Since the beginning of time, humans have found ways to entertain themselves. Of course these forms of entertainment have changed drastically from then till now. One of the most influential decades of modern entertainment was the Jazz Era, or the 1920's. The 1920's brought forth the beginning popularity of entertainment such as movies and television, radio, jazz music, and the occasional fads which were the "it" activity for one week and forgotten about the next.

Movie and television stars really began to shine in the 20's. In the earlier years, all movies were silent (Brittan 21). Not completely silent; there were instruments and sound effects in the background, but without spoken words. Charlie Chaplin, who portrayed the Little Tramp, was one of the silent-era's most famous stars. With his trademark waddle and comedic but sincere films Chaplin created a classic, memorable character

(Brittan 44-45). Near the later part of the 20's, movies went through the evolution from silent to sound. In 1927 the first fully spoken movie, starring Al Jolson, was brought to theaters. This revolutionary film called the Jazz Singer, being the first "talkie" movie ever made, brought a

Among the music that was played on these radios was a type of

Radio also became popular during this decade. Like television, people were fond of radios because it was convenient. Radios provided a source of entertainment that didn't cost a bundle and could be used in the home (47). Also, radios had been around for a while and had experienced a great deal of improvement. The very first radio was developed in 1879, but not broadcasted for the public to hear (B3). The earliest forms of radio were used for communication only, and therefore did not benefit much of the entertainment field. The first official P.B.S. (Public Broadcasting System,) opened in Pittsburgh in the year 1922 (B3). At first, the broadcasts consisted mostly of news about world affairs and the like. After the broadcasts broadened into concerts, sermons, and

music that was booming in the 20's: jazz. Jazz was a completely new sound that became all the rage in this decade. It was played by what

King Tut's tomb was discovered, many people became utterly fascinated with eastern fashion and culture. Women wore kimonos, Chinese games like Mahjong outsold radios in 1923 and cost up to $500.00 (B3). Other trends were dances such as the Charleston, which were banned from some towns for their wildness, and a phase numerous people went into called Freudianism in which they became infatuated with the teachings of a psychologist named Sigmund Freud (B3). These somewhat strange fads lasted only a short amount of time but took some of America by storm in the 1920's.

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Some common words found in the essay are:
Movie America's, Jazz Era, War Music, Indeed Hollywood, System Pittsburgh, King Tut's, Little Tramp, Bands Bands, Gershwin Unlike, Jazz Age, started 20's, popular decade, jazz era, source entertainment, entertainment jazz, jazz music,
Approximate Word count = 1043
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)