Summary of Frederick Lewis Allen's Only Yesterday

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 The appearance of Mr. Smith as he comes to the breakfast table in 1919 is very different from that of Mr. and Mrs. Smith in 1919. The movement of men’s fashions is glacial, but Mrs. Smith’s suit has become even shorter since 1919, and she has never heard of such dark arts as face-lifting.

#2 The first tabloid newspaper, the New York Daily News, was not released until June 26, 1919. It began a career that would bring its daily circulation in one year to nearly a quarter of a million, in five years to over four-fifths of a million, and in ten years to over one million three hundred thousand.

#3 Mr. Smith reads the sporting news, and finds that the Babe is having a great season for the Boston Red Sox. He does not, however, find the name of Ruth in the headlines. The sporting pages inform Mr. Smith that Rickard has selected Toledo as the scene of a forthcoming encounter between the heavyweight champion, Jess Willard, and another future idol of the mob, Jack Dempsey.

#4 Mr. and Mrs. Smith discuss the High Cost of Living. Smith is hoping for an increase in salary, but the family’s income seems to be dwindling as prices rise. Everything is going up—food, rent, clothing, and taxes.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: May 21, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669393191

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Insights on Frederick Lewis Allen's Only Yesterday

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 8

Insights from Chapter 9

Insights from Chapter 10

Insights from Chapter 11

Insights from Chapter 12

Insights from Chapter 13

Insights from Chapter 14

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The appearance of Mr. Smith as he comes to the breakfast table in 1919 is very different from that of Mr. and Mrs. Smith in 1919. The movement of men’s fashions is glacial, but Mrs. Smith’s suit has become even shorter since 1919, and she has never heard of such dark arts as face-lifting.

#2

The first tabloid newspaper, the New York Daily News, was not released until June 26, 1919. It began a career that would bring its daily circulation in one year to nearly a quarter of a million, in five years to over four-fifths of a million, and in ten years to over one million three hundred thousand.

#3

Mr. Smith reads the sporting news, and finds that the Babe is having a great season for the Boston Red Sox. He does not, however, find the name of Ruth in the headlines. The sporting pages inform Mr. Smith that Rickard has selected Toledo as the scene of a forthcoming encounter between the heavyweight champion, Jess Willard, and another future idol of the mob, Jack Dempsey.

#4

Mr. and Mrs. Smith discuss the High Cost of Living. Smith is hoping for an increase in salary, but the family’s income seems to be dwindling as prices rise. Everything is going up—food, rent, clothing, and taxes.

#5

In the 1920s, Mr. Smith was a driver who had to navigate his way through the streets of America. He would pass hardly any third as many cars as he would in 1929, and the speed limit was usually 20 miles per hour.

#6

The unprecedented bull market of 1919 brought fat profits to those who participated in it. Between February 15 and May 14, Baldwin Locomotive rose from 72 to 93, General Motors from 130 to 191, United States Steel from 90 to 104½, and International Mercantile Marine common (to which traders were attracted because of the seemingly boundless possibilities of shipping) from 23 to 47⅝.

#7

When Mr. Smith goes out to lunch, he has to go to his club in a roundabout way because a regiment of soldiers just returned from Europe is on parade. The city is excited about the soldiers, and every other city has its victory parade.

#8

In 1919, the United States was going through a dry period. The Spartan fervor of wartime had not yet cooled, and many people were looking forward to an endless era of actual drought.

#9

In 1919, the national consumption of cigarettes is less than half of what it will be by 1930. The radio broadcasting of speeches and music was tried by DeForest in 1920, but nothing came of it until the spring of 1920, when Frank Conrad of the Westinghouse Company began broadcasting phonograph music and baseball scores.

#10

The 1920s were a time of great change in America. The country had just recovered from World War I, and was entering the Post-war Decade. The decade saw the rise of radio broadcasting, crossword puzzles, bathing beauty contests, John J. Raskob, racketeers, and the American Mercury.

Insights from Chapter