The 1920s Flapper
by Rebecca Haug
She was fun-loving –
she smoked –
and she loved
to drink!
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She showed disdain for conventional dress and
behavior; wore her hair bobbed, used rouge and
lipstick, and even plucked her eyebrows! She
dressed in fringed skirts and bright colored
sweaters; she wore scarves and blouses with
Peter Pan collars.
She loved to dance!
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She spent a lot of time in automobiles. She attended hops
and proms, ball-games and crew races, and other affairs at
men’s colleges. She told peppy stories and uttered clever
remarks …
“How perfectly ridiculum!”
“You don’t know
the half of it, dearie!” |
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She was fun-loving ...
she smoked ...
and she loved to DRINK!
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Before prohibition, the only time a lady even considered
carrying any intoxicating beverage with her was when she put
a few drops into an old medicine bottle to take when
traveling. In the hey-day of the flapper, all high-spirited
girls carried their own flask—but not in their purses or in
the side pocket of their coats. |
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When a smartly attired young woman walked down the street
with a book under her arm, it did not necessarily mean she
was on her way to a university course. Books became a
fountain of bootleg. One book, for instance,
had lovely shiny nickel edges; but take off one of the edges
and you looked at three nickel collapsible drinking cups.
Twist around the other edge, and you looked at a cork. Still
other books had names on their backs, such as, “Three
Swallows” or “Two Fingers.” In the hollow
center were two to four glass containers—each little bottle
held several ounces of a prohibited beverage. |
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Then there was the fad of carrying a stuffed toy animal—a
curly-haired fuzzy poodle—whose head would snap off to
reveal a cavity with a bottle that held ten ounces of “what
have you.” |
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Furthermore, on sale at most New York
department stores were specialty “unmentionables,” white –
and pink – and flesh – and maize-tinted nether garments. On
the side, so that the dress could fall over it smoothly
without revealing a bulge, was a most convenient pocket. A
handkerchief fit nicely into that pocket, but most
frequently, that pocket accommodated a small flask. |
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With the advent of short skirts in the 20s, garters were a
necessity to the feminine costume; they were made of frilly
ribbons, ruffles and jeweled clasps. What could be more
convenient than attaching a little glass bottle to the
ribboned or jeweled clasp?
Of course there were those who
just tucked their flask under the elastic band! |
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The possibilities of the flapper’s ingenuity were limitless.
There were cigarette cases that were really flasks in
disguise. Any girl who was clever with her needle could sew
a small pocket inside the boutonniere that she wore on her
shoulder or on the inside of her feather fan. There were
vanity cases that had enormous fringe tassels with a
concealed glass vial, very convenient for hiding forbidden
refreshments. Of course, the fur muffs carried in the
daytime, as well as, the lovely muffs of feathers at the opera or night clubs in the
evening could always have a dual purpose for the thirsty
young lady. |
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When all's said and done,
the fun-loving flapper could
cleverly and fashionably
"carry" her liquor! |
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IMAGES:
Library
of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division:
LC-DIG-ggbain-34512; LC-B2- 6039-13;
LC-DIG-ggbain-32537; LC-DIG-ggbain-32940;
LC-DIG-ggbain-34156; LC-DIG-ggbain-34511;
LC-USZ62-99952; LC-USZ62-113367; LC-USZ62-100835;
LC-USZ62-95006;
LC-USZ62-111357.
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