Canadianculture - Interwar Years

Canada in the
1920s:
Culture and Society
Modern mindset
In
the aftermath of WWI there was

growing skepticism with Christianity and
less faith in traditions but a movement
towards the individual and pleasures
Modern Mindset
There
was more of an emphasis on

education
Families delayed their childrens entrance

into the workforce as long as they could
Adult education programs developed
Frontier
college
Leisure and Domestic Culture

Canada
experienced revolutions in
communication and entertainment:
Telephones
with party lines

Radios with programmes designed to
accompany advertisements
Hollywood Movies all classes
Not
total US domination of
culture
Respectability
The
difficulties of settling back into

peacetime domestic life were
accompanied by a turn towards new
modern values
Church
leaders were upset by the

hedonism, violence and secular values
of modern society
Where did they come from?

Freedoms
from working
outside the home, success
with voting rights, greater
mobility, technological
innovation and disposable
income
Particularly
for women,
personal fulfillment and
independence became
priorities and they had a
more modern, carefree spirit
where anything seemed
possible
Respectability
Traditionalists
sought to reaffirm longstanding moral conventions
Intimacy was acceptable only if it was

heterosexual, confined to marriage and
not engaged in too frequently
Women
risked their reputations if they

became available flappers
Moral families
During
the interwar years families could

(successfully) petition courts to have
promiscuous daughters confined to
mental institutions or reformatories
Baby
buying coerce/force unmarried

women to give up their babies which
were put for adoption
Respectability
Tied
to how women maintained their

homes and attended to their husbands
needs and to men being good providers
who earned enough wages to live
decently
Often middle class youth adopted a livefast, love hard, die-young philosophy their
parents associated with the working class
while working class people were desperate
to be seen as respectable
Rum Running
After
1921, liquor was

regulated rather than
prohibited in Canada while
prohibition continued in the
US
Entrepreneurs
across
Canada but it was a major
industry in Nova Scotia
Identity Through the Arts:

Writing
In
1921 there was the

creation of the Canadian
Authors Association
Themes of relationships between men

and women, repression of women and
psychological blackmail, the Prairies
Identity Through the Arts:

Painting
Group of Seven came together specifically to

demonstrate the spirit of painting in Canada
They wanted to create a Canadian artistic style
Original members were

Franklin Carmichael
Lawren Harris
A.Y. Jackson
Frank Johnston
Arthur Lismer
J.E.H. MacDonald
Frederick Varley
Old Pine, McGregor Bay

Arthur Lismer
Autumn in the Northland by

Franklin Carmichael
Coldwell Bay North of Lake Superior

Lawren Harris
Lake Superior
Lawren Harris
The style was

Initially
criticized but popular by the end

of the 1920s
Nature based and contributed to a
nature-based nationalism
Emily Carr
Emily
Carr B.C.s beloved artist was

connected to the Group of Seven
In
fact were it not for the Group of Seven

she may not have become the B.C. icon
that she is today
Romanticizing the past

During
the1920s there was a trend to

look backward and an increasing
identity based on imagining golden
ages in Canadian history
Cult
of the folk sold well to tourists

(Peggys cove, bag piper at the border, the
Bluenose)
Rural values of the past that were slipping
away were idealized
Lets take a peek to get the

flavor!
Thank
you NFB!
As
you watch the video, see if you can catch

the flavor of the age. At the end of the video
create 1-2 sentences that complete the stem,
In Canada, the 1920s were
Consider
the statement: The 1920s was a

special and unique time in Canadian history, a
time of glitz, glamour and excess.
Nicht so Gut
Canada was in a recession in the early

1920s
Between 1921 and 1923 many small

business failed and many workers were
unemployed
1921 the price of wheat dropped and

farmers were in trouble
Meilleur
In
the mid 1920s wheat prices rose

$352
million in 1928
Canada
has been and continues to be a

resource based economy
Markets
for lumber, newsprint, metal began

to improve in the mid 1920s
Canada developed hydro-electric plants
Hmmm
Prior
to WWI, the majority of Canadas

trade was with Britain
Following the war Canadas economic
links with the US became stronger than
with Britain
Changes
The
business practices of the US

differed from that of Britain
US
investors set up branch plants

British investors lent capital
This
meant that control of the

companies became American rather
than Canadian
Markets for lumber,

newsprint, metal
began to improve in
the mid 1920s but
Progress
Though
primarily resource based

economy Canada continued to develop
its manufacturing (secondary) and its
service (tertiary) sectors
More
consumer products made and

even more people employed to sell
them
Urban Rush
With
the increase in service sector jobs, and the

difficulties many faced farming, many Canadians
flocked to the cities
Canada
was in the thralls of urbanization
Working Women
Young
women were a significant

part of the new urban consumer
culture
They worked in retail stores and
were also consumers of the mass
produced products
Readings and questions

Read
63 & 66 and complete1-3 on page
66
Read 67-71 and complete questions 1-4
Begin these in class and complete them
for homework if they are not finished in
class
Aboriginal Issues
Still
not considered persons under law

and did not have the right to vote (1949
BC, 1960 fed)
Government
Goal: Assimilation
Residential schools peaked in the 1920s

and 30s
Potlatch ban vigorously enforced after
WWI (Pacific Coast)
Land
Land taken from reserves without the consent of the Aboriginal
Cut-off lands
group concerned
Aboriginal Title
Allied Tribes of BC
Claims to land historically inhabited, ancestral lands
appealed the federal governments actions, citing contraventions

to the Indian Act, also argued for treaties in BC
The federal government of Canada changed the Indian Act

to allow the transfer of reserve lands to the federal
government without the consent of Aboriginal people
involved.
Ethnicity and Immigration

Racial
segregation was openly practiced in

Canada
The
government began to restrict immigration

from non-preferred countries
Preferred
being the US and Britain
July 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act

replaced
the head tax on Chinese immigrants and

effectively barred Chinese immigration into Canada

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Canada in the

the aftermath of WWI there was

was more of an emphasis on

Families delayed their childrens entrance

Leisure and Domestic Culture

with party lines

difficulties of settling back into

leaders were upset by the

Where did they come from?

sought to reaffirm longstanding moral conventions

Intimacy was acceptable only if it was

risked their reputations if they

the interwar years families could

buying coerce/force unmarried

to how women maintained their

1921, liquor was

Identity Through the Arts:

1921 there was the

Themes of relationships between men

Identity Through the Arts:

Group of Seven came together specifically to

They wanted to create a Canadian artistic style

Original members were

Old Pine, McGregor Bay

Autumn in the Northland by

Coldwell Bay North of Lake Superior

The style was

criticized but popular by the end

Carr B.C.s beloved artist was

fact were it not for the Group of Seven

Romanticizing the past

the1920s there was a trend to

of the folk sold well to tourists

Lets take a peek to get the

you watch the video, see if you can catch

the statement: The 1920s was a

Canada was in a recession in the early

Between 1921 and 1923 many small

1921 the price of wheat dropped and

the mid 1920s wheat prices rose

has been and continues to be a

for lumber, newsprint, metal began

to WWI, the majority of Canadas

business practices of the US

investors set up branch plants

meant that control of the

Markets for lumber,

primarily resource based

consumer products made and

the increase in service sector jobs, and the

was in the thralls of urbanization

women were a significant

Readings and questions

63 & 66 and complete1-3 on page

not considered persons under law

Residential schools peaked in the 1920s

Claims to land historically inhabited, ancestral lands

appealed the federal governments actions, citing contraventions

The federal government of Canada changed the Indian Act