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An insight in the Jazz Age through Motoring History
8th June, 2007 | ||||
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Visitors to Adelaide's National Motor Museum’s new exhibition, The Jazz Age, will learn about the decadent American lifestyle of the 1920s and early 1930s through their cars. The exhibition delves into the age that takes its name from jazz music which was very popular at the time. It was a time where those who could afford it embraced new technologies such as cars, air travel and telephones. The age of flappers, prohibition, bootleg liquor and gangsters was first coined ‘The Jazz Age’ by American writer F Scott Fitzgerald. The First World War left Europe in tatters, but not the United States of America. The 1920s was a decade of enormous change and excitement. For many, it was a time of prosperity and carefree living, when people indulged in decadent pleasures after the misery and hard times of the War. By the beginning of the 1920s America was already firmly established as the leader in production and ownership of cars. Cars were a symbol of financial and therefore social status. The automobile boom also had a huge impact on the economy, with spending on vehicles and infrastructure such as roads and bridges. The boom times ended with the stock market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression followed. The automotive industry was one of the hardest hit, with many thousands of workers losing their jobs. Vehicles on display in the exhibition include:
While enjoying the vehicles of the era visitors will also learn some interesting and quirky facts about the times: In 1924 one in seven Americans owned a car, $290 was the price of a new Model T Ford in 1924, the last Model T Ford was built in 1927 – in total, 15 million were built from the beginning of production in 1908, the Ford Motor Company began assembling cars in Australia in 1921 and the first car radio was introduced in 1929. About the exhibition: What: The Jazz Age exhibition
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ABN 47106248033 |
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