Popular histories of the 1920s are filled with dramatic stories of this vibrant decade. According to legend, bold bootleggers made fortunes off the thirsty habits of a nation rebelling against the prohibition against alcohol. High-rolling stock market speculators rode an optimistic wave in American business when money seemed to come easily to those who already had it. Women shortened their hair and hemlines to dance the Charleston in smoke-filled speakeasies (illegal bars). These stories of easy money, frivolous excesses, and general naughtiness carried a kernel of truth and gave the decade such nicknames as "The Jazz Age," "The Lawless Decade," and "The Era of Wonderful Nonsense." To be sure, "The Roaring Twenties" was truly one of the more interesting decades in an interesting century.

Business growth in America fueled the optimistic mood of the time. Before World War I (1914–18), American trade with the rest...