An important factor in The Great Gatsby was its setting of New York City. I have always been fascinated with New York City and is somewhere that I greatly enjoy visiting. Something else that I am interested in is the time period of the 1920s: The Jazz Age and the Roaring 20s. So to combine those two ideas together, we made a brochure on places to go and things to see if one was to visit New York City for the day in the 1920s. One way to get into NYC would be to take the train into Grand Central Terminal, which was constructed in 1913, and is still a popular way into and out of the city today. We also found an original picture taken from inside the terminal in the 1920s. Once in the city, an easy way to get around was to take the subway. In the brochure we included an original subway route map from 1924, and a photograph of what the inside of a subway car looked like. Once place to visit would’ve been Central Park (which is still a popular destination) to listen to an outdoor concert, go ice skating on the lake in the winter, or see the animals in the Central Park Zoo.
If you had time to stop in Brooklyn, a fun place to have gone is Coney Island (which was also attached to the subway line!), an amusement park that first started construction with a carousel in 1876. Popular, high end shopping destinations that could’ve been frequently visited by the likes of Daisy and Tom are Saks 5th Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman, and FAO Schwarz.
If you were looking to get something to eat, tearooms and cafeteria style restaurants became popular in the 1920s because of Prohibition. Ethnic restaurants, such as Italian or Chinese, also became popular in this time period because of the influx of immigrants.
If you wanted to stay the night in New York City and were feeling a bit daring, going to a jazz night club would’ve been a fun and exciting time. The Cotton Club was a very popular jazz club in Harlem and featured performances by popular jazz artists, dancing, and was even a spot to get illegal liquor.
It was very interesting to find information about New York City in the 1920s. One of the most interesting parts was finding old black and white pictures of New York City, especially the one included in the brochure of Times Square.
Works Cited
The 1920's. 23 Jan. 2009 <http://books.google.com/books?id=CecCHiI95dYC&pg=PA132&lpg=PA132&dq=nyc+restaurants+popular+in+1920s&source=web&ots=6qfnCDtlDb&sig=IGyh-oaF3s18L_-5KMf6o3cFqlE&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=3&ct=result#PPA132,M1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Central_Station#Grand_Central_Station>.
Early Transit in New York City. NYC Subway. 25 Jan. 2009 <http://www.nycsubway.org/earlytransit.html>.
The Wonderful Nightclubs. 23 Jan. 2009 <http://nfo.net/usa/niteclub.htm>.
Cotton Club. Global Oneness. 23 Jan. 2009 <http://www.experiencefestival.com/cotton_club>.
1920's NY Subway Car. Flickr. 23 Jan. 2009 <http://www.flickr.com/photos/curiousexpeditions/2402306166/>.
NYC Vintage Photos. 23 Jan. 2009 <http://ziegfeldgirl.multiply.com/photos/album/19>.
1920s. 22 Jan. 2009 <http://www.livingcityarchive.org/htm/decades/1920.htm>.
New York Connected. America on the Move. 22 Jan. 2009 <http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthemove/exhibition/exhibition_6_2.html>.
Coney Island History Site. 22 Jan. 2009 <http://www.westland.net/coneyisland/>.
Grand Central Terminal. 22 Jan. 2009 <http://manhattan.about.com/od/historyandlandmarks/a/grandcentral.htm>.