Roaring Twenties Primary Sources | Lewis, Ellen Welles

Excerpt from "A Flapper's Appeal to Parents"
Published on December 6, 1922

Even before the 1920s began, a new kind of young woman was emerging in the world. As early as 1915, the celebrated journalist H.L. Mencken (1880–1956) was commenting on this woman's appearance in the pages of The Smart Set, a New York-based magazine that combined social satire with commentary on the arts. According to Mencken, this new young woman was characterized by her very different appearance, especially her shorter skirts and bobbed (short) hair. The use of the word "flapper" to describe her seems to have originated in England, in reference to the unbuckled, floppy galoshes (rain boots) that some young women there were wearing.

The women of the previous generation had been part of the Victorian era, which corresponds roughly to the years 1837 to 1901, when Queen Victoria (1819–1901) ruled Great Britain. Women of...