All-American Ads of the 20s

The Roaring Twenties Prohibition made liquor illegal and all the more fun to drink. Speakeasies, luxury cars, women’s liberation, bathtub gin and a booming economy kept the country’s mood on the up-and-up. Women sheared off their locks and taped their chests, donning flapper dresses and dancing the Charleston until their legs gave out. Gangsters flourished in big cities and gangster movies flourished in Hollywood. It was the roaring twenties in America: a singular time in history, a lull between two world wars and the last gasp before the nation’s descent into the Great Depression. Forging the way into the future like a modern ocean liner in a sea of antiquity, advertising in the 20s sought to bring avant-garde into the mainstream—which it did with great success.