 00:07:33.890
  • Like a bottle of champagne.
  • 00:07:33.890 --> 00:07:35.859
  • In fact, alcohol was a huge part of the economy.
  • 00:07:35.859 --> 00:07:39.496
  • At the time, it was the fifth largest industry in the
  • 00:07:39.496 --> 00:07:42.332
  • United states.
  • 00:07:42.332 --> 00:07:44.301
  • So, how in the world did this happen?
  • 00:07:44.301 --> 00:07:47.103
  • There's a lot of factors, but the whole thing probably never
  • 00:07:47.103 --> 00:07:51.041
  • Would have happened if it wasn't for a little boy named wayne
  • 00:07:51.041 --> 00:07:54.477
  • Wheeler, better known as the biggest party pooper in
  • 00:07:54.477 --> 00:07:57.948
  • American history.
  • 00:07:57.948 --> 00:07:59.316
  • Boy: partying is not my thing. farming is my thing.
  • 00:07:59.316 --> 00:08:06.957
  • Cody: like, basically everybody in history, wayne grew up on
  • 00:08:06.957 --> 00:08:10.293
  • A farm, and one fateful day in the 1870s, everybody was hard
  • 00:08:10.293 --> 00:08:14.531
  • At work doing farmy things.
  • 00:08:14.531 --> 00:08:16.132
  • Well, almost everyone.
  • 00:08:16.132 --> 00:08:17.734
  • One of the farm workers had a bit of a drinking problem, and
  • 00:08:17.734 --> 00:08:21.104
  • He had a pitchfork, and this pitchforking party guy got so
  • 00:08:21.104 --> 00:08:25.041
  • Drunk he accidentally stabbed little wayne with his pitchfork.
  • 00:08:25.041 --> 00:08:29.079
  • [screaming]
  • 00:08:29.079 --> 00:08:33.850
  • Boy: ow!
  • 00:08:33.850 --> 00:08:35.218
  • Getting rid of booze is my new thing.
  • 00:08:35.218 --> 00:08:38.121
  • Cody: from that moment on, little wayne dedicated his life
  • 00:08:38.121 --> 00:08:41.958
  • To the temperance movement.
  • 00:08:41.958 --> 00:08:43.827
  • In 1902, wheeler became the director of the anti-saloon
  • 00:08:43.827 --> 00:08:47.697
  • League, which was kind of like the party pooper avengers.
  • 00:08:47.697 --> 00:08:51.401
  • Their entire mission was to abolish alcohol from
  • 00:08:51.401 --> 00:08:54.504
  • American life.
  • 00:08:54.504 --> 00:08:55.872
  • No one was as committed as wayne wheeler.
  • 00:08:55.872 --> 00:08:59.142
  • He even earned the nickname locomotive in trousers.
  • 00:08:59.142 --> 00:09:03.613
  • Male: toot, toot.
  • 00:09:03.613 --> 00:09:04.948
  • Cody: wayne wheeler would do practically anything to gain
  • 00:09:04.948 --> 00:09:07.884
  • Political power.
  • 00:09:07.884 --> 00:09:09.219
  • He held rallies in different cities, he donated generously to
  • 00:09:09.219 --> 00:09:13.023
  • Political allies, and demonized political opponents.
  • 00:09:13.023 --> 00:09:17.961
  • The u.s. government created
  • 00:09:17.961 --> 00:09:19.295
  • The bureau of prohibition to be the strongarm
  • 00:09:19.295 --> 00:09:22.565
  • Of the anti-party movement.
  • 00:09:22.565 --> 00:09:24.934
  • Male: probies, unite. [laughing]
  • 00:09:24.934 --> 00:09:29.239
  • Cody: these prohibition agent guys, nicknamed probies, would
  • 00:09:29.239 --> 00:09:33.143
  • Go around shutting down saloons, they dumped thousands of kegs of
  • 00:09:33.143 --> 00:09:37.380
  • Beer into the gutters, into the river, they even hunted down
  • 00:09:37.380 --> 00:09:41.518
  • Illegal booze makers and smugglers.
  • 00:09:41.518 --> 00:09:45.889
  • Male: oh, come on, man.
  • 00:09:45.889 --> 00:09:48.091
  • Cody: thanks to prohibition, the party in the usa was over and no
  • 00:09:48.091 --> 00:09:51.027
  • One ever drank again, just kidding.
  • 00:09:51.027 --> 00:09:56.900
  • Just like wealthy politicians and tax codes, there's always
  • 00:09:56.900 --> 00:10:00.670
  • A loophole.
  • 00:10:00.670 --> 00:10:02.005
  • If you wanted to drink legally, you could always go to the
  • 00:10:02.005 --> 00:10:04.974
  • Pharmacy and buy liquor for, get this, medicinal purposes.
  • 00:10:04.974 --> 00:10:10.113
  • Male: this is for my fibromyalgia-mitosis.
  • 00:10:10.113 --> 00:10:14.517
  • Cody: and get this, you could also buy booze from your local
  • 00:10:14.517 --> 00:10:17.320
  • Clergymen for religious purposes.
  • 00:10:17.320 --> 00:10:20.623
  • Male: it's for religious purposes.
  • 00:10:20.623 --> 00:10:23.893
  • Cody: whoo, hallelujah, or you could make your way to a secret
  • 00:10:23.893 --> 00:10:28.098
  • Unlicensed bar called speakeasy, as long as you knew
  • 00:10:28.098 --> 00:10:33.002
  • The password.
  • 00:10:33.002 --> 00:10:35.004
  • And these places were everywhere, from dingy backrooms
  • 00:10:35.004 --> 00:10:38.475
  • And basements to fancy clubs with jazz bands and
  • 00:10:38.475 --> 00:10:41.678
  • Ballroom dance floors.
  • 00:10:41.678 --> 00:10:43.680
  • Cody: here's where the mob comes in.
  • 00:10:43.680 --> 00:10:45.148
  • These gun-toting gangsters were here to fight for your right to
  • 00:10:45.148 --> 00:10:48.752
  • Party and they kept the illegal booze flowing.
  • 00:10:48.752 --> 00:10:52.555
  • Here's some of the best at being the worst.
  • 00:10:52.555 --> 00:10:56.993
  • Male: party people, put your hands together for charles
  • 00:10:56.993 --> 00:11:00.864
  • Lucky luciano.
  • 00:11:00.864 --> 00:11:05.435
  • Cody: born in sicily, italy, lucky luciano basically created
  • 00:11:05.435 --> 00:11:09.539
  • The template for the classic mafia figure we see in movies
  • 00:11:09.539 --> 00:11:12.909
  • Like "the goodfellas" and "the godfather."
  • 00:11:12.909 --> 00:11:16.012
  • Fun fact, he was terrible at grammar but great at supplying
  • 00:11:16.012 --> 00:11:20.517
  • Booze to the new york party scene.
  • 00:11:20.517 --> 00:11:22.819
  • Male: i'll give to you boozes, you give me the monies.
  • 00:11:22.819 --> 00:11:26.422
  • Cody: and he made a killing, after bribing cops--
  • 00:11:26.422 --> 00:11:30.994
  • Male: we're good here?
  • 00:11:30.994 --> 00:11:32.362
  • Cody: politicians and probies, he raked in a cool $4 million
  • 00:11:32.362 --> 00:11:37.033
  • A year.
  • 00:11:37.033 --> 00:11:38.368
  • And then there's jack diamond.
  • 00:11:38.368 --> 00:11:40.203
  • This guy was an irish-american gangster who supplied parts of
  • 00:11:40.203 --> 00:11:43.840
  • Philly and new york with booze, and like all legit gangsters, he
  • 00:11:43.840 --> 00:11:49.813
  • Had his own unique nickname.
  • 00:11:49.813 --> 00:11:51.581
  • Male: ladies and gentlemen, jack "the legs" diamond.
  • 00:11:51.581 --> 00:11:58.321
  • Cody: legs was known for his legs, for one of two reasons,
  • 00:11:58.321 --> 00:12:03.793
  • He could outrun the cops, or his killer dance moves.
  • 00:12:03.793 --> 00:12:10.166
  • [whistling]
  • 00:12:10.166 --> 00:12:11.501
  • But legs's life wasn't one big party, there was kidnappings and
  • 00:12:11.501 --> 00:12:15.371
  • Murders and bouts of gang fights that come with the
  • 00:12:15.371 --> 00:12:18.308
  • Gangster life.
  • 00:12:18.308 --> 00:12:19.676
  • In the end, he reaped the violence he sowed and was gunned
  • 00:12:19.676 --> 00:12:25.682
  • Down by his rivals.
  • 00:12:25.682 --> 00:12:27.550
  • Male: cheers to legs.
  • 00:12:27.550 --> 00:12:32.021
  • Group: cheers!
  • 00:12:32.021 --> 00:12:33.389
  • Male: let's bring this beat back.
  • 00:12:33.389 --> 00:12:34.724
  • Cody: which brings us to the most notorious prohibition
  • 00:12:34.724 --> 00:12:37.193
  • Gangster of all time, al capone.
  • 00:12:37.193 --> 00:12:44.001
  • Gangster of all time, al capone.
  • 00:12:44.001 --> 00:12:44.480
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:12:44.580 --> 00:12:48.451
  • Male: give it up for the one, the only, al capone, scarface.
  • 00:12:48.584 --> 00:12:52.555
  • Cody: al capone was the undisputed mob boss of chicago,
  • 00:12:56.659 --> 00:13:00.229
  • Running gambling, prostitution, and bootlegging rackets.
  • 00:13:00.229 --> 00:13:04.533
  • I mean, so what if he's a murderous criminal?
  • 00:13:04.533 --> 00:13:07.169
  • He was a huge celebrity in his day.
  • 00:13:07.169 --> 00:13:10.206
  • Like a smooth talking politician, he understood the
  • 00:13:10.206 --> 00:13:13.142
  • Importance of a good public image.
  • 00:13:13.142 --> 00:13:17.079
  • He donated to charity.
  • 00:13:17.079 --> 00:13:19.882
  • Male: and a little something for you, sister.
  • 00:13:19.882 --> 00:13:23.252
  • Cody: he ran a soup kitchen.
  • 00:13:23.252 --> 00:13:25.454
  • Male: this is the best soup i've ever had.
  • 00:13:25.454 --> 00:13:30.159
  • Cody: and he was basically a walking book of proverbs for a
  • 00:13:30.159 --> 00:13:33.162
  • 1920s gangster.
  • 00:13:33.162 --> 00:13:34.530
  • Male: be careful who you call your friends.
  • 00:13:34.530 --> 00:13:37.533
  • I'd rather have four quarters than a hundred pennies.
  • 00:13:37.533 --> 00:13:43.105
  • Cody: at the height of his criminal enterprise, capone
  • 00:13:43.105 --> 00:13:45.241
  • Raked in about $100 million a year, and this guy
  • 00:13:45.241 --> 00:13:48.544
  • Owned everybody.
  • 00:13:48.544 --> 00:13:49.879
  • Politicians, lawyers, judges were all on his payroll, but
  • 00:13:49.879 --> 00:13:55.251
  • Eventually the public turned on capone.
  • 00:13:55.251 --> 00:13:58.454
  • On february 14, 1929, seven men were murdered in a parking
  • 00:13:58.454 --> 00:14:03.159
  • Garage, shot to death by tommy guns.
  • 00:14:03.159 --> 00:14:06.195
  • It was a culmination of a violent turf war between two
  • 00:14:06.195 --> 00:14:08.965
  • Gangs, al capone's chicago outfit, and george "the bugs"
  • 00:14:08.965 --> 00:14:12.802
  • Moran's irish north siders.
  • 00:14:12.802 --> 00:14:15.805
  • But the violent valentine's day massacre was just too much,
  • 00:14:15.805 --> 00:14:20.309
  • Even for capone's biggest fans.
  • 00:14:20.309 --> 00:14:23.479
  • Male: you kill a few people on v day and all the love goes away.
  • 00:14:23.479 --> 00:14:30.186
  • Cody: eventually the party ended for capone, but for someone so
  • 00:14:30.252 --> 00:14:34.690
  • Exciting, i find it ironic that he was convicted of what has to
  • 00:14:34.690 --> 00:14:38.861
  • Be the most boring crime of all time, tax evasion.
  • 00:14:38.861 --> 00:14:45.801
  • You see, in the 1920s, americans didn't stop partying,
  • 00:14:45.801 --> 00:14:50.439
  • They just changed the way they partied.
  • 00:14:50.439 --> 00:14:53.042
  • For example, old fashioned saloons catered almost
  • 00:14:53.042 --> 00:14:55.878
  • Exclusively to men.
  • 00:14:55.878 --> 00:14:58.748
  • If ladies wanted to drink, they could enter the side door known
  • 00:14:58.748 --> 00:15:02.418
  • As the ladies entrance.
  • 00:15:02.418 --> 00:15:04.320
  • But in the 1920s, a brand new woman had emerged and she was
  • 00:15:04.320 --> 00:15:08.157
  • Ready to walk through the front door with the boys.
  • 00:15:08.157 --> 00:15:11.494
  • The modern woman in the 1920s was more independent than ever.
  • 00:15:11.494 --> 00:15:15.564
  • Thanks to world war i, she'd entered the workforce and
  • 00:15:15.564 --> 00:15:18.868
  • Decided to stay.
  • 00:15:18.868 --> 00:15:20.202
  • She could vote, she could ride in cars with boys, she wore
  • 00:15:20.202 --> 00:15:24.040
  • Lipstick, and cut her hair short.
  • 00:15:24.040 --> 00:15:26.409
  • She loved to dance and she was ready to show off her ankles.
  • 00:15:26.409 --> 00:15:30.746
  • By any traditional standard, the girls had gone wild.
  • 00:15:30.746 --> 00:15:37.920
  • Cody: so, we've got the transportation, we've got the
  • 00:15:37.987 --> 00:15:40.689
  • Booze, we've got men and women entering the same door, but
  • 00:15:40.689 --> 00:15:44.593
  • Every party needs a killer playlist, and the 1920s gave us
  • 00:15:44.593 --> 00:15:48.564
  • Jazz music.
  • 00:15:48.564 --> 00:15:49.932
  • And undoubtedly, the most famous jazz artist of the era was
  • 00:15:49.932 --> 00:15:53.769
  • Louis armstrong.
  • 00:15:53.769 --> 00:15:56.072
  • Now, i know what you're thinking, just like every other
  • 00:15:56.072 --> 00:15:58.607
  • Famous person on the planet, louis had to have grown up on
  • 00:15:58.607 --> 00:16:02.111
  • A farm, right?
  • 00:16:02.111 --> 00:16:03.846
  • Actually, no, little louis grew up right here in new orleans in
  • 00:16:03.846 --> 00:16:08.350
  • A neighborhood so rough and poor they called it the battlefield.
  • 00:16:08.350 --> 00:16:12.721
  • His mother was a prostitute and his dad abandoned them when he
  • 00:16:12.721 --> 00:16:16.692
  • Was just a little kid.
  • 00:16:16.692 --> 00:16:18.127
  • Louis left school in the fifth grade to begin working as
  • 00:16:18.127 --> 00:16:20.796
  • A junk collector.
  • 00:16:20.796 --> 00:16:22.832
  • Boy: junk is not my thing.
  • 00:16:22.832 --> 00:16:24.600
  • Cody: louis's life took a surprising turn on new year's
  • 00:16:24.600 --> 00:16:27.103
  • Eve, 1912.
  • 00:16:27.103 --> 00:16:28.671
  • After shooting his stepfather's gun during a party, he was
  • 00:16:28.671 --> 00:16:31.874
  • Arrested and sent to live at a boys home.
  • 00:16:31.874 --> 00:16:35.544
  • It was here that he received formal training in music with
  • 00:16:35.544 --> 00:16:38.514
  • The cornet, and he was hooked.
  • 00:16:38.514 --> 00:16:41.717
  • As a teenager, louis worked odd jobs during the day, but at
  • 00:16:41.717 --> 00:16:45.087
  • Night he would play blues music.
  • 00:16:45.087 --> 00:16:47.523
  • Male: music is my thing.
  • 00:16:47.523 --> 00:16:49.291
  • Cody: he caught the attention of the greatest cornet player in
  • 00:16:49.291 --> 00:16:52.161
  • Town, joe king oliver.
  • 00:16:52.161 --> 00:16:54.630
  • Eventually, oliver began mentoring louis.
  • 00:16:54.630 --> 00:16:57.333
  • As america entered the 1920s, louis entered the chicago and
  • 00:16:57.333 --> 00:17:01.337
  • New york jazz scenes.
  • 00:17:01.337 --> 00:17:02.738
  • In a three-year span, he made more than 60 records, and today
  • 00:17:02.738 --> 00:17:07.510
  • They're regarded as the most influential jazz recordings
  • 00:17:07.510 --> 00:17:10.913
  • In history.
  • 00:17:10.913 --> 00:17:15.006
  • In history.
  • 00:17:15.006 --> 00:17:15.575
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:17:15.675 --> 00:17:19.245
  • Cody: louis's to fame coincided with a major technological
  • 00:17:19.345 --> 00:17:20.346
  • Breakthrough in the era, the radio broadcast.
  • 00:17:22.849 --> 00:17:26.052
  • During the 1920s, hundreds of radio stations emerged and
  • 00:17:26.052 --> 00:17:30.490
  • People started buying radios for their home.
  • 00:17:30.490 --> 00:17:33.426
  • This was a huge deal.
  • 00:17:33.426 --> 00:17:35.328
  • You see, before the radio, people had to wait for the daily
  • 00:17:35.328 --> 00:17:38.097
  • Paper to get their news, but now a radio broadcast could be live
  • 00:17:38.097 --> 00:17:43.069
  • And instantaneous.
  • 00:17:43.069 --> 00:17:45.805
  • Radio sitcoms like "amos and andy" were like the must-binge
  • 00:17:45.805 --> 00:17:49.375
  • Tv of the day, and people in small towns like joplin,
  • 00:17:49.375 --> 00:17:53.780
  • Missouri could be listening to the same exact music as people
  • 00:17:53.780 --> 00:17:57.550
  • In big cities like chicago or la.
  • 00:17:57.550 --> 00:18:01.221
  • Jazz grew out of new orleans and took over the speakeasies and
  • 00:18:01.221 --> 00:18:04.757
  • The airwaves of the 1920s.
  • 00:18:04.757 --> 00:18:07.961
  • Jazz is considered to be the only true, uniquely american
  • 00:18:07.961 --> 00:18:12.398
  • Art form.
  • 00:18:12.398 --> 00:18:13.733
  • It's the music of the melting pot.
  • 00:18:13.733 --> 00:18:15.101
  • It's a fusion of african and slave folk music and classical
  • 00:18:15.101 --> 00:18:18.771
  • European riffs.
  • 00:18:18.771 --> 00:18:20.406
  • Jazz had something for everyone, men and women, black and white,
  • 00:18:20.406 --> 00:18:24.811
  • Rich and poor, and like america, jazz is best when different
  • 00:18:24.811 --> 00:18:28.982
  • Peoples, cultures, and traditions come together in
  • 00:18:28.982 --> 00:18:32.352
  • A unified song.
  • 00:18:32.352 --> 00:18:34.520
  • Cody: now, it's probably worth mentioning that not everybody in
  • 00:18:34.520 --> 00:18:38.024
  • America wanted to party down in a speakeasy listening to
  • 00:18:38.024 --> 00:18:41.261
  • Jazz music.
  • 00:18:41.261 --> 00:18:42.629
  • In the 1920s, around 30% of americans were still farmers.
  • 00:18:42.629 --> 00:18:46.799
  • Group: farming is our thing.
  • 00:18:46.799 --> 00:18:48.568
  • Cody: and these farmers didn't share in the economic boom.
  • 00:18:48.568 --> 00:18:51.371
  • They couldn't afford fancy cars or flapper dresses, but here's
  • 00:18:51.371 --> 00:18:55.441
  • The deal, the rift went way deeper than just money.
  • 00:18:55.441 --> 00:18:59.379
  • The 1920s also exposed the beginning of a cultural tension
  • 00:18:59.379 --> 00:19:03.149
  • That we still feel in our nation today.
  • 00:19:03.149 --> 00:19:05.952
  • The popular culture expressed in radio, magazines, and silent
  • 00:19:05.952 --> 00:19:09.789
  • Movies just wasn't in sync with traditional american values.
  • 00:19:09.789 --> 00:19:14.227
  • Cody: the drinking, the dancing, the flapper girl, the greediest,
  • 00:19:14.227 --> 00:19:17.864
  • Murderous gangster, the buy now, pay later consumerism,
  • 00:19:17.864 --> 00:19:21.601
  • The casual sex.
  • 00:19:21.601 --> 00:19:22.969
  • The entire party scene just did not sit well with america's
  • 00:19:22.969 --> 00:19:26.739
  • Traditional christian values.
  • 00:19:26.739 --> 00:19:29.676
  • So, what happened?
  • 00:19:29.676 --> 00:19:31.411
  • Well, an altogether different type of party started to emerge.
  • 00:19:31.411 --> 00:19:39.018
  • Attendance at christian colleges boomed.
  • 00:19:39.018 --> 00:19:41.554
  • Media savvy evangelists packed tent revivals, and if jazz could
  • 00:19:41.554 --> 00:19:45.992
  • Make it on the radio, well, then, so could a good
  • 00:19:45.992 --> 00:19:48.861
  • Old-fashioned bible show.
  • 00:19:48.861 --> 00:19:50.830
  • Popular la preacher aimee semple mcpherson understood the power
  • 00:19:50.830 --> 00:19:55.101
  • Of media.
  • 00:19:55.101 --> 00:19:56.469
  • She was the first woman to ever hold a radio license and she had
  • 00:19:56.469 --> 00:20:00.373
  • The second most popular radio show in all of los angeles.
  • 00:20:00.373 --> 00:20:03.943
  • So, take that, devil.
  • 00:20:03.943 --> 00:20:09.015
  • As the decade neared its end, the great american party started
  • 00:20:09.015 --> 00:20:13.319
  • To die down, but do you remember little wayne wheeler?
  • 00:20:13.319 --> 00:20:18.157
  • Cody: well, this guy wasn't done pooping on america's party.
  • 00:20:18.157 --> 00:20:21.194
  • Get this, when booze became illegal, desperate drinkers
  • 00:20:21.194 --> 00:20:25.498
  • Started refining industrial alcohol, the type of stuff that
  • 00:20:25.498 --> 00:20:29.535
  • You find in paints and perfumes.
  • 00:20:29.535 --> 00:20:32.138
  • So, the probies, under direction of wayne wheeler, started adding
  • 00:20:32.138 --> 00:20:36.376
  • Poison to this stuff.
  • 00:20:36.376 --> 00:20:38.778
  • Between 10,000 and 50,000 people actually died.
  • 00:20:38.778 --> 00:20:44.150
  • Male: this tastes funny. female: what?
  • 00:20:44.150 --> 00:20:47.153
  • Cody: and wayne's response?
  • 00:20:47.153 --> 00:20:48.521
  • Male: they deserved it.
  • 00:20:48.521 --> 00:20:52.125
  • Cody: the public began to turn on the anti-saloon league,
  • 00:20:52.125 --> 00:20:55.395
  • And by 1933 the prohibition experiment was over and
  • 00:20:55.395 --> 00:20:59.465
  • Americans could legally drink again.
  • 00:20:59.465 --> 00:21:01.033
  • You didn't need speakeasies anymore, you could just go to
  • 00:21:01.033 --> 00:21:04.871
  • A regular bar.
  • 00:21:04.871 --> 00:21:07.173
  • During the roaring twenties, the dow jones industrial average
  • 00:21:07.173 --> 00:21:10.443
  • Increased sixfold, our wealth doubled, and average americans
  • 00:21:10.443 --> 00:21:14.947
  • Could afford such luxuries as their own homes, cars, radios,
  • 00:21:14.947 --> 00:21:20.086
  • And telephones.
  • 00:21:20.086 --> 00:21:21.687
  • But on october 29, 1929, a day history remembers as black
  • 00:21:21.687 --> 00:21:28.694
  • Monday, the party in the usa was officially over.
  • 00:21:28.694 --> 00:21:32.365
  • The stock market crashed hard.
  • 00:21:32.365 --> 00:21:35.735
  • After a decade of rowdy partying and overspending, america had
  • 00:21:35.735 --> 00:21:40.440
  • A massive hangover.
  • 00:21:40.440 --> 00:21:41.941
  • America was depressed, quite literally.
  • 00:21:41.941 --> 00:21:45.278
  • The great depression was the worst economic downturn
  • 00:21:45.278 --> 00:21:48.614
  • In history.
  • 00:21:48.614 --> 00:21:49.949
  • By 1933, 15 million americans were unemployed and almost half
  • 00:21:49.949 --> 00:21:55.421
  • Of the country's banks had collapsed.
  • 00:21:55.421 --> 00:21:57.790
  • The financial crisis plunged countless families into poverty
  • 00:21:57.790 --> 00:22:01.394
  • And forced many into bread lines and soup kitchens just
  • 00:22:01.394 --> 00:22:04.330
  • To survive.
  • 00:22:04.330 --> 00:22:05.698
  • This led to widespread homelessness with many people
  • 00:22:05.698 --> 00:22:08.568
  • Living in makeshift shanty towns as they struggled to find
  • 00:22:08.568 --> 00:22:12.138
  • Shelter and bare necessities.
  • 00:22:12.138 --> 00:22:15.241
  • Cody: the 1920s were over, and so was the party in the usa.
  • 00:22:15.241 --> 00:22:19.412
  • But by 1933, at least americans could drink again,
  • 00:22:19.412 --> 00:22:23.349
  • So, cheers to that.
  • 00:22:23.349 --> 00:22:25.384
  • We'll see you next time.
  • 00:22:25.384 --> 00:22:28.154