These periods where there is unbalance, turmoil, and chaos, mark the first step in the formation of a new era. They represent the formation of a new culture where new ideas, art forms, social theories, and ways of men and women seeing themselves begin to emerge. The decade beginning in 1920 in America was one of these periods in which the people and the culture underwent enormous changes. Old cultural foundations gave way to new ideas and unconventional philosophies. Different orders of justice, law, and government developed; new philosophies of education emerged; religious philosophies took on unfamiliar shapes in churches; and economic theories yielded new, faster ways of producing and distributing goods.

The decade of the 1920s brought about enormous social and lifestyle transformations:  prohibition, women's suffrage, mass entertainment, movies that increasingly featured glamour and sex appeal, new household appliances, the radio that drew the nation together bringing news, entertainment and advertisements to millions of households.  Leading writers exposed the shallowness and narrow-mindedness of American life, and the artists who more keenly felt the tensions and turmoil created new structures and new designs to synthesize these elements of conflict.  Artists gave meaning to their experience through their art and what emerged was an all-pervasive art form known as “Art Deco.” Art Deco’s influence could be found in every aspect of American culture in the 1920's, from fashion to architecture, from skyscrapers to furniture, and it made architects like frank Lloyd Wright famous.