1920s and 30's

Prohibition

1916

Prohibition is the ban of alcohol. Canada started prohibition during ww1 for many reasons, some of the reasons are that grain should be used to make food for soldiers, not for alcohol, or that they needed more workers making supplies to help with war and not making alcohol, or that Canadians shouldn't be enjoying themselves while soldiers are at war, etc. Eventually, Canada dropped the ban.

Spanish Flu

1918

In 1928, the Spanish flu was an influenza epidemic and people who had the virus were weakened and lots ended up with pneumonia. The virus was spreading faster because soldiers were coming home from war and spreading it to their families and around town. The Spanish flu was everywhere and they shut down schools, churches, theatres, etc, to stop/control the spread.

Bloody Saturday

Jun 21, 1919

Bloody Saturday is a term that people use to refer to the day of the Winnipeg General Strike on June 21st, 1919. Over 30,000 workers were marching in the streets fighting for higher wages. Near the end of the strike, the Royal North-West Mounted Police started beating the protesters with clubs and firing bullets. 2 people were killed and about 30 others were injured.

Residential schools

1920

Under the “Indian act” in 1920, it became compulsory that every indigenous child had to go to a residential school and it was illegal for them to get an education anywhere else. In these residential schools, the children were striped of their culture and forced to become christan or catholic and were prohibited to talk in their language or do anything that involved their culture. If they did not follow the rules, they would be beaten or killed.

Insulin

1922

1922, in Ontario, Canada, researchers from the University of Toronto discovered that they can make insulin and help save people with diabetes lives. Ontario doctor, Fredrick Banting, was given major credit, Frederick says that one day he woke up with an idea and that is where it all started. Insulin is a hormone that controls your body’s blood sugar levels and metabolism, the process turns the food that is consumed into energy.

Radio

1922

The radio was a big change that happened in the 1920s. The radio was a big deal in the 1920s because they didn’t have a tv yet so the radio was their form of entertainment, they could listen to advertisements, sports games, music, and more. The radio helped people feel more connected to one another because they were listening to the same things like sports games etc.

Flapper

1923

A flapper was a woman in the 1920s who wasn’t as modist as women used to be before the ’20s. A flapper would generally wear short skirts, a bob haircut, listen and dance to jazz, etc. a flapper was known for their energetic lifestyle.

The New Political Party

1924

New political party
The Federal nor the provincial government did not have any new and fresh ideas and this was during the time of the great depression, all everybody wanted was to just see change and that the world was getting better and they needed a new leader to do that. This is when NDP was founded

Model T Ford

1924

Model T
The Model T Ford was the first affordable car that was made for average-income people to drive/buy. The model T Ford was sold by the Ford Motor Company between 1908 to 1927 and could be purchased for $395 in 1924.

Talkies

1925

Talkies
Talkies were the term that people in the 1920s used when they could finally make movies that had sound/people could talk and the movies were no longer silent movies. Some popular talkies were “On With the Show”, “The Jazz Singer”, “The Singing Fool” and many more.

Black Tuesday

Oct 4, 1929

Black Tuesday is the term people use to refer to when the stock market crashed on October 4th, 1929. On Black Tuesday the market prices started to slide and everyone was rushing to sell their stocks, A record 12.9 million shares were sold.

Persons Case

Oct 28, 1929

Henrietta Muir Edwards, Nellie McClung, Louise McKinney, Emily Murphy, and Irene Parlby is known as the “Famous Five” ran a case that was for women to be declared as persons and be able to run for senate, it is known for being called the “Persons Case”, by October 18th, 1929, women were declared as “persons” and could now run for senate.

The Great Depression

1930

The Great Depression was a severe economic dive that took place in the 1930’s beginning on Black Tuesday/October 29th, 1919 (the day the stock markets crashed). The Great Depression caused many Canadians to lose their jobs and put most Canadians into severe poverty and dept.

Bennet Buggy

1932

The Bennet Buggy was a tern that Canadians would use during the Great Depression. The term “Bennet Buggy” means a car that has its engine, windows, and framework taken out and is pulled by a horse. People did this to their cars because they could no longer afford gas and other things. The Bennet Buggy was named after Canada’s 11th minister, Richard Bedford Bennett, who ran the conservative party from 1927 to 1938.

Five Cent Speech

Oct 1, 1939

In 1930 Mackenzie King did a famous speech known as the 5 cent speech. in this speech, MacKenzie talks about how the Canadian government should not give unemployment benefits to provincial governments in Canada with conservative leadership.