Cars: People from coast to
coast had access to the same merchandise thanks to chain stores, and new
transportation opportunities allowed long distance traveling. Ford vowed to
build a car that all Americans could afford—a Model T cost $260 in 1924—and
dozens of other car manufactures grew from the demand for more options. By 1929
there was one car on the road for every five Americans and new business, gas
stations and motels, lined the roadways.
 |
| BOOK 1 |
Women: The 19th
Amendment guaranteed the right to vote, opportunities to attend colleges, and
to pursue careers, paved the way for younger women to embrace who they were,
and fashion and beauty products allowed them to showcase their individuality
like never before. The increased availability of birth control made it possible
to plan for children, and new technology brought freedom from the drudgeries of
house work with electric refrigerators, washing machines, and vacuum cleaners.
Whiskey: Prohibition—the 18th
Amendment had been ratified in 1919 and on January 16, 1920 at 12:00 AM the
federal Volstead Act closed every saloon, bar, and tavern in the United States.
The act made it illegal to manufacture and sell any alcoholic beverage.
However, consumption of alcohol was not illegal. The liquor trade went
underground and bootleggers, gangsters, and racketeers soon battled amongst
themselves to control the wealth gained by this enterprising opportunity.
Speakeasies were born and embraced.
 |
| BOOK 2 |
Entertainment: Radios became a
must have and radio stations popped up across the nation bringing the news as
it happened and entertainment into homes. Movie theatres and amusement parks
became popular businesses in large cities and small towns alike. Americans had more leisure time than ever
before and quickly fell in love with going to the movies. Stars of black and
white films, and singers, became household names as theatres popped up across
the nation. Hollywood hosted over 20 film studios that produced an average of
800 movies a year.
The roaring twenties is one of
my favorite time periods. The glitz and glamour of entertainment, the dangers
and underworlds of gangsters, the liberty and revolution of women, the freedom
and travel of fast cars and airplanes, all gives way for never-ending
opportunities for exciting settings and compelling men and women to fall in
love and find their happily-ever-after.
This year, Brides of the Roaring Twenties, my two-book series, will be released. These books are about two women, Helen
and Shirley, who are looking for fresh starts and head to where the bright
lights beckon—Hollywood—where they find adventures amongst the speakeasies,
starlets and the silver screen! Though they weren’t looking, they each
find a handsome Hollywood bachelor to guide them through the dazzling new world
they’ve entered and eventually down the aisle!
Baby on his Hollywood Doorstep was released in May.
Stolen Kiss with the Hollywood Starlet will be released in September. |
| Lauri with fan at B&N book signing |
Currently, I’m working on
another series set in the twenties and again in Hollywood, this time about
sisters who are wealthy heiresses by day, and flappers by night! They too find
adventures, scandal, and handsome Hollywood bachelors.
Lauri Robinson has written a
variety of historical romance novels. She lives in lives in Minnesota where she
and her husband spend every spare moment with their three grown sons and their
families—spoiling the grandchildren.
You can learn more about Lauri
and her books at www.laurirobinson.blogspot.com,
http://www.amazon.com/author/laurirobinson
and connect with her on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/lauri.robinson1
https://www.facebook.com/authorlaurirobinson/
or Twitter https://twitter.com/LauriR
