GOOD TIMES IN 1920S By ERIN WHYTE

CHC2DI for Ms. McIntyre th March 24
, 2015
Southwood Secondary School

The 1920’s are often labelled the “Roaring 20s” because the decade was full of fun times and prosperity. The years were exciting and full of good changes for everyone. The label “Roaring Twenties” does accurately describe the experience of most Canadians in the
1920s. The Canadian economy boomed, it was great times for women and there was a lot of social freedom.
In the 1920s the economy prospered. The natural resources sector flourished as the value of wheat increased 250% and sold for over $352 million (Hundey, 110). The mining industry made record profits when base metals collected $130 million and other metals brought in $230 million (Hundey, 110). With more profit and sales than Canada had ever seen in the natural resources sector, it is clear that the 1920s were prosperous for Canada as a whole. Urban manufacturing also excelled. Many new products were being invented and manufactured in cities. The value of manufactured goods in Montreal increased 700% from
1920­1925 (Hundey, 110) Motor vehicle production increased by 150 000 from 1920­1929
(Hundey, 110). This created more people with jobs for people to keep up with the demands of production and resulted in very large profits and sales, so it is obvious most people prospered. Finally, there was an increase in foreign investment. Many companies from the
U.S. and Britain built branch plants in Canada to avoid tariffs of transporting goods over the border. The U.S. became one Canada’s main trading partner. From 1920­1929 the U.S. increased 16% in foreign investment and Britain decreased 17% (Hundey, 161). This shows prosperity because all the new factories from the U.S. created new jobs and less costs from tariffs resulted in more profit. It is obvious the economy was very prosperous in the 1920s, especially in natural resources, urban manufacturing and foreign investment.
The 1920s were not only good times for the economy, but also great times for women.
During the 1920s women gained the freedom to enjoy sports. Women’s basketball became

increasingly popular, and more people watched it than men’s. In 1921, 6000 people showed up at Sunnyside Stadium in Toronto to watch womens basketball (Hundey, 118). Women were able to compete in track and field in the olympics in 1928 for the first time. Women, for the first time, had fun competing in, watching and enjoying sports in the 1920s. In addition to sports, women had a lot more freedom to express themselves through fashion. Bobbed or marcelled hair , makeup and short dresses (Hundey,119) became normal and socially acceptable. With all the new styles and crazes women had lots of fun shopping and dressing up in their free time. Finally, education for women became better. Many more women headed to university. From 1920­1930 there was a 7.2% increase in female undergraduates in university (Hundey, 121). This was good for women because they had fun doing what what they wanted, and with their advanced education they were able to get new and better jobs, making more money and resulting in prosperity. Overall, women had a great time in the
1920s playing new sports, experimenting with new fashions and getting a better education.
The 1920s were also full of fun social aspects. Radios became very popular. There were 297 000 radios in Canada in