United States Cultural History
1920-1929

106,021,537 people in the United States in 1920
In 1920 13.1% of the population was foreign born.
In 1925 the approximate percentage of persons 25 and older with a high school degree or higher was 18%.
Harvard College Tuition 1925 $3,000.
In 1920 there were 5.1 million veterans in civilian life.
Between 1920-1929 there were approximately 1,000 executions under civil authority.
In 1923 there were 73 state and federal prisoners per every 100,000 people.
Approximately 8,000 new books were published in 1920.
Teenage slang from the twenties - a good-looking guy was a sheik or jazzbo
a good-looking girl was a sheba or she might also be the berries, your sweet patootie, the cat's pajamas, or the bee's knees.
If a sheik tried to flirt with a sheba she might say "Applesauce!" or "So's your anchovie."
One of the worst insults to call someone was "wet"; it meant completely dull, unfashionable, boring.
An unattractive girl was a dumdora, oil can, flat tire, or pickle; an unattractive man was a grummy ostrich, parlor hound, or porcupine.
Something really good was swell, and something really funny was a hoot.

Caplow, Theodore, Louis Hicks and Ben J. Wattenberg. The First Measured Century: An Illustrated Guide to Trends in America, 1900-2000. Washington, D.C.: AEI Press, 2001.
Rollin, Lucy. Twentieth-Century Teen Culture by the Decades: A Reference Guide. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1999.
World Almanac and Book of Facts 2002. New York: World Almanac Books, 2002.