1910's Lifestyles and Social Trends | "The Flapper"

Magazine article

By: Henry L. Mencken

Date: 1915

Source: Mencken, Henry L. "The Flapper." The Smart Set: A Magazine of Cleverness, February 1915, 1–2.

About the Author: Henry L. (Louis) Mencken (1880–1956) was a longtime figure in American journalism and literary criticism. In addition, his biting social commentaries, which cover an extraordinarily wide variety of topics, are legendary.

Introduction

The term "Flapper" is associated in the American public's mind with the decade of the Roaring 20s along with bootleg gin, Al Capone, Charles Lindbergh, and the Stock Market craze. But the word "Flapper" comes from the pre-World War I period when humorist and social satirist Henry L. Mencken popularized the term (already in use in Britain) in a cheeky piece in The Smart Set: a Magazine of Cleverness, a New York-based, avant garde publication.

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