Original subtitles

Narrator: This is the story of America...

Seen in color for the first time.

It's the roaring '20s.

The country is flourishing.

And the economy isn't the only thing roaring.

Henry Ford ignites the auto industry.

Radio unifies the nation...

Announcer: ...Dempsey's face. He lands a right.

Then dempsey comes back!

Narrator: As Charles Lindbergh ushers in the era of aviation.

Americans are celebrating good times.

Woman: What's the greatest country in the whole world?

Women: America!

Narrator: But progress also brings peril.

Prohibition makes al Capone a celebrity gangster,

and the ku klux klan marches the streets of the capital.

Then, after eight years of incredible prosperity

comes black Tuesday and the crash of '29.

This is the story of the '20s,

as you've never seen them before.

John f. Kennedy: I want us to recapture that.

Narrator: New York, 1919.

Two million U.S. soldiers return victorious from world war I.

They parade through Madison square

optimistic about a young country on the rise.

At the start of the decade

New York is the world's largest financial market,

the beating heart of American capitalism.

But both veterans and bankers

are in for an unpleasant surprise.

At noon on September 16, 1920,

a horse-drawn wagon passing by lunchtime crowds

stops across from the j.P. Morgan bank

at 23 wall street.

Then...

An explosion kills 38 and leaves 143 seriously wounded.

Anarchists targeting the rich are the prime suspects,

but no one is ever arrested.

A flash of terror, quickly forgotten.

Trading resumes the next day

as the wolves of wall street

launch a decade of unprecedented growth.

But before the party comes a hangover.

The end of wartime production

slams the brakes on America's economy.

Nearly half of returning soldiers find themselves

unemployed and relying on breadlines.

Many Americans are hurting financially.

For those who can't afford leather shoes,

an enterprising store offers a cheaper alternative--

clogs made of wood.

In march 1921, new president Warren g. Harding

promises to put things right for America.

A return to normalcy.

Historians will later view Harding

as one of America's worst presidents,

but during his term,

he benefitted from an age of rapid innovation.

One early adopter is a fox movietone news cameraman,

Harry birch of Chicago.

When he's not filming newsreels,

he takes some of the earliest known home movies,

featuring his wife Lucille and son bill.

Cars are becoming so popular that even young bill has one.

His dad has the must-have marvel of the day,

the revolutionary Ford model t.

Its designer is Henry Ford,

the greatest engineer of his era.

By the 1920s, Ford and his "tin Lizzie"

have turned America into a nation of car owners.

Henry Ford: If a young man makes up his mind to work,

there's no limit to what he can do.

Narrator: In 1913, Ford had introduced

the moving assembly line,

a revolution in auto manufacturing.

Workers used to make one car at a time.

Ford puts them in workstations,

installing each part of the chassis

as it moves down the line.

It's up to four times faster than the old way.

Black paint is cheap and durable.

Ford famously says customers can have any color they like,

"so long as it's black."

By 1920 a new car rolls off the line every two hours,

and over half of all cars in America are model ts.

Each one is simple, reliable and durable.

Important in a nation where less than 2% of the roads

are suitable for driving.

Ford also revolutionizes business practices.

He gives employees a five-day workweek,

their first weekends off,

and pays them enough to afford their own model t,

selling at a little over $300.

In his company newsletter, Ford says,

"it is high time to rid ourselves of the notion

that leisure for workmen is either lost time

or a class privilege."

Millions of sales turn Detroit into a boomtown...

And Ford into a billionaire.

It's a new age of great industrialists.

In 1921 Ford joins tire magnate Harvey firestone, on the left,

and inventor Thomas Edison, on the right,

on a trip to the catskills.

Even president Harding pays a visit.

As four of the most powerful people on the planet

take a break from the stresses of work

and enjoy the great outdoors,

across the country, new roads emerge

to accommodate millions of new car owners.

By 1922, the economy is kicking into high gear.

But there's one business that won't be joining the boom.

Just two years earlier, prohibition became law.

It bans the production and sale of alcohol.

This 1922 footage in long beach, California,

shows the police destroying $30,000 worth of liquor.

This is some of the earliest film ever of prohibition.

America is again a productive nation,

and many believe it's also become a sober nation as well.

But for some, the party never ends...

It just goes underground.

In this rare home movie,

the Adams family of brattleboro, Vermont,

films a party where the liquor flows freely.

A loophole in the law allows people to drink

existing supplies at home.

Even manufacturers find work-arounds.

In napa valley, vineyards stop making wine

and start selling bricks of dried grapes with instructions.

Woman: Say, Lucille, what do they do with all these grapes?

Woman: Well, my father buys them to make grape juice.

Woman: He would.

Narrator: Adding water and three weeks in a cupboard makes wine.

But even these loopholes don't meet the enormous demand.

There's a growing black market,

and organized crime is happy to satisfy the country's thirst.

By the end of the '20s,

al Capone is earning millions of dollars a year from bootlegging.

He's not the only one.

Competition leads to gang wars.

Nearly 600 mobsters die in Chicago alone

over the course of the decade.

The violence does nothing to slow the demand.

The quest for a stiff drink gives birth to the speakeasy--

password-protected entertainment...

With a shot of freedom.

For women who just won the right to vote in 1920,

these underground bars inspire a new, uninhibited lifestyle...

One that will shock the more conservative sectors of society.

As the writer Dorothy Parker puts it,

"she's not what grandma used to be."

The flapper, a hit movie,

gives a name to this brash, new generation of women.

Flappers cast aside

much of what society considers proper behavior.

They wear short dresses, bobbed hair and lavish makeup,

celebrating a newfound sexuality.

The cosmetics industry booms

as more women adopt the flapper style.

Cigarettes become a symbol of liberation,

and women embrace the image.

The jazz age is in full swing.

Most Americans have never had it so good.

But while the flappers celebrate their social revolution,

other Americans are reacting to change in a very different way.

In the rural south, a dark force is rising,

and a dormant volcano is about to explode.

It's 1923, and America is on the upswing.

Well-paid jobs abound, as industry thrives

and a largely unregulated stock market booms.

Then, in August, president Harding dies suddenly

from a heart attack.

His successor, Calvin coolidge,

carries the torch of small government and big business.

Calvin coolidge: One of the greatest favors

that can be bestowed upon the American people

is economy in government.

Narrator: "Silent Cal" famously says,

"the chief business of the American people is business."

For most Americans, the future is bright.

But the country's political, social,

and economic institutions

strongly favor white citizens over people of color.

And nowhere is it worse

than for blacks living in the Jim crow south.

Many live and work in tough, segregated conditions.

As these rare recordings show,

the work songs have changed little

since the time of slavery.

In south Carolina, they lay the tracks for America's railways.

And in port Norris, New Jersey,

they shuck oysters for wealthy diners.

Some African American communities are prospering,

like the residents of greenwood, a suburb of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Here former slaves were given land after the civil war,

and this rare footage shows the thriving town they built.

A remarkable baptist pastor named Solomon sir Jones

is the pioneering filmmaker.

His footage was lost for more than 50 years.

Jones captures the bustling life of greenwood,

which could be any American small town.

But Tulsa's whites don't like what they see.

In may 1921,

after a black man is accused of assaulting a white woman,

a white mob rampages through the city.

For a night and a day, they loot and burn greenwood.

A fox news crew captures the only surviving footage.

It is the bloodiest racial massacre in American history,

leaving nearly 300 dead.

Behind the violence is a terrifying force

born in the 19th century, but until now, silent.

The second wave of the ku klux klan.

News photographers capture a klan march in Tulsa

one year after the riots.

The klan appeals to white Americans who feel threatened

by the fast pace of change in the '20s.

Born in the south, the kkk spreads north.

Its members promote what they call "100% americanism,"

targeting not just blacks, but catholics, Jews, immigrants.

At the height of its power,

newsreels capture 40,000 klansmen and women

massing in support of white supremacy

on the streets of Washington, D.C.

By 1924, its membership reaches a staggering four million.

The kkk will remain a force of bigotry in this country

for generations to come.

Racial tensions in the south and bountiful jobs in the north

prompt many African Americans to uproot their families.

Nearly 1.6 million people choose to move

in what becomes known as the great migration.

It transforms neighborhoods like New York's Harlem.

Black Americans bring their culture and music with them--

blues, jazz.

Not for the last time,

black music is adopted by white America.

In one of the earliest recordings

of an all-white jazz band,

Ben Bernie and his orchestra

play their 1925 hit "sweet Georgia brown."

Jazz finds a new home

in the raucous speakeasies and nightclubs

of the Cosmopolitan cities.

A flamboyant former actress named Texas guinan

runs New York's 300 club,

often greeting her customers with, "hello, suckers."

Texas guinan: Before I start to sing this song,

I want it understood that no sucker in this room

had better mention not a word.

Narrator: Black music, illegal booze

and liberated women

make her a fortune.

Guinan: What's the greatest country in the whole world?

Women: America!

Narrator: At guinan's 300 club,

the roaring '20s reach a colorful crescendo.

Parts of the United States are evolving

faster than ever before.

In the middle of the decade,

a new technology will unite the country

and create new heroes.

Announcer: ...Dempsey's face. He lands a right.

Then dempsey comes back!

And...Now tunney is down! Tunney is down!

Narrator: As 1925 begins, prosperity and new inventions

revolutionize everyday life in America.

Modern conveniences we now take for granted

appear for the first time.

Vacuum cleaners replace carpet beaters.

Electric refrigerators, ovens, and washing machines

save hours of work.

But the invention that brings the whole country together...

Is radio.

This is radio row,

New York City's cortlandt street,

the world's largest collection of electronics stores.

It will remain this way until 1966

when it's leveled to make way for the world trade center.

Shop after shop competes by selling different models.

And here, actual sounds of street crowds

listening to a radio broadcast.

Advertisers quickly see new and exciting ways

to reach a massive audience.

On Christmas Eve, 1926,

wheaties airs the first commercial jingle,

and the cereal becomes the most popular in America.

It's branded the "breakfast of champions"

and soon features prominent sports figures on each box.

For the first time, Americans can listen to sports events

as they happen, anywhere in the country...

Especially the national pastime, baseball.

Players quickly become American heroes.

None is bigger than babe Ruth.

No radio recordings of games exist,

and this footage is rare.

Ruth starts his career as a pitcher,

but soon evolves into the greatest slugger

the game has ever seen.

In 1920, his first season with the Yankees,

he leads the league with 54 home runs.

The next highest total is 19.

Babe Ruth: So, honey, how'd you like that one? Huh?

Narrator: He and his wife Claire are a glamorous power couple.

Ruth: Well, I'm going out now

and try to make another one for you.

Alright, darling.

Man: Peanuts, cigars!

Narrator: He sets one of the game's greatest records

in September of 1927

by hitting 60 home runs in a single season.

And the Yankees reward him with a contract

for $80,000 per year--

an astronomical amount at that time.

Announcer: Tunney tries his one-two...

Narrator: By 1926, five million homes own a radio,

a staggering increase on the 2,000 homes

at the start of decade.

Just in time for one of the century's

greatest sporting controversies.

Boxer Jack dempsey has won 66 bouts over 13 years.

Born in poverty in Colorado,

dempsey has Irish, cherokee, and Jewish ancestry.

He's a strong offensive fighter,

making it to the top through skill and guts.

His 1921 victory over French boxer georges carpentier

is the first million-dollar match.

It turns him into a national star.

Reporter: ...Of announcer Joe humphries died away,

the Argentinian and the champion

stage the most savage slugfest ever witnessed.

Narrator: Dempsey doesn't believe in defense.

Relentless attack is his style.

Reporter: Murderous rights.

Threw a left hook, crashed on firpo's body and jaw.

Dempsey's pile-driving fists battered him to the canvas

time and again.

Narrator: The public loves it, and him.

Reporter: He was up. Down again...

Narrator: In 1926 he fights gene tunney,

a former U.S. marine with 64 wins under his belt.

Tunney shocks dempsey and the nation with his victory.

A year later in 1927,

50 million Americans tune in to the rematch in Chicago.

This is the radio commentary they heard.

Announcer: They're coming together.

This is the seventh round.

They're up.

Dempsey came into tunney, both of them shot both hands...

Narrator: Dempsey is in black shorts with a red trim.

In the seventh round, he floors tunney.

Announcer: He lands a right. Then dempsey comes back!

And...Tunney is down! Tunney is down!

From a barrage of lefts and rights to the face.

Narrator: He's supposed to go to a neutral corner

before the 10-second count can begin.

But he doesn't move for four crucial seconds.

It buys tunney extra time.

He's down for a full 13 seconds before getting up.

Announcer: A barrage of lefts and rights to the face.

Narrator: It becomes known as the long count.

Announcer: Dempsey is on the other side.

In eight, nine, and tunney is up!

And now they're at it again. Tunney...

Narrator: The fight continues, and tunney wins on points,

despite being down longer than the allowed count of 10.

Announcer: Over, it's all out, and dempsey is practically...

Narrator: Ignoring a press storm,

dempsey accepts the decision gracefully.

His attitude in defeat is applauded

and made famous by the radio.

He retires at age 33

a wealthy, popular symbol of the American dream.

World-beating sports stars,

technological innovation and a booming economy.

By the mid-1920s the country is brimming with confidence.

But nature is about to deliver a shattering blow

to one its greatest success stories.

It's 1926, and Miami's economy is soaring,

fueled by northerners attracted to its tropical climate

and pristine beaches.

Through the decade, the population grows

from 30,000 to over 100,000 residents.

Its blue skies, crystal waters and swaying palm trees

make it the winter party destination for the wealthy.

On September 17th, sun worshippers have no idea

that a devastating hurricane is sweeping their way.

That night a 60-mile-wide category 4 hurricane

smashes into the city.

Nearly 400 people are killed and 43,000 left homeless.

News cameraman Ralph earle is trapped for six hours

capturing these images of Miami underwater.

It is perhaps the earliest known storm-chasing footage.

Earle, on the left, flies his shocking footage himself

to be distributed to the 20,000 movie theaters

across the country.

The rebuilding cost reaches $109 million--

$165 billion today...

Worse even than hurricane Katrina.

The university of Miami had just opened a year earlier

and christened its teams the hurricanes.

As Miami rebuilds, a thousand miles to the north,

one man sets out to prove that the nation's spirit is unbroken.

This is 24-year-old Charles Lindbergh in 1926,

the aviator's earliest known film footage.

He's just a year out of army flight training school

and already dreaming of making history.

Lindbergh wants to win a $25,000 prize

for the first solo non-stop flight from New York to Paris.

At stake is the future of air travel.

Transatlantic ocean liners are safe and reliable but slow.

Planes are considered too dangerous.

Six pilots have already died

attempting the 3,600-mile crossing.

Long island, may 20, 1927.

Lindbergh readies the spirit of St. Louis,

his $10,000 custom-built monoplane.

500 spectators have gathered to see him off.

On board, he's packed five ham sandwiches

to keep him going.

At 7:52 A.M., he's off,

and after a few bounces, aloft,

just barely clearing telephone lines.

He will be in the air for 33 and a half hours

with no radio and only a compass.

The press dub him "the flying fool."

At 10:24 P.M. in Paris,

tens of thousands witness his triumphant night landing.

Instantly the 25-year-old pilot, now dubbed "lucky Lindy,"

becomes the most famous American in the world.

President coolidge orders the u.S.S. Memphis

to bring him back to New York in style.

Four million people line fifth Avenue

for a ticker tape parade.

He epitomizes the nation-- young, handsome, and brave.

And his daring feat proves that flight is the future of travel.

Congress awards Lindbergh the medal of honor,

and the following year he becomes

time magazine's first-ever man of the year.

For three months he tours the country,

visiting every state.

One in four Americans sees Lindy on his guggenheim tour.

The hinds family from Portland, Maine, is among them.

On July 24th they capture Lindbergh's arrival in Portland

in a home movie.

The hinds have profited from creating

a successful hand cream business.

A new generation of women wanting their product

and the power of mass production

has made them and others rich,

and utterly transformed America.

There are now 20 million cars crowding into American cities.

Accidents become common,

as pedestrians have to learn to watch out for cars,

and vice versa.

There's no such thing as a driver's test.

Faced with this new threat to public safety,

authorities turn to innovation, like the traffic light,

as seen here on New York's fifth Avenue.

Soon traffic cops and stop signs

begin to appear throughout the country.

Still, fatalities increase from 12,000 in 1920

to over 30,000 by the end of the decade.

Education campaigns try to highlight the dangers

by putting totaled cars on display,

some even shaming the drivers.

In Portland, Maine,

the hinds family shares in the national tragedy.

Their son William is seen here in home movie footage

at age five in 1924.

A year later, a Ford model t strikes and kills him

on Vaughan street.

He's the fourth boy in the area

to be struck by a car within 24 hours.

But car culture isn't the only trend shaping the country.

A soaring economy has construction

reaching for the sky.

In Manhattan, a series of ambitious skyscrapers rise up,

each competing to claim the title

of tallest in the world.

The Chrysler building becomes the first man-made structure

to breach 1,000 feet.

It's a leading example of art deco architecture

that remains iconic to this day.

This is rare footage of its famous eagles

being installed on the 61st floor.

Like the statue of Liberty, they're thinner than they seem.

The working men who construct the buildings,

known as roughnecks, are a special breed.

Man: Ok, let the eagle scream.

Pretty high up there.

Narrator: They work without harnesses,

safety ropes or hard hats,

spending eight-hour shifts in the clouds

with no bathroom breaks.

Workers fling red-hot rivets by hand through the air.

These jobs are so dangerous that two out of five

fall to their deaths or end up disabled.

Across town on 34th street,

construction begins

on an enormous 102-floor office building,

intended to be a symbol of New York's wealth and power.

Former New York governor al Smith

actively promotes the construction.

Al Smith: As fast as human ingenuity, brains and ability

can bring it about,

there will tower on this corner the empire state, incorporated,

the largest office building in the world.

Narrator: But the boom is a bubble about to burst.

Nearly 80% of goods are bought on credit,

and most Americans have no savings at all.

Consumers are stretching themselves thin.

And with a runaway bull market,

few realize what's about to come.

The skyscrapers crown a hollow economy

that is about to spin dangerously out of control.

In 1927, much of America looks like smooth sailing.

Like the mighty Mississippi,

the country seems to be flowing toward a prosperous future.

For generations, Americans have built their livelihoods

along their longest river,

stretching more than 2,300 miles

from northern Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico.

The river offers jobs, food, and a distinctive way of life,

all protected by a system of levees

that aim to control the river's flow.

But nature is about to show the limits of human intervention.

Eight months of extreme rainfall

swell the river to unprecedented levels.

Then, on April 21st, the waters burst through the levees.

The devastation is staggering.

An area the size of new england,

over 70,000 square miles, is underwater.

A thousand are dead-- mostly black families.

700,000 are homeless,

and there are more than $1 billion in damages.

This is the U.S. army signal corps footage

of the aftermath.

In all, 10 states are affected,

with a fifth of Arkansas underwater.

Nevertheless, president coolidge refuses

to commit federal money to help.

He believes disaster relief

is the job of charities and private business,

not government.

Temporary camps are set up in the disaster zone.

But many opt to migrate north

rather than to stay and try to rebuild.

The great Mississippi flood serves as a warning

of how fast fortunes can change.

But for much of the country,

the good times keep rolling along.

Wall street is booming.

Trading volumes are so high

that in 1928 the New York stock exchange

introduces tickers that can print 500 characters a minute--

twice as fast as before.

Millions of investors are out to get rich quick,

often by borrowing money and buying on margin.

For the first time, Americans can buy now and pay later.

But the market gains are driven by optimism,

not on the strength of the companies.

Few worry.

As long as there are buyers,

it seems like a license to print money.

By September 1929, the dow Jones has tripled since 1924.

It seems like the bull market will last forever.

What most investors don't know

is there are too many goods to sell.

Total car sales have dropped 30%.

In Detroit, unsold cars pile up in scrap yards.

At the sound of the opening bell

on Thursday, October the 24th, 1929,

there are no buyers, only sellers.

The market falls by 11%.

In two hours $9 billion is lost.

Terrified banks recall payment

from traders who have borrowed money.

Most can't pay, leaving the banks in crisis.

On Tuesday the 29th,

the New York stock exchange goes into a total spiral.

Brokers beg to sell at any price.

It comes to be known as black Tuesday.

$25 billion evaporate almost overnight.

This isn't just about wall street.

Banks will shut down all across the country.

$140 billion in savings will disappear.

Ordinary people are ruined.

Assistant secretary of commerce Julius klein

reaches out through radio to restore calm.

Julius klein: And regardless of regrettable stock market gyrations,

the position of commerce and industry throughout the country

is fundamentally sound.

Narrator: He's wrong.

After the roaring '20s,

Americans will come to know their next chapter

as the great depression.

It's a defining time for a young nation,

and she will revive,

but the future will not be easy.

When the giant empire state building opens

the following year, it has few tenants.

Smith: We are about to officially open

the empire state building,

the largest and most beautiful office building in the world.

Narrator: It stands lifeless,

mocked as the empty state building.

It will take two full decades, until 1950,

before it turns a profit.

America's 10-year party

has led to a hangover affecting millions.

It's the greatest boom to bust in history.