The 1920s are often remembered as a glittering whirlwind of jazz sessions, flapper dresses, movie palaces, and champagne poured over crystal staircases. It was a decade that promised endless possibility, a time when new inventions seemed to transform everyday life overnight. Radios crackled in living rooms, Ford assembly lines pumped out cars that the average person could finally afford, and consumer culture swaggered into the spotlight.
But beneath that glamorous shimmer was a delicate financial balance that many Americans struggled to maintain. The decade’s prosperity was real, but so were the costs, pressures, and illusions that came with it.
