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What Do You Do For Fun Around Here?
January 1, 1925
What do you do for fun? Compared to 1900, there's plenty! If the 1960s
will rock, the 1920s roar.
Silent movies are all the rage. For approximately 15 cents you can wander
down to the local theatre and see the biggest English-speaking star of
the era, "America's Sweetheart", Mary Pickford, starring in
Rosita or Little Lord Fauntleroy. Pickford, by the way,
is a Canadian from Toronto.
Silent movies aren't really silent. They have music and sound effects,
but no dialogue. The movie industry won't be able to synchronize the voice
and picture until the end of the decade.
Radio didn't come to Canada until 1920, but now it's here with a vengeance.
You can listen to radio plays, sports, even music recorded on phonographs.
The first hockey game was broadcast by Foster Hewitt in 1923, and hockey
is fast becoming the most popular program on the radio. Many Canadians
have access to American radio signals, which, along with Hollywood movies,
promote the first major influx of American mass culture.
Hockey has become the national sports obsession, and the popularity of
lacrosse begins to fade.
Since the repeal of prohibition in most provinces, frequenting nightclubs
and dancing is a popular pastime for those who can afford it. Jazz is
the latest music craze, and flappers - the nattily dressed, bold new generation
of women - abound, jiving to the Charleston and Al Jolson.
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