Why did jazz become so popular in the 1920s in america?
Most of the above answers are inaccurate as the 20s were a fairly prosperous time in the U.S.–they were boom years up to November 1929 and in those days, very few people used marijuana. Because it was prosperous, people had money to spend on “frivolous” things like dancing and drinking. Although alcohol was illegal, Prohibition was widely ignored, particularly in Chicago where, not coincidentally, jazz initially became most popular. Of course, the exciting illegality of drinking in “speakeasys” where jazz was played boosted the popularity of jazz by association. It’s analogous to marijuana and rock n roll in the 1960s. WW1 had just ended, and WW1 caused a great upheaval in world history. That led in changes in everything. Women became liberated, at least to some extent–it was the “flapper” age where women wore low cut dresses with short skirts and all the “in crowd” danced the “Charleston” and the “Black Bottom.” Jazz profited by that upheaval because it was new and danceable. I thin
