Similarities in 1920's and 1980's: Prohibition, Stock Market Crash,

The 1920's and 1980's had similarities in social, economic, and political aspects. Both decades experienced Prohibition and the War on Drugs, as well as the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and 1987. Music also played a significant role in shaping society during both eras.

Prohibition, or the 18th amendment, aimed to halt the importation, exportation, transportation, and production of alcohol in order to decrease crime rates, poverty levels, fatalities, economic growth issues and enhance overall quality of life. Unfortunately, it failed to achieve its goals and instead worsened the problems it was meant to solve.

Despite hopes that the Volstead Act would reduce crime by reducing drunkenness, it actually led to an increase in crime due to inadequate enforcement and the rise of illegal bootlegging. In large cities, the homicide rate almost doubled from 5.6 per 100,000 people before prohibition to nearly 10 per 100,000 people during prohibition, marking a significant 78% rise.

During prohibition, advocates argued that crime rates decreased, but statistics reveal a different reality. While minor offenses like swearing and mischief did decline, serious crimes such as homicides, assault, and battery actually rose by almost 13 percent.

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Major crimes like burglaries also saw a substantial increase of 24 percent from 1920 to 1921. Furthermore, the number of federal convicts during prohibition skyrocketed by an alarming 561 percent (Hanson 31-34).

After Prohibition failed, the Volstead Act was passed to create rules and enforcement methods. The Federal Prohibition Bureau was formed to oversee this law, but both bootleggers and regular people openly disobeyed it. Bootleggers got alcohol by smuggling, stealing from government sites, and making it at home.

Many people hid their alcohol in hip flasks, fake books, hollow canes, and other clever spots (Hanson 29).

Despite the idea that prohibition would make it harder to get alcohol, liquor became readily available. Bootlegging flourished, allowing customers to easily purchase alcohol by just strolling down any street. In place of the closed saloons, illegal speak-easies emerged. These establishments, located in basements, office buildings, and other hidden locations, only admitted members with membership cards and utilized advanced alarm systems to avoid detection (Hanson 28).

During the early 1980s, drugs became widespread in inner cities because they were easily accessible. In 1982, the National Survey on Drug Abuse found that 22 million Americans had experimented with cocaine. This drug gained popularity among successful individuals like professional athletes, celebrities, lawyers, university professors, and Wall Street brokers, leading to its nickname as the "champagne of drugs". Many people turned to crack cocaine, a highly addictive form that could be disguised as smoking a cigarette. Crack was cheap and easy to find, with dealers operating "crack houses" in regular homes and apartments for users to easily get their fix.

During the 1980's, Reagan faced a situation similar to the war on drugs, with inner city violence escalating as gangs fought for control of territory. This violence contributed to an increase in domestic violence, child abuse, homelessness, school violence, and dropout rates. To address the drug crisis, the Anti-Drug Abuse Act was passed in 1986, focusing on holding individuals accountable and promoting a zero-tolerance policy towards drug addicts. Critics contended that the government was emphasizing enforcement over education and treatment. The Act's impact resembled that of Prohibition, leading to its revision in 1988 (Bondi 395).

Government agencies faced challenges in halting the smuggling of drugs into the U.S., especially via boats. Traffickers were always finding new ways to avoid detection by drug-sniffing dogs and border patrol at the Mexico border. When George W. Bush took over from Reagan as president, he likened the impact of drugs on the country to that of a deadly bacteria and vowed to eradicate it (Bondi 396).

During the late 1920's, there was a surge in the Stock Market with the New York Stock Exchange trading six to seven million shares daily by 1928. Despite economists' worries about rising prices, speculation increased about using the Stock Market as a fast way to make money. Both individuals and banks put their life savings and large amounts of money into stocks.

October 24, 1929 marked a significant event for the New York Stock Exchange as prices dramatically dropped, leading to widespread panic among investors. The day after witnessed transactions amounting to four billion dollars following a tumultuous selling frenzy. The ensuing Monday intensified the panic and financial devastation for numerous investors, including ordinary individuals. By year-end, stock values had decreased by fifteen billion dollars (Hanson 67).

The crash of 1929 was devastating on the economy, but the crash on October 19, 1987, known as 'Black Monday', was even more severe. This was because the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 508.32 points, losing 22.6% of its total value. This fall exceeded the one-day loss of 12.9% that marked the start of the great stock market crash of 1929. The 1987 drop in the Dow also caused panic selling and similar declines in stock markets globally. The speed at which prices fell, the record trading volume, and the consequent threat to the financial system made this market break extraordinary.

Both crashes had a significant effect on the economy, leading to unemployment and business shutdowns. Despite measures taken to prevent another crash like the one in 1929, such as banning Paper Companies, the severe losses of 1987 could not be prevented (Bondi 301).

In the early 1920s, a time of economic prosperity prompted individuals to look for fresh forms of amusement. Radio was gaining traction as a viable commercial option, while the phonograph continued to be popular. Although not entirely novel, radio had been explored as early as 1896, and Marconi stations were present along coastlines before World War I. The era also saw the decline of the wax cylinder recorder, which Edison still produced into the 1920s, and the rise of the disk format that persisted in various iterations until the CD.

The widespread availability of music to the general public was made possible by the accessibility of phonographs and radios. This led to the popularity of cultural phenomena such as the Charleston dance and dance marathons, driven by the ability to play music at any moment. Influential musicians like Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Sam Morgan, and Oscar "Popa" Celestin played a significant role in the rise of jazz and blues during this time (Hanson 25).

Introduced by Sony on October 1, 1982, the CDP-101 became the first Compact Disc audio CD player. This innovation sparked the emergence of a fresh music genre called New Wave, which, like Jazz, started gaining traction in New York City. This music genre quickly became a hit, drawing crowds to popular nightclubs like CBGB's (Bondi 135).

Even though the 1920's and 1980's had variances in technology and standards, they shared many similarities. Ultimately, history does have a tendency to repeat itself in numerous aspects. Historians serve to educate us on what we may anticipate in the future and how we can take measures to avoid similar catastrophic occurrences.

Works Cited

1. Bondi, Victor. American Decades 1980 - 1989. Washington D.C. : Amanly, Inc. Book 1996
2. Hanson, Erica. Through the Decades The 1920's. San Diego: Lucent Books, Inc. 1999