Harry B. Burt (1875-1926) was a confectioner who originally produced candy, but later added ice cream, soda, and even a bakery to further expand his business. However, he is most known for creating the “Good Humor” ice cream bar in 1921 and having the innovation of refrigerated ice cream trucks, revolutionizing the ice cream industry entirely. 

Between the years 1893 and 1922, Harry B. Burt lived and worked in Youngstown, Ohio. He came to Youngstown in 1893 when he was eighteen years old. He started out by opening a penny store on South Hazel Street. It was a very small wood frame building that was only a few blocks away from the main streets of the city, Market Street and Federal Street. The Youngstown Vindicator, a local newspaper, stated in a eulogy for Burt that that building was old, with faded wallpaper and a very few amount of furniture. However, it “was so clean—an exception for a confectionery in those days—and everything he sold was so delicious.”

In 1895, he moved closer to the center or the town and business, where he received his best customers, the kids who attended the elementary school one block away from his shop. Between 1898 and 1902, he moved locations another two times, while also having it be the first place in Youngstown to have added a soda fountain to the store, and being remodeled in 1906. 

The Ice Cream Bar is Created

In 1921, his most notorious and recognized achievement was complete. Burt experimented with and soon developed a chocolate coating that would be compatible with ice cream. When his children tested the chocolate-covered ice cream, his daughter Ruth stated that the ice cream bar was still too “messy.” Taking a suggestion from his son, Harry, he added a wooden stick to the ice cream bar, similar to a lollipop. The process they developed to do this was to soften the bricks of ice cream to insert the wooden stick, refreeze the ice cream, and then dip the cut bricks into the new chocolate coating. It worked and the process of making, selling, and the entire industry of ice cream changed for years to come, especially for his own business. 

Around the time that Burt invented the “Good Humor” ice cream bar, he wanted to expand his business and move locations once more. This was largely due to the demand for his goods, therefore he needed a bigger site for manufacturing his products including ice cream, candy, and baked goods. In October 1921, he acquired a building in the city’s commercial area on Federal Street. He had contracted with a construction company to renovate the entire building. 

On January 30, 1922, Harry Burt applied for a patent for the machinery and process of making the “Good Humor” bar. On October 9, 1923, he received a patent for the process, but not for the product itself. It was not until he traveled to Washinton D.C. with samples of the bar that the patent was granted.

Through his patents, he not only claimed ownership over his own ice cream bar creation, but any frozen treat on a stick. He soon filed lawsuits against two of his competitors: the Citrus Products Company and the Popsicle Corporation. In an issue of The Ice Cream Review in June 1925, Burt stated “[It] is just as much an act of infringement to use a patented process as to make a patented product. The Burt patent is many months ahead of any other patent relating to frozen suckers. Our royalties are small, indeed far less than litigation would cost to be an infringer.” Many negotiations were had over time, but in the end, the lawsuits were dropped. 

The Introduction of the Ice Cream Truck

Between 1922 and 1926, the popularity of the Good Humor ice cream bar grew substantially with the two floavors of vanilla and chocolate. The availability of of his products also helped the growth of the business due to the new factory space and the fleet of ice cream trucks. He became the first ice cream vendor to use motorized trucks instead of pushcarts to roam and sell ice cream products. The signature truck not only gave the business more growth and freedom due to availability to people in neighborhoods, but also was more sanitary to previous methods of selling ice cream on the street. Many of the other methods at the time were often the source of food poisioning and had cheap ingredients and quality. The freezer trucks had a refrigeration unit making it much safer and reliable when it came to health concerns. Also, to show customers that there was no cause for concern regarding health and quality, every driver wore a white uniform, similar to those worn in hospitals to show cleanliness. 

Conclusion

Harry Burt died in 1926, and his wife Cora took over the company and made it public. She eventually sold the business and the patents to Good Humor Corporation of America in 1928. The new owner she had sold it to, planned to advertise and  market the “Good Humor Sucker” on a national scale. The Good Humor Bar and the “Good Humor Man” who drives the ice cream truck would become an iconic staple in marketing, being featured in books, comics, toys, and cartoons. Harry Burt not only had a legacy with his marketing and his innovations of the refrigerated trucks, but on the ice cream industry entirely. 

In the Context of the 1920s

In 1919, the Volstead Act was passed, limiting the sale and distribution of alcohol throughout the 1920s. The movement had its origins with Evangelical Christians who felt that the move towards a more sober America was a move towards a more Christian America. The temperance and evangelical movements attempted, among other goals, to strengthen the family (The Modern Temper 226). While this time of prohibition greatly hurt the alcohol industry, it gave way to a rise in popularity in the ice cream industry. According to the U.S. Treasury Department, between 1919 and 1929, the federal tax revenues from alcohol decreased from about $365 million to less than $13 million. The cost of drinking had dramatically increased with the start of prohibition, which in turn went a long way in curbing its use. For example, since 1916 the cost of beer was up 600 percent, gin 520 percent, and whiskey 310 percent”, which is not a price many people were willing to pay when going out (The Modern Temper 233).

While the Volstead Act did work in lowering alcohol consumption by about 30 percent, many people did not have another option for going out drinking, but still had a need for a treat in place of alcohol. There was about a 40 percent growth in ice cream consumption between 1920 and 1929. Prior to prohibition, drinking establishments were social gathering places where people could meet. “As men sought alternatives to having a drink at the local saloon, many ate ice cream more often” (Chocolate, Strawberry, and Vanilla: A History of American Ice Cream, Anne Cooper Funderburg).

Many bars and saloons were converted to soda shops and ice cream parlors. Refrigerators were typically already present in the establishments and converting a tap beer system to a soda stream was not difficult or expensive. Locations began selling ice cream and more of these stores began to show up all over the country. Many of these locations became the new gathering spots for people to socialize and enjoy a sweet treat. 

Along with needing alternatives, many groups and organizations that encouraged prohibition supported the industry for dairy products such as ice cream. The Anti-Saloon League, which was formed in 1893 in Ohio, was one of the most well known and influential groups to fight against alcohol and support prohibition. They were a powerful orangazation when it came to lobbying for prohibition. They used flyers, propaganda, and even yearbooks to demonstrate their purpose in limiting alcohol use and have an impact on the change of laws on local, state, and eventually national levels. Due to their influence in the passing of the Volstead Act, they actively supported the dairy industry and therefore the growth of the ice cream industry. In one of the organization’s yearbooks from 1921 it even states that “it is believed that this large increase in ice cream consumption was due in a large degree to the fact that men with a craving for stimulants turned readily to this refreshing and palatable food. The more ice cream that is used, the better it is for the consumers and the producers of milk.”

So while the intentions of this group, along with others were rooted in a change in ideas about the way people lived and acted, with some motivations that were religious or political, it stemmed further into other aspects of people’s lives that supported their goals. 

Improvements in technology regarding refrigeration and innovations in ice cream production increased production and brought ice cream treats to a national market. Throughout the 1920s, people were creating their own ways to help make frozen ice cream treats that were less messy and more portable, and overall more accessible to the public with the decrease in alcohol consumption and the increase in ice cream consumption. Countertop freezers allowed to store large amounts of ice cream. However, the process of making it was often labor intensive, creating an incentive to come up with new methods of development. Clarence Vogt, an inventor from Louisville, Kentucky, made it possible to mass produce ice cream on an industrial scale when he created the first continuous process freezer to be used commercially. This opened up the opportunities not only for easier methods of creating ice cream, but also for the mass production of it. 

This topic was chosen as not only is it interesting and fun to know the history of such a popular treat such as ice cream, but it is also very relevant in the context of the 1920s. While Prohibtion is a very well known event that is commonly studied, some of the effects of it are less discussed, such as the popularity it gave the ice cream business. The event of Harry Burt inventing the Good Humor bar and revoluntionizing the industry with his fleet of ice cream trucks had an impact not only in the 1920s, but for years to come through the 1960s. Advertisements for Ford trucks even referred to the Good Humor company in the 1950s as they were the trucks that Good Humor reliably used at the time. 

Knocking the trend and growth of certain societal aspects and the role it had on other events is extremely important. While most people associate prohibition with activities such as bootlegging and a rise in organized crime, it also led into more positive effects such as this one. Since there is no doubt that the Good Humor bar and Burt’s business as a confectioner would have gained the popularity it did at the time without prohibition, people looking for an alternative to alcohol may change what many people know and that not every effect of the Volstead Act was negative and lead to violence or crime.

Bibliography

• Anne Cooper Funderburg. Chocolate, Strawberry, and Vanilla : A History of American Ice Cream. Bowling Green, Oh, Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1995.
• ‌“Image 1 of the Book of Ice-Cream,.” The Library of Congress, 2015, www.loc.gov/resource/gdcmassbookdig.bookoficecream00fisk/?st=pdf&pdfPage=292&r=-0.322%2C-0.082%2C1.644%2C1.644%2C0. Accessed 7 May 2025.
• ‌Kelly, Kerry. “The Volstead Act.” National Archives, The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, 24 Feb. 2017, www.archives.gov/education/lessons/volstead-act.
• ‌“The Frozen Sucker War: Good Humor v. Popsicle.” National Archives, 15 Aug. 2016, www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2005/spring/popsicle.
• ‌“The Good Humor Story.” Mahoning Valley Historical Society, 3 Aug. 2012, mahoninghistory.org/tyler-history-center/the-good-humor-story/.
• ‌Archives.gov, 2025, catalog.archives.gov/id/5916723. Accessed 7 May 2025.
• ‌Society, Mahoning Valley Historical. “Time Capsule |Harry Burt’s Innovations – Mahoning Valley Historical Society.” Mahoninghistory.org, 29 June 2022, mahoninghistory.org/2022/06/29/time-capsule-july-1-2022harry-burts-innovations/.

jbaham

Jordyn Baham is a senior at Ramapo College studying Photography with a minor in Museum and Exhibition Studies. She takes the Discovering Digital History class in Spring 2025.

Most of the historical perspectives touch on similar themes. The first that is usually noted is the role of women. The decade started with the progressives changing things and nothing was bigger. This started with suffrage and the new found right to vote. This expanded into other things. “The flapper image dominates the popular perception of women in the 1920s” (Goldberg). This exemplified the new emphasis in fashion and beauty. There was also changes in women in the workplace and even attitudes towards birth control. All of these changes have been well documented. Many historians, however, have debated how much all of this changed the lives of women. (Goldberg)

The historical perspectives did not change very much regarding the move away from progressive ideas as conservative values started to take hold. People were starting to tire of reform and reformers. (Noggle) Much of this happened over differences in opinions between those residing in rural versus urban areas. This was seen in two overarching themes that have been common in most studies, Prohibition and the influence of religion. 

Prohibition is mentioned in every work of Prohibition and many mention how it was a byproduct of the push back against progressives and free lifestyles that many considered immoral. Over time, there were underlying themes that were discussed. One of these was how Prohibition was actually anti-Catholic while under the guise of a religious movement (text). It was also an anti-immigrant movement. Both these were connected because, at the time, there was an influx of Irish-Catholics that were the latest target of discrimination. 

Religion had a large influence in the rise of religion and this is something that is pointed out in many historical perspectives. It is typically noted as a factor in Prohibition. It is also discussed as an influence during the two presidential elections of the 1920s. One of the biggest influences that is often taught is the Scopes trial which was about whether Creationism can/should be taught in schools. One item that is often not consistently discussed is the role of conservatism and the rise of the KKK. Bigotry in the United States is something that has always existed but also something that many try to ignore or refute, leading to its omission. 

One thing that did seem to change over time from different historians was the economic changes that took place in the 1920s. Many people were disillusioned after WWI and didn’t want to be involved in international affairs, however, this decade started a shift towards global trade. Businesses were also adjusting during this time to the new trends and the new world (Noggle). While the economy was a topic touched on by many historians, the focus is turned inward and discusses only the United States but not the globalization that started during the decade.

Most of the major topics and issues discussed by historians about the 1920s are similar. However, there were some topics that were not discussed during one time period, but were at a later date. Some of these topics were brought up because time has shown the dependence of a certain topic on future decisions or events. 

Bibliography

David J. Goldberg, “Rethinking the 1920s: Historians and Changing Perspectives,
 Download Rethinking the 1920s: Historians and Changing Perspectives,Open this document with ReadSpeaker docReader” OAH Magazine of History, (July 2007), pp. 7-10.

Burl Noggle, “The Twenties: A New Historiographical Frontier
 Download The Twenties: A New Historiographical FrontierOpen this document with ReadSpeaker docReader,” The Journal of American History (Sept. 1966), pp. 239-314

jbaham

Jordyn Baham is a senior at Ramapo College studying Photography with a minor in Museum and Exhibition Studies. She takes the Discovering Digital History class in Spring 2025.

Newspaper advertisement for a freezer pack promoting national ice cream day in The Washington Times, May 26, 1920.

Ice cream, similar to alcohol, was not a necessity, it was something to splurge on that was not too expensive, like the drink after work, so it was available to the middle class. The cost of drinking had dramatically increased with the start of prohibition, which in turn went a long way in curbing its use. For example, since 1916 the cost of beer was up 600 percent, gin 520 percent, and whiskey 310 percent”, which is not a price many people were willing to pay when going out (The Modern Temper 233). By comparison, ice cream was an indulgence that could be afforded and enjoyed by most. All of this made the popularity of ice cream parlors explode over this period. The consumption of ice cream rose 40% from 1920-1929 when prohibition was in effect. Even many of the distilleries joined in the sudden popularity. Due to their existing facilities with their large refrigeration plants, they were able to adapt to this growth and started mass producing ice cream, which drastically helped the growth of the innovations in the ice cream industry. During this time, ice cream trucks and the ice cream bar were created and patented. Both of these are largely attributed to Harry Burt. Burt was the creator of Good Humor bar. He then put them in specialized, branded, refrigerated trucks in Youngstown, Ohio and this was key to the success of selling from a mobile truck. It also furthered the growth of ice cream by bringing it to the people during the summer and keeping it as part of their weekly ritual. After the repeal of prohibition, the popularity of ice cream did not wane. It was firmly ingrained in the culture of the nation.

Bibliography

Dumenil, Lynn. The Modern Temper: American Culture and Society in the 1920s. United States: Hill and Wang, 2024. 

Humanities, National Endowment for the. “The Washington Times. [Volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, May 26, 1920, FINAL EDITION, Image 9.” Chroniclingamerica.loc.gov, 26 May 1920, p. 9, chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026749/1920-05-26/ed-1/seq-9/.

jbaham

Jordyn Baham is a senior at Ramapo College studying Photography with a minor in Museum and Exhibition Studies. She takes the Discovering Digital History class in Spring 2025.

Kansas City

While most people associate the beginnings of Disney with cartoons such as Steamboat Willie, the journey of the studio actually began over 5 years prior to the creation of Mickey Mouse in 1928. It is well known of the founding date of the Disney Brothers Studio on October 16, 1923, but if any person were asked about it, the details of it event and what occurred would be lost. Not only that, but this event’s relation to the entertainment industry in the 1920s plays an important role in the growth of the Disney company far into the future. From technological advancements by combining cartoons and live-action film, the optimism and drive to follow any opportunity that came about, and social details regarding who would be working in the industry at the time, the founding of the Disney company gives more insight into the 1920s than many are aware. Starting in 1923, the road to Disney’s success was just beginning. In the midst of the 1920s with increased production and growth in the entertainment industry, it was almost too perfect of a time for Walt and Roy Disney to start their own studio that would become beloved for years to come. 

Twenty-one year old Walt and four-year old Virginia Davis in a scene from Alice’s Wonderland in 1923.

“We have just discovered something new and clever in animated cartoons! The first subject of this distinctly different series is now in production, and will require a few more weeks more for completion. It is a new idea that will appeal to all classes, and is bound to be a winner, because it is a clever combination of live characters and cartoons, not like “Out of the Inkwell” or Earl Hurd’s, but of an entirely different nature, using a cast of live child actors who carry on their action on cartoon scenes with cartoon characters. These new subjects will be a full reel in length, and can be released in regular intervals of two weeks or a month. However, before you go any further into the matter, we desire that you see some of our former work, so you may appreciate the quality the same. We ask that you get in touch with Mr. W.R. Kelly, of Pictorial Clubs Inc., 350 Madison Ave., New York City, and he will gladly screen several of our [Laugh-O-gram fairy tale] subjects for you. We will not try to explain to tell you any more about this new idea; instead, we will send you a print upon completion of the first one, if you so desire.” (Letter from Walt Disney to M.J. Winkler, from Walt Before Mickey, Disney’s Early Years 1919-1928, Timothy S. Susanin)

Margaret J. Winkler, played a key role in the foundation of the Disney company. She started her own company at 26, becoming established in the animation industry and one of very few female film distributors. Winkler handled press releases, promotional campaigns, advertising, and distributing animations. She was an important figure in animation history as the first woman to produce and distribute films. 

Despite her initial interest in the animation, Walt pulled back, having not completed the series to send out, and his company struggled even further until it was eventually bankrupt. Nonetheless, the film was completed and ran for twelve minutes and twenty-five seconds. 

However, even after completing the film with Virginia Davis, many of the deals and work he was getting kept falling through. It seemed to prove that all the opportunities in Kansas City were exhausted. Even his brother Roy suggested that he move to Los Angeles, and in the summer of 1923, Disney decided to go to Hollywood when he was just twenty-two years old.

Los Angeles

Walt was satisfied with his decision to move to Los Angeles stating that “the pull toward Hollywood became strong. Animation was big there, and if [he] couldn’t be successful at that, [he] wanted to be a director or a writer.”¹ L.A. was an obvious choice for opportunities in film and animation as it quickly became the film capital in the United States. After arriving in L.A., Walt did not have his own place to stay and work on his animations. He instead moved in with his uncle, Robert Disney. 

“In the past, all cartoons combining live characters have been produced in an amateur manner with cartoonists doing the acting, photographing, etc. It is my intention to employ only trained and experienced people for my casts and staff that I may inject quality humor, photography, and detail into these comedies. I would appreciate an interview with your representative here that I may screen several comedies and explain my new idea.” (Letter from Walt Disney to M.J. Winkler, from Walt Before Mickey, Disney’s Early Years 1919-1928, Timothy S. Susanin)

The Staff of Disney Brothers Studio, taken outside the Kingswell Avenue location.

Walt almost immediately accepted this deal, even reaching out to Margaret Davis, the mother of Virginia Davis, to star her in the series and that it would be an opportunity for her to work in Hollywood. He offered her a one-year contract, one in which she accepted very promptly as she planned to go to Hollywood in the first place for more opportunities for Virginia. The first short produced in Los Angeles was Alice’s Day at Sea in November, shortly after Virginia Davis and her parents made the move to California in 1923. 

The Alice Comedies after being distributed by Winkler.

Significance in the 1920s

The period of the 1920s had a significant impact on Disney’s studio being established. Around the 1920s animation had many issues with being distributed. Movie theaters were mostly focused on showing live-action films and did not want to spend money on preliminary animations that would be shown before the featured film. The entire film industry in the U.S. was very quickly changing and growing, not just the animation industry. Animation studios primarily stayed in the New York area, but meanwhile the rest of the film industry was moving west towards California, especially Hollywood. Many studios made the move in the early 1900s due to good weather conditions, good natural light, and inexpensive costs. By the 1920s the Hollywood area became the capital of the U.S. film industry. Animation did become a part of the Hollywood film business shortly after though. Walt Disney was not immune to the urge to go to Hollywood with this quick rise in business in California. Especially since at the time, the rise of popularity in leisure and watching movies grew within American culture. 

The 1920s show the emergence of America as a consumer culture. It highlights the way in which people turned to leisure and consumption to find satisfaction in life, which included going to see movies in theaters. This turn towards leisure activity is what Walt Disney was also able to capitalize on at the time with starting his business in animation. Hollywood also rapidly turned into a cultural symbol along with being the center of entertainment. It was considered glamorous, exciting, and with new emerging technological advancements in film and animation, was considered the place to go for aspiring directors, writers, and actors. The Alice Comedies series, as a part of Disney’s work at the time, shows not only the progression of technology and entertainment by combining live-action and animation, but also the appeal of said entertainment to the public as it grew in popularity. 

Many movies were made to appeal to the general public as an audience, this included animated cartoons and films. Audiences were often made up of both adults and children, and the themes shown in films were aimed at both older and younger viewers. Especially as changes in the film and animation industry shifted as social attitudes, context, and events occurred in the U.S. With societal changes that film themes followed, the workers and distributors behind these films were relevant for the 1920s and Disney’s start. Margaret Winkler, as previously stated, was one of few female distributors and even went on to start her own company. Even after her involvement in her company declined after getting married, she still made important decisions that impacted the development of many animated series. Acceptance of women in this industry was not common and that they were a threat to their positions. As stated by The Boston Traveler, “one of the few remaining fields in which you have not had to face feminine competition is being invaded… by a woman distributor!”⁴ However Winkler considered the ambitions a woman may have to be in the film industry, the opportunities presented from these ambitions, and that “there is no reason why she shouldn’t be able to conduct business as well as the men.”⁵ At the time, while women were starting to make up more of the workforce slowly, they still only made up about 20%. Most of the opportunities that women did work were often “feminine”, had lower wages, and less opportunities to grow to a higher position of work. So Margaret Winkler playing such a key role by proposing the contract to Disney to distribute his work as an initial chance in Hollywood, sheds light on one of the women that was part of societal shifts in regards to gender inequality, specifically in the film industry.

Citations

Footnotes

1. Walt Before Mickey, Disney’s Early Years 1919-1928, Timothy S. Susanin ︎
2. Letter from M.J. Winkler to Walt Disney, from Walt Before Mickey, Disney’s Early Years 1919-1928, Timothy S. Susanin ︎
3. Walt Before Mickey, Disney’s Early Years 1919-1928, Timothy S. Susanin
   ︎
4. Margaret J. Winkler – Women Film Pioneers Project. ︎
5. Margaret J. Winkler – Women Film Pioneers Project. ︎

Bibliography

1. Arnold, Gordon B. 2017. Animation and the American Imagination : A Brief History. Santa Barbara, California: Praeger.
2. J Michael Barrier. 2008. The Animated Man : A Life of Walt Disney. Berkeley ; London: University Of California Press.
3. Susanin, Timothy S. 2014. Walt before Mickey : Disney’s Early Years, 1919-1928. Jackson: University Press Of Mississippi.
4. Walt Disney Archives. n.d. “Disney History.” D23. Disney. https://d23.com/disney-history/.
5. Magazine, Smithsonian, and Kat Eschner. n.d. “Walt Disney’s First ‘Princess’ Was a Spunky Four-Year-Old.” Smithsonian Magazine. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/walt-disneys-first-princess-was-spunky-four-year-old-1-180967392/.
6. Dumenil, Lynn. 1995. The Modern Temper : American Culture and Society in the 1920s. New York: Hill And Wang.
7. “Margaret Winkler: First Female Film Distributor | the Walt Disney Family Museum.” Www.waltdisney.org, www.waltdisney.org/blog/margaret-winkler-first-female-film-distributor.
8. “Margaret J. Winkler – Women Film Pioneers Project.” Wfpp.columbia.edu, wfpp.columbia.edu/pioneer/margaret-j-winkler/.
9. Sohrab. 2023. “Here’s How a Four-Page Contract Started the Walt Disney Company – D23.” D23. October 16, 2023. https://d23.com/heres-how-a-four-page-contract-started-the-walt-disney-company/.
10. Featured Image: “Take a Look Back at Disney in the Year 1923.” 2014. D23. March 6, 2014. https://d23.com/a-walk-with-walt-disney-1923/.

jbaham

Jordyn Baham is a senior at Ramapo College studying Photography with a minor in Museum and Exhibition Studies. She takes the Discovering Digital History class in Spring 2025.

Image from The Crowd

This is a new idea and at the same time calls back to older ideas where a worker was valued for what they could contribute. The individual accountant was replaced by rows of bookkeepers who did not need to have the knowledge or qualifications to do the work. The assembly line was devised around this time. Hugh Grant Adams, an Australian visiting America noted that “the miracle of mass production, was appalled at the dehumanization of what he called the chain gang.” (Dumenil 39) This mass production also transferred into the office workers’ life and the monotony that comes along with it. This assembly line created greater productivity and more goods which brought about larger, national companies. More productivity and more available goods meant that there is also the converse which is more leisure time. This assembly line type of work also transferred into the office workers life and the monotony along with it. It was late in the 1920s that the term “rat race” was coined.

This event explains a lot about the lifestyle that represented the way life was portrayed in the 20s. People were not happy with their careers, but there was enough money being paid to the workers to enjoy their time and forget about what they had to endure five days a week. This additional time and money for entertainment was coupled with the drive to escape everyday life. Walt Disney and his brother Roy, as shown in the photo below, knew how to deliver this to the public. They produced shows like “Alice’s Wild West Show” which combined cartoons with live action. The photo below shows how the two were seen side by side in a short comedy allowing people to take a moment to laugh and leave reality. The entire series was called The Alice Comedies, combining live action with animation. This series, as a part of Disney’s work at the time, shows not only the progression of technology and entertainment, but also the appeal of said entertainment to the public as it grew in popularity. 

Walt (right) and his brother Roy in front of their first Hollywood Studio

Image from ‘Alice’s Wild West Show’ from the the Comedies played by Virgina Davis

Bibliography

Dumenil, Lynn. The Modern Temper. Hill and Wang, 30 June 1995.

jbaham

Jordyn Baham is a senior at Ramapo College studying Photography with a minor in Museum and Exhibition Studies. She takes the Discovering Digital History class in Spring 2025.

Based on the images I saw when I looked up the 1920s. My initial thoughts were confirmed. Many of the pictures I’ve seen are of culture, music, personal expression, and the arts. In addition to the art, culture, and glitz, there were images of protests. Most of these were surrounding the prohibitions of alcohol. The idea was to reduce crime by eliminating alcohol abuse but it only gave rise to speakeasies where the consumption continued illegally and undercover. There were over 32,000 speakeasies in New York City alone so the consumption did not wane. 

Four of the most popular movies in the 1920s with iconic actors of the time. Charlie Chaplin in The Kid, Rudolf Valentino in The Sheik, Sunrise was the first to use sound effects and music and won three Oscars at the first Academy Awards, and Buster Keaton in Sherlock Jr.

Duke Ellington was one of the greatest jazz composers of all time. He first appeared in New York in 1923 and had extensive runs at the Cotton Club in the later 1920s.

Prohibition drove the drinking underground to speakeasies. Here it can be seen that there was no lack of customers for these establishments to continue to make a living and even thrive.

jbaham

Jordyn Baham is a senior at Ramapo College studying Photography with a minor in Museum and Exhibition Studies. She takes the Discovering Digital History class in Spring 2025.