All language subtitles for America in Color S01E01 The 1920s

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.