Nicole Hemmer
May 03, 2021 10:35 PM ET
As vaccination rates have soared (even with all the new variants and surges adding some uncertainty to the mix) it s become clear that when the lockdowns finally lift, Americans will be primed for a new Roaring 20s, an exuberance expressed in fashion, art, music anywhere we can display the kind of manic joy that comes after a year when the world became very small and quiet.
Our Roaring 20s would arrive a century after the end of the last massive pandemic, which occurred alongside a devastating war. The end of these twin crises unleashed a decade of exuberance and experimentation and a decade of growing inequality and deepening conservatism. The war tore away our spiritual foundations and challenged our faith, Ellen Wells Page wrote, as she explained why she embraced the flapper lifestyle. We are struggling to regain our equilibrium. As we enter the post-pandemic period, it s worth reflecting on how Americans navigated their reentry
Opinion by Nicole Hemmer
Updated 8:43 AM ET, Mon April 12, 2021 (CNN)There is a section of my closet I live in New York City, so by section I mean a few hangers bunched together packed with tulle and sequins and leather, increasingly over-the-top items that I bought during the pandemic as I dreamt of life after lockdown. The longer lockdown lasted, the more months without family gatherings or travel or nights out, the wilder my closet grew. And I know I m not alone.
As vaccination rates have soared (even with all the new variants and surges adding some uncertainty to the mix) it s become clear that when the lockdowns finally lift, Americans will be primed for a new Roaring 20s, an exuberance expressed in fashion, art, music anywhere we can display the kind of manic joy that comes after a year when the world became very small and quiet.
Historian Nicole Hemmer outlines the telling parallels between the post-WWI, post-flu pandemic Roaring '20s and the current moment in America. We hunger for the same aliveness and creativity evident in the Jazz Age and the Harlem Renaissance, she writes, but we must guard against the surges of xenophobia and hate that previewed the total economic collapse to come during the Great Depression.