5 Items Tagged

1920s

Rebecca Bradley (left) was labeled a flapper bandit by the media, and a woman who had lots her mind by her attorney (right).

Meet the Texas Flapper Bandit

A bank robber or a lightning rod for America's growing fear of independent women—who was Rebecca Bradley?

Laura Niebauer January 14, 2025

This pygmy hippo at the 1939 World's Fair Firestone exhibit was probably Gumdrop I, Billy's first surviving calf.

Before Moo Deng, There Was ‘William Johnson Hippopotamus’

During the Roaring ’20s, the American National Zoo welcomed the first pygmy hippo superstar.

Andrew Coletti November 25, 2024

A federal chemist at work.

During Prohibition, Federal Chemists Used Poison to Stop Bootlegging

They tried to make industrial alcohol too lethal to drink.

Anne Ewbank May 9, 2018

A flapper posing with a flapper pillow.

Looking Like a Flapper Meant a Diet of Celery and Cigarettes

A new standard of beauty led to today’s weight-loss regimens.

Anne Ewbank April 20, 2018

A Pride Month Playlist, Brought to You by the Jazz Age

"You go and give your girl a kiss in the hall / But instead you find you're kissing her brother Paul."

Michael Waters June 9, 2017