The Flapper Era in Portland Oregon: A Socio-Economic and Political Review

This book reviews the socio-economic and political conditions which fostered and supported the flapper era in Portland, Oregon, roughly from 1917 to 1933. It was an era of social change. Young women and men discarded the structures of the Victorian era. Women bobbed their hair, wore makeup, smoked, wore knee-length dresses and danced to jazz.

Psychologically it was a reaction to the stresses of World War I and the deaths caused by the Spanish Flu. People just wanted to have fun.

This carefree attitude was strengthened by a solid economic base. Two statewide constitutional amendments also contributed to this environment. These were the women’s right to vote and prohibition. How the economy and these constitutional amendments shape the flapper era are discussed.

Neither the economy nor the suffragette or prohibition efforts are sterile building blocks, but the efforts of numerous individuals, both famous and not so famous in Portland’s history. Among those discussed are Elizabeth Scott Duniway, Marie Equi, Ester Phol Lovejoy, Lola Baldwin, Leland Baldwin, Eliza R. Barchus, Fred G. Meyer and May Bok Hin.