Short Stuff: Flappers | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

Hey, and welcome to the Short Stuff. I'm. Josh, and there's Chuck, and Jerry's. here doing the Charleston [music] on. Dave's behalf, and this is stuff you. should know Short Stuff. Let's go. now. >> All right, the year is 1915 everybody, and the word flapper is about to be. introduced to the world by way of H.L. Mencken, a writer who wrote a I guess an. essay called The Flapper for the.

literary magazine The Smart Set. >> What a great mag. >> Yeah. >> By the way, we should say that Private. Eye is not a rag. over in the UK, so sorry everybody. I'm going to go ahead and assume The. Smart Set wasn't either, but in this um. in this uh article or essay uh Mencken. is using a term that's already been. established, flapper. It was I think. British slang for a young girl, right? >> Yeah. >> He's saying, "No, no, no, we need to get. more specific. There is a young girl.

that's emerging. They're not here yet, but I can see them coming out of the. fabric of culture, and they are not. going to follow these standards and. traditions and moral codes that are. handed down generation after generation. There's this new thing called media that. is coming up, and that's what's going to. influence them, and they're going to be. total trailblazers." And he was right. >> Yeah, so the flapper would come along. and kick what was known as the Gibson. Girl to the curb. Uh the Gibson Girl.

during the 1910s was. created and popularized from an. illustrator named Charles Dana Gibson. And this was like if you think of the. Edwardian sort of. uh corset-wearing uh updo hair-wearing. uh choker, you know, like um dress that. goes a skirt that goes all the way to. the past the ankle and a and like a. choker up to under the chin. That's the. Gibson Girl look, and the flapper came. along and said, "No, no, no, no. We want. to have more fun than that.".

>> They did. And they did. And it took the. death of tens of millions of people to. get them there. Uh because World War I and the 1918 flu. pandemic were a one-two punch that. killed a lot of people around the world. And in doing so, both of those things. adjusted gender norms to the extent that. all of a sudden. like the world couldn't afford to just. keep women off to the side any longer. They they they were needed more than. ever. Like in the workforce, they needed.

to be educated. And so it opened all. these opportunities for women to just. kind of come out from under the thumb of. their fathers and then their husbands. >> Yeah, and this kind of happened around. 1920. when the Roaring Twenties came on the. scene. There was a new woman. emerging from the cocoon. that kind of coincided with like "Hey, we'd like to have a right to vote.". Kind of early feminist causes as well. >> Mhm. >> And the both the 18th and 19th. Amendments were both, you know, pretty. crucial to the rise of this new.

kind of style of woman, which was. prohibition, which sent people. into underground bars hanging out, and then the right to vote. And both of. these things were sort of like. a rejection of the. Victorian code that came before. >> Yeah, big time. I mean, this wasn't like. a. transition over, you know, the course of. decades that just one piece followed. another. This was like a razor blade.

cutting off the old guard and starting. anew. >> And it was these it was led by this this. leading edge of the of young like early. 20s, late teens girls um who. just completely just changed everything. They they went against so many norms. They started smoking. They started. drinking. Women did not do those things. at that time. Uh they started wearing. makeup. Women did not wear makeup unless. you were a sex worker or an actress.

They They just did all this stuff that. up to that point was just not done and. they just started doing it all of a. sudden. >> Yeah. Uh two other big things that kind. of spurred this was the rise of the. automobile. Um more and more people had. cars, so all of a sudden not only could. uh young women like drive themselves. places and they weren't literally sort. of under lock and key of their of their. home or their parents' homes. Uh but all. of a sudden boys and young men could. come along and pick them up and take. them out on a date. And, you know, sometimes things would happen in cars.

So, like everything was changing. Uh the. other big one was the radio. Uh KDKA in. Pittsburgh was the first um I guess. commercial broadcast station. And by. 1924 there were more than 600 of those. And all of a sudden there was like music. happening and movies happening that. featured uh different styles and young. women like, you know, dancing and having. fun. >> Yeah, people driving around in. convertibles in New York booming Jay-Z. It was amazing. >> Yeah. >> Uh I thought that was so stupid.

>> No, it was great. >> Uh let's take a break and we'll come. back and Chuck and I are going to work. out whether that was actually stupid or. not. >> [music]. [music].

[music]. >> Uh also, Chuck, before we get started. again, I want to shout out Conger for. writing this. This is a Conger joint. from HowStuffWorks this article was. >> That's right. Uh go check out Unladylike. the podcast. It's great and so is. Kristen. >> Exactly. So, there was a new woman that emerged from. that right to vote. The you can kind of. say that those two amendments that came.

out so so quickly together, the 18th and. 19th, one was for the flappers, that was the. prohibition on alcohol because it. created speak easies like you said. The. right to vote, that created this kind of. other um. thread of women called the new woman who. were very interested in being active. politically and socially. The flappers. were like, "Yeah, you go have fun with. that. We're going to go get wasted and. hang out in in speak easies in New York.

and just live our our funnest lives.". >> Yeah, or maybe go see a Clara Bow movie. because in 1922 Clara Bow debuted in. Beyond the Rainbow and. kind of defined the flapper look. Um she. had that hair bobbed. She had a little. bit of makeup on. She that the flapper style was really. coming in vogue. In real life you had. none other than Zelda Fitzgerald as a. late teen. when she was with F. Scott Fitzgerald. when he first gained fame. I think I.

think before she was writing even. and she was sort of one of the first big. it girls. and certainly embodied that flapper. style. >> Yeah. Also, I don't want I don't know. who I said was the first it girl, but I. was wrong. It was in some other. podcast a while back. But I whoever it. was was in like the 40s or 50s, but I. think Clara Bow was the actual first it. girl. >> Okay. >> And then I guess Zelda Fitzgerald was. the first real life it girl, but.

let's talk about some of those fashions. that people like Clara Bow and and Zelda. Fitzgerald rocked. A lot of it was being. designed by Coco Chanel. >> Yeah. >> Like the the real deal Coco Chanel was. designing in Paris during this time and. the that whole like Victorian era corset. S figure shape was just thrown totally. out the window and instead it was boyish. bodies with drapey boxy. skirts essentially.

>> Yeah, that was like that sack dress was. like the flapper uniform. >> Mhm. >> Uh, the the fabric literally was lighter. Connor found this is pretty staggering. but the flapper dress had about 7 yards. of fabric. A Victorian gown had about 20. yards of fabric. So they literally shed, you know, weight. in their clothing to just just be freer. Um, the the flapper dress basically was. about mid-calf in length. By the late 1920s it inched above the.

knee a little bit. Uh, but you know, it. was so they could dance. So they could. do the the Charleston and the and the. foxtrot. >> Yeah. Um, they people think like it. immediately went up. That is actually. one thing that kind of slowly changed. and it it was just that way for a couple. of years. >> Yeah. >> Um, one of the other things that is like. like you said the flapper uniform was. the cloche hat. I never knew that's what. it was called. >> Yeah. >> But it's like a almost brimless hat. It's very close to the head. Usually has. a big bow.

And it would show off their hairdo which. was usually quite short. You mentioned. that those Gibson girls had like the big. updo or else like long flowy hair. Another way to rebel against that was to. cut your hair very short and often very. straight and sometimes with pomade. That was that was the flapper girls. haircut. I think it was called the Eton. crop. >> Yeah, and they yeah, might use the. pomade to like slick it back like a man. might. They would show their a lot of. those flapper dresses had no arms so.

they were showing their arms for the. first time. >> Scandalous. >> Uh, very scandalous. A lot of times with. a lot of like necklaces and bracelets. and things like that. And the wool those. like heavy black wool stockings went out. of fashion for a more sheer hosiery. And. sometimes oh boy, they would roll down. that hosiery a little bit to like a. makeshift knee high. >> Not a good look. >> Oh, I think it is. >> Do you you like the roll down knee high. look? >> Yeah, yeah. I was raised Baptist. All. that stuff is very titillating.

>> I [laughter] think my problem is I. associate that with Mama from Mama's. Family. >> Yeah, that'll do it. Yeah. >> That'll definitely dampen your your. thoughts. Um so all of this this flapper. party came and went in less than a. decade. I mean Clara Bow hit the scene. in 1922 and she was the one in Beyond. the Rainbow that really like kind of set. the standard. Um and by 1929 it was all. over because the depression hit and. everybody's like. we don't have time for parties anymore.

We got bigger fish to fry now. >> Yeah. And that was kind of it. Uh the stock market crash was like. literally the very end. It was October. 29th, 1929. And it was just one of those events that. kind of. um kind of signified like the end of an. era and definitely the end of the. flapper era. >> Yeah. The fun was over and so was. prohibition too because America really. needed to start drinking again. So that. there went the speakeasy and all that. stuff. >> And I think that means [music] short. stuff's over too though, right?

>> Yeah. It's not just over, Chuck. It's. >> out. >> Stuff You Should Know is a production of. iHeart Radio. For more podcasts from. iHeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio. app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you. listen [music] to your favorite shows.