1910s: The chaos of global war

Silent film, above all. The 1910s were when Hollywood became the movie capital and stars like Charlie Chaplin drew huge crowds. Ragtime and early jazz filled dance halls, the tango and other ballroom crazes swept up couples, and families gathered around phonographs and player pianos at home.

A striking amount of modern life. Henry Ford's moving assembly line (1913) made cars affordable, and the decade also produced stainless steel, the modern zipper, the pop-up toaster, and the first electric traffic light. World War I pushed the pace too, giving rise to tanks and gas masks.

Usually just "the teens" (or "the tens"). Unlike the Roaring Twenties, the decade never picked up one catchy label. Historians often split it: the years up to 1914 blend into the late Edwardian era, while 1914 to 1918 are known simply as the World War I years.

Largely pre-modern and physically hard. Most people walked or rode streetcars, since cars were still rare, and many lived in multigenerational homes they didn't own. Babies were usually born at home, factory hours were long, and millions were leaving farms and the rural South for growing cities.