What was it like to be a teen in the 1920s? To begin with, that’s when the first TV was invented even though it would be decades before most homes would have one.

That’s not all that happened in the ’20s because that’s when the first students started going to school in a converted miners hospital called Judge Mercy, named after John J. Judge who owned a silver mine in Park City.

By 1921 the hospital was no longer needed and so it was converted to a school. There was no place to do online shopping like today, however teens still found ridiculous clothes to wear. The
flapper look (named after dancers) was popular. It was a straight dress and most were black. Guys, if you lived back then, Judge students wouldn’t wear a uniform but there was a dress code.

Movies were a popular social event. Close to 90 million people would go a week. According to a recent Gallup poll, 61% of Americans don’t even go to movies any more.

Sleepovers were almost unheard of unless it was your relative’s house.

In the ‘20s, all alcohol was outlawed in the U.S. Because of this, people drank more alcohol than ever.
Florence Holtshouser, a past Judge employee who lived in the ‘20s and is the great grandmother of current Judge students, said that her uncle used to pay her a nickel to pick a bucket of dandelions. She said her uncle would sometimes use them to make alcohol. The parties where alcohol was drunk illegally were called Speakeasies.

Also, without phones to pass time, teens would play many outdoor games such as Kick the Can, football, and tag.

Football became very popular and the whole U.S. followed college football. Before football, baseball had been the sport of choice and the biggest sport in America.
The great Babe Ruth hit 60 home runs with the Yankees and many other legends lived in the ‘20s. It was in the Twenties that the Notre Dame Fighting Irish won their first National Championship.

It was also in the ‘20s that girls began playing sports. In 1928, for the first time, women were allowed in the Olympics.

Being a teen was definitely different in the ‘20s, but at the same time very similar. Teens had a different environment, but still were trying new things and making mischief. They didn’t have cell phones or viral videos, but teens still knew how to make the most of the Roarin’ Twenties.