BLOG: Listening to the roar of the 1920s

I've been fascinated for years by the "Roaring Twenties," which always seemed to me to be the first modern decade, when the onrush of technology impacted everyone's everyday lives. Radio station networks developed, commercial passenger airline service began, flappers shortened their skirts, jazz became the new rage, the first Hollywood films were released that had sound as well as moving pictures -- the list goes on and on.

The sounds of the 1920s (and even earlier times) are featured in the new National Jukebox, which allows anyone with an Internet connection to listen, on demand, to old 78 recordings, including early jazz, early blues, opera (such as recordings by Enrico Caruso). One of my early favorites after browsing the site is a recording of George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue," featuring the composer on piano, playing with a jazz band.