ABSTRACT
In 1919, the United States felt confident after its intervention in the Great War. The two decades that followed saw unfamiliar prosperity for some, devastating poverty for others and, for many, a taste of both. American citizens had very little awareness of, or anxiety about, Modernist styling even after the Museum of Modern Art staged its ‘International Style’ exhibition in 1932. Public buildings tended to favour Colonial Revival, a reworking of the Neo-Classical and Georgian architecture that had prevailed at the time of the Revolutionary War. After the First World War British citizens were generally enjoying modest prosperity. Nevertheless, unrest bubbled. The General Strike of 1926, called to support coal miners, lasted nine days and was the biggest industrial dispute in the country’s history. In post-war Britain, home ownership filtered down through the classes.
