It's the end of the century dammit! Only a couple more weeks and I'll stop doing all of this year-end, century and millennium stuff, I promise. In the meantime, here's a little something I found on the back of a record album, "The Roaring Twenties Volume 2" (on Grand Award Records). I've modified things slightly here but this is a Roaring Twenties Quiz that should stimulate some thought.
What do the Roaring Twenties mean to you? Quickly scan the list below. For each item you recognize, without more than five seconds thought, mark a check in the corresponding "Yes" column. For those you don't recognize in five seconds, check in the "No" column. Now, go ahead:"
Autographed Slickers
YES
NO
The Charleston
YES
NO
The Reo Speed Wagon
YES
NO
"Banana Oil!"
YES
NO
Coon-Sanders Nighthawks
YES
NO
"Beau Geste"
YES
NO
Super-Heterodynes
YES
NO
"Benny Sent Me!"
YES
NO
Mah Jong
YES
NO
"The Jazz Singer"
YES
NO
The Long Count
YES
NO
Plus Four
YES
NO
"Twenty-Three Skiddo!"
YES
NO
The Tea Pot Dome
YES
NO
Boyish Bobs
YES
NO
The Hupmobile
YES
NO
Murderers Row
YES
NO
"Drink Moxie!"
YES
NO
Dance Marathons
YES
NO
Flappers
YES
NO
The Card Car
YES
NO
Judge (magazine)
YES
NO
Zev
YES
NO
Goldfish Eating Contests
YES
NO
Now, here's how you score. Multiply each "Yes" answer by four. If your total is between 90 and 100, you probably lived through the Roaring Twenties yourself. If it's between 75 and 90, your parents probably lived through the Roaring Twenties. If your total is between 50 and 75, the Roaring Twenties were probably your grandparents' era. If your score was below 50, join the club-nobody remembers the Roaring Twenties anymore.
Still, if for some reason you do remember the Roaring Twenties, you'll also recognize these songs:
"Collegiate"
"Paddlin' Madeline Home"
"Swingin' Down The Lane"
"Show Me The way To Go Home"
"Five Foot Two"
"Ain't She Sweet"
"Runnin' Wild"
"Sugar Blues"
"When My Baby Smiles At Me"
"Varsity Drag"
"I Can't Give You Anything But Love"
"That Certain Party"
So that's it. I don't know much about those hectic, bouncy, buoyant times except that they were frantic and full of escapes. It was the era of prohibition and the speak-easy. It was the time when women were just finding themselves and men were finding out what women were really like. Excitement and skirts and the zest for living were going sky-high. So was the stock market. Then of course, in 1929-on October 29, 1929-the market collapsed and the Twenties went out with a whimper.
by Mitch Myers
copyright 1999 New City Communications, Inc.