As we all know, every decade of the 20th century is remembered for something, i.e. its own distinct culture or historical event. However the only decade that doesn't seem to have any cultural or historical identity whatsoever is the 1900s (1900-1909). All that really comes to mind when I think of this decade is Theodore Roosevelt's presidency and the Wright Brothers, but nothing else. Did the 1900s decade have any identity? What do you think?

The 1900s absolutely had an identity, but the problem is that their culture was overwhelmingly shared with the following decade, the 1910s. Still, in contrast with the late 19th Century and 1920s, the Edwardian Era was defined by things such as these:

* Straw boater hats
* Ragtime music
* Lone moustaches instead of beards
* Short silent films (before The Birth of a Nation popularized feature-length movies)
* Nickelodeons, aka the earliest popular theaters to show movies
* Early automobiles, often those without roofs
* The Wizard of Oz books
* Peter Pan
* Barbershop quartets
* Dead-ball era baseball
* Wax cylinders
* Pan-African politics

I don't think it any sort of identity. Not a lot of decades before the 1920s had remarkable culture, so it was usually ignored by a lot of people.

Cars and electric lighting were becoming popular and Picasso and Einstein also captured public imagination. Technologically, I think there's a noticeable difference the first half and the second half.

To me, only if you lived at the time. From far away, pre-1920 meshes together pretty well. Although you could see some 1920's previews by like 1918.

I don't think it any sort of identity. Not a lot of decades before the 1920s had remarkable culture, so it was usually ignored by a lot of people.


The 1890s seemed loved

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The 1890s seemed loved

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Except the cartoon was used as a joke, and it didn't really glorify the 1890s. lol

Except the cartoon was used as a joke, and it didn't really glorify the 1890s. lol


http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheGayNineties

There used to be lots of nostalgia for it

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheGayNineties

There used to be lots of nostalgia for it


That may be the case towards the early 20th century (until the 1940s), but nobody was nostalgic for it after the 1950s came.

I got my first horse and carriage in 1906!  :)

I got my first horse and carriage in 1906!  :)


lol

I had my first one in 1865, biatch.  8)

I got my first horse and carriage in 1906!  :)


I couldn't afford one.  :-X

I couldn't afford one.  :-X


Poor peasant. lol

lol

I had my first one in 1865, biatch.  8)


>:(

I couldn't afford one.  :-X


How did you get to places where you needed to be?  ::)

lol

I had my first one in 1865, biatch.  8)


That was when Abraham Lincoln was still president.

I couldn't afford one.  :-X



You just didn't have the currency yet.

How did you get to places where you needed to be?  ::)


walking.

How did you get to places where you needed to be?  ::)


Wow, talk about privilege! I walked, hitched a horsecar trolley, or a train. What does the daily life a filthy poor matter to you!  ::)

I saw a yearbook from 1900 once. It was just like 40 pages of an essay that described the school and that particular school year of 1899/1900. No pictures. The cover was just a fancy design from that time, 1899/1900. Almost like a modern Hallmark card. Very interesting, indeed.

I saw a yearbook from 1900 once. It was just like 40 pages of an essay that described the school and that particular school year of 1899/1900. No pictures. The cover was just a fancy design from that time, 1899/1900. Almost like a modern Hallmark card. Very interesting, indeed.


;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

I bet you got it from a library, since it's ancient.

;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

I bet you got it from a library, since it's ancient.


Yup, from the library. Most of the year books were from 1972 and after!

I saw a yearbook from 1900 once. It was just like 40 pages of an essay that described the school and that particular school year of 1899/1900. No pictures. The cover was just a fancy design from that time, 1899/1900. Almost like a modern Hallmark card. Very interesting, indeed.


What did it say? :o

I thought most people didn't finish school at the turn of the 20th century. Maybe finish elementary school at best.

What did it say? :o

I thought most people didn't finish school at the turn of the 20th century. Maybe finish elementary school at best.


I didn't read it. I had to leave at that moment. Okay, okay, I was too lazy to read it!  :(

I didn't read it. I had to leave at that moment. Okay, okay, I was too lazy to read it!  :(


Lol mess. That's more interesting than the Paul Krugman book I'm reading.  :-X

Wow, talk about privilege! I walked, hitched a horsecar trolley, or a train. What does the daily life a filthy poor matter to you!  ::)


Wasn't hitchhiking dangerous at that time? ???

Wasn't hitchhiking dangerous at that time? ???


Oh, I didn't mean hitchhiking. A horsecar is like a bus, except it's run by horses. They were pretty slow, but people used them to travel longer distances if they needed to.

edit: nvm, those were phased out in 1890s! I just read that electric streetcars replaced them that decade and into the 1900s. Nice! City travel must've been a lot easier.

Oh, I didn't mean hitchhiking. A horsecar is like a bus, except it's run by horses. They were pretty slow, but people used them to travel longer distances if they needed to.

edit: nvm, those were phased out in 1890s! I just read that electric streetcars replaced them that decade and into the 1900s. Nice! City travel must've been a lot easier.


Peasant! Horse carriagers are so much more noble and shinier than you 'walkers'!! Bahahahaha!!!

https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSCnJIQbooTnW94v8Osx39ha7-wGF0oBtcV5MYro4RDjNNgyPAf

Can I use my half-fare card in the 1900's riding on the bus?  ???

The 1900s is when the Progressive Era really kicked into gear, in women's fashion there was romantic revival of styles, technology was changing very quickly.

It definitely has an identity, it's just that it's identity is irrelevant today, I'd say the 1910s identity are considered irrelevant as well (besides the WW1 stuff), it might not happen to the 20s and 30s since the 20s were it's own era: The Roaring Twenties, and the 30s were it's own as well: The Great Depression.

However, I think the 40s will be thrown in with either the 30s since it had WW2, or the 50s due to music, movies, and media in general that became much bigger in the 40s even though 40s music was largely big band/jazz influenced pop and the 50s were traditional pop/early rock (not including all genres, I know things like Doo Wop were popular in the 50s).

Decades will be merged together as time goes by even though they each have their own unique identity, because most people won't care. Not many people today go back and watch 1900's and 1910's movies (I have, and some of you may have, I'm just saying most people don't), nor do they they listen to 1900's and 1910's music. Some artists such as Scott Joplin with his most well known song "The Entertainer" or movies such as The Birth of a Nation are still remembered, but most things are sadly forgotten.

It did have an identity, though it's difficult to define.  I would say it was a decade of "new technology" mixed with traditional methods (think of horse buggies and automobiles traveling on the same roads).  In terms of dress, it seemed to be a "romantic" period where both men and women would dress up in tailored outfits and wore hats.

The next decade (1910s) is what I consider the Edwardian period.  I identify that period with WWI along with the women's movement.  Costumes were also a little bit more ornate.

The 1920s are a no brainer when it comes to identity, but the '30s are again difficult to define except for the Depression, the problems in Europe, diners being on the rise, and perhaps comic books.

The 1920s are a no brainer when it comes to identity, but the '30s are again difficult to define except for the Depression, the problems in Europe, diners being on the rise, and perhaps comic books.


They also had swing, blues, talkies (Pre-Code talkies, in particular, being the most significant), the Marx Brothers, the golden age of Universal monster films, overalls being more common, the standardization of radio with FDR's fireside chats, early Disney animated shorts, and the rise of the microphone in popular music, with Bing Crosby becoming the first multimedia star. People like Bette Davis, Barbara Stanwyck, Gary Cooper, and Clark Gable were among Hollywood's biggest celebrities.