Okay, I have always been curious on everyone's opinon on these two decades.

The beggining of the 20's pretty much started the current society we have today. Technology was booming, the economy was too! Cars started to become affordable. The "horse-carriage" phase of society was over and we were headed for the future. Movies were exploding and were cheap and radio became normal for everyone to have. Baseball was huge and sports became an empire! The 1920's was the first time that the 20th century distinguised itself from the 19th. This is the reason why the shift from the 1910's to the 1920's was so big! I don't know much about this era, so sorry if I'm wrong. But for a guess I think that in 1914, horse carriages were everywhere and cars were for mostly rich people. And another guess is that it wasn't until 1923-24 that cars became affordable. These are the reasons why the 1920's should be the biggest change.

And now the swinging 60's!

We had the Civil Rights Movement

- The counterculture youth movement-

-The Vietnam war-

- The first landing on the moon!-

-The cubin missle crisis-

-Summer of love '67-

-The beat generation, assassination of JFK, Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King-

Protests, hippies, drugs, sex, rock and roll, Lol.

It was also the begginning of the post-modernist world.

These are the reasons why the change of the 60's was bigger than the 20's.

Based on the two comparison, I pick the 1920's. I think the change was so fast that by 1930, the 15-20 year change between 1910 and 1930 seemed like a 100 year change!

So, which decade was the bigger change for society as a whole?

Both are interesting decades, both had revolutionary music (Jazz in the 1920s; Rock/Psychedelic/Soul in the 1960s;), both were followed by decades in which there was an economic letdown (particularly the 1920s-30s), but I'd say in terms of social change, the 1960s was bigger; the 1920s is more like a "low-tech '50s" in that it was fairly conservative in society and more about good progress and entertainment. The 1920s was the height of the "machine age", where sophisticated factories would develop new products; the 1960s, however, had big developments in computer technology (space exploration, the first Internet, first video game, etc.) that still has influenced new technologies today. 1920s music evolved from Dixieland and some Expressionist music to Jazz; but classical music was still a big deal then despite all the new pop music. The 1960s however really saw the interest in classical music begin to erode away; who wants to listen to Mozart after the Beatles and Stones?

The bottom line is that the 1920s saw big changes technologically, but the 1960s saw big changes both technologically AND socially.

Both are interesting decades, both had revolutionary music (Jazz in the 1920s; Rock/Psychedelic/Soul in the 1960s;), both were followed by decades in which there was an economic letdown (particularly the 1920s-30s), but I'd say in terms of social change, the 1960s was bigger; the 1920s is more like a "low-tech '50s" in that it was fairly conservative in society and more about good progress and entertainment. The 1920s was the height of the "machine age", where sophisticated factories would develop new products; the 1960s, however, had big developments in computer technology (space exploration, the first Internet, first video game, etc.) that still has influenced new technologies today. 1920s music evolved from Dixieland and some Expressionist music to Jazz; but classical music was still a big deal then despite all the new pop music. The 1960s however really saw the interest in classical music begin to erode away; who wants to listen to Mozart after the Beatles and Stones?

The bottom line is that the 1920s saw big changes technologically, but the 1960s saw big changes both technologically AND socially.


You have some great points. This would explain why the 60's is talked about more than the 20's.

New York in Black and White.  (Warning, graphics-intensive)

I'm going to go with the 20s.  The introduction of the automobile changed the ways cities looked.  Prohibition of alcohol and its repeal, plus the issue of women's suffrage, were every bit as significant social revolutions as their 60s analogues. 

Heck, when it came to dealing with the crime that arose due to the prohibition of alcohol, the people of the 20s actually got their government to back down on both of its most dunderheaded social policies.  The people of the 60s only batted .500.

Those pictures say it better than any words could.

New York in Black and White.  (Warning, graphics-intensive)

I'm going to go with the 20s.  The introduction of the automobile changed the ways cities looked.  Prohibition of alcohol and its repeal, plus the issue of women's suffrage, were every bit as significant social revolutions as their 60s analogues. 

Heck, when it came to dealing with the crime that arose due to the prohibition of alcohol, the people of the 20s actually got their government to back down on both of its most dunderheaded social policies.  The people of the 60s only batted .500.

Those pictures say it better than any words could.


Thanks for the pic. The reason why I gave the 20's as a bigger change was because

...the atmosphere before the 20's was so ancient, and suddenly in the 20's, everything looked modern, like a downgraded version of today. While in the 19th century, everything pretty much looked the same!