The 1920s get all the credit for flapper dresses, jazz clubs, and Gatsby-style parties, but there’s a whole everyday weirdness hiding underneath the glitz. This was a decade of wild contradictions: Prohibition banned alcohol while secret bars flourished on every corner, women won the right to vote but couldn’t get a credit card in their own name, and Americans were obsessed with the future even as most homes still didn’t have electricity.
Dive into a decade full of strange inventions and everyday habits that would seem downright bizarre today. Here are 15 facts about the Roaring Twenties that rarely make it into the history books.
1. Crossword puzzles caused a national sensation
When the first crossword puzzle book hit shelves in 1924, it became an overnight sensation. Dictionaries sold out across the country as people scrambled to look up obscure words, and some libraries even limited how long visitors could keep a dictionary checked out because so many people needed one at once.
2. Goldfish swallowing was a college trend
Long before ice bucket challenges, this fad reportedly started at Harvard and spread to campuses nationwide, with students swallowing dozens to win bets.
3. Babe Ruth ate hot dogs before games
The baseball legend was famous for his enormous appetite, and stories circulated about him eating hot dogs and sodas right before stepping up to bat. His diet habits were so notorious that one bad stomachache in 1925 made front-page news across the country.
4. Radio turned strangers into a shared audience overnight
Before the 1920s, entertainment was mostly local and in-person. Once radios became affordable, families across totally different states were suddenly listening to the same comedy shows and news broadcasts at the same time, creating one of the first national pop culture moments.
5. Marathon dancing became a sport
Dance marathons swept the country, with couples competing to see who could stay on their feet the longest.
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6. Flagpole sitting was an actual profession
Flagpole sitting was an actual profession in the 20s. A stuntman named Alvin “Shipwreck” Kelly made a living perching on flagpoles for days or even weeks at a time. He did it because it paid off in ways few other stunts could: businesses like theaters and department stores sponsored him to sit above their storefronts as publicity.
7. Prohibition made milkshakes more popular than ever
With alcohol banned, soda fountains became the new social hotspot. Milkshakes and ice cream sodas exploded in popularity as places for young people to flirt and hang out instead of the neighborhood saloon.
8. Handshakes were still risky business
As germ theory became more widely understood, some doctors and columnists actually campaigned against handshaking, worried it spread disease.
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9. Answering machines already existed
Inventors were experimenting with early telephone recording devices throughout the decade, though they were bulky, expensive, and rarely used in homes. The idea of a machine picking up your calls started here.
10. Bobbed hair caused family fights
When women started cutting their long hair into short bobs, it wasn’t just a style choice; it was a statement.
11. Bathing suits were measured by inspectors on the beach
Many towns had strict rules about how much skin a swimsuit could show, and some employed actual “beach censors”. Wearing a suit that was too short or too revealing could get you fined or escorted off the beach entirely.
12. Crime bosses moonlighted as neighborhood celebrities
Bootleggers and gangsters weren’t just feared; they were famous. Some ran soup kitchens and gave money to struggling families, which helped build a strange kind of public loyalty even as authorities hunted them down.
13. Tanning went from taboo to trendy almost overnight
For generations, pale skin was seen as a sign of wealth and status. But in the 1920s, sunbathing suddenly became fashionable thanks to designer Coco Chanel showing off a tan after a Mediterranean vacation.
14. The pogo stick was a genuine sensation
After debuting earlier in the decade, pogo sticks became very popular with both kids and adults. There were even pogo stick dance troupes that performed choreographed routines on stage.
15. People traveled by autogyro
Years before helicopters became common, inventors were experimenting with autogyros, an aircraft that used unpowered rotating blades to stay aloft.
Looking for similar content?
Check out 30 Photos That Capture What Life Was Actually Like in the Early 1920s for an even deeper look at this decade, from flappers and speakeasies to a young Clark Gable. For a taste of the era’s glamour overseas, 20 Dreamy Photos That Show Why Paris in the 1920s Was Pure Magic captures the City of Lights at its most romantic, with Hemingway, Josephine Baker, and walks along the Seine. And if you want to see the decade’s darker side, 17 Vintage 1900s Mugshots That Tell a Story rounds up real arrest photos with the strange, sad, and sometimes hilarious stories behind them.
