The Roaring Twenties proved to be something of a paradox. At the same time women enjoyed more freedoms and danced in the Jazz Age, there were those who pushed for Prohibition-era restrictions.

1920s Women Convertibles Furs

Women standing by a convertible car wearing fur lined coats, circa 1920.

Josephine Baker With Ostrich

American singer and dancer Josephine Baker harnessed an ostrich to pull a racing sulky, 1920.

Women In Berlin In The 1920s

Women from Berlin smoking in the street to imitate the Parisian women, circa 1925.

Harlem Dancer During Jazz Age

Harlem Dancer, 1925.

Charleston Contest

Norwegian pole vault champion, Charles Hoff, dances with Tempest Stevens in a Charleston contest.

Zellie Paris Cabaret

The interior of Zellie, the famous Paris cabaret, 1929.

Charlie Chaplin As The Tramp

British actor and director Charles Chaplin (left) dressed as The Tramp, standing outdoors with actor Douglas Fairbanks Jr., bandleader Paul Whiteman, and actor Douglas Fairbanks Sr., 1925.

Al Capone During The Roaring 20s

Gangster Al Capone talking to attorney William F. Waugh of the American Legion in Chicago, Illinois, 1929.

Chicago Flapper Arrested For Indecency

Women in Chicago being arrested for wearing one piece bathing suits without the required leg coverings.

London Stage Review

Four women doing the Charleston in the London Stage Review, circa 1920s.

Roaring 20s Photos

A dressing room full of chorus girls between scenes during the filming of Broadway in 1928.

Flapper Beach Swimwear

A row of Mack Sennett starlets showing off some unusual and original swimwear on the beach, 1925.

Flapper With Garter Flask

A flapper seated with a flask in her garter during Prohibition, 1926.

Bessie Smith

American blues and jazz vocalist Bessie Smith dances on stage in front of a line of men, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, early twentieth century.

F Scott Fitzgerald And Zelda Fitzgerald

American novelist Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald and wife Zelda.

Harlem Lafayette Theater During Jazz Age

View of the crowds outside the Lafayette Theater, in Harlem, New York, 1920s.

Small's Paradise Club

Women entertainers dancing in a line at Small's Paradise Club in Harlem, 1929.

King Oliver Creole Band

King Oliver and His Creole Jazz Band, Chicago, 1923. Louis Armstrong is fourth from the left.

Speakeasy Raid

Raid on a speakeasy in 1926.

Prohibition Protest

Prohibition protesters parade in a car emblazoned with signs and flags calling for the repeal of the 18th Amendment, 1923.

Josephine Baker

Josephine Baker surrounded by male dancers at the Folies Bergère, 1926.

Le Monocle Club

A group of patrons, many dressed as men in tuxedos and some with monocles, sit, talk, laugh, and kiss, at 'Le Monocle' a famous night club for women, Paris, 1920s.

Jazz Drama Processional

Actress June Walker as Sadie Cohen with hooded characters and an unidentified man playing the guitar in John Howard Lawson's Broadway jazz drama Processional, 1925.

Langston Hughes Works As A Busboy

Langston Hughes working as a busboy in a hotel restaurant before his writing career took hold, Washington D.C., 1925.

Louis Armstrong Jazz Age

The recordings of Louis Armstrong's Hot Five would prove to be some of the most influential in Jazz.

Women During The Roaring Twenties

Women publicly fire up their 'Torches Of Freedom' or Lucky Strike cigarettes during the Fifth Avenue Easter Parade as a gesture of freedom and equality. New York, New York, 1928.

Revenue Agents Raid A Speakeasy

Revenue agents during a raid on a speakeasy, during the prohibition period in Washington, April 25, 1923.

Pouring Alcohol Into A Sewer

New York City Deputy Police Commissioner John A. Leach, right, watching agents pour liquor into sewer following a raid during the height of prohibition, 1921.