By: W.C. Reader

We were scanning the headlines in a state newspaper the other day when we came upon a story reporting the death of a 97 year old woman whose name was Gertrude Ederle. The name rang a bell with us, and so we read on further. Before we finished the article, we discovered that we had happened upon the obituary of the first woman to swim the English Channel, the date being 6 August 1926. This date was midway through a decade which still is known as the “Roaring Twenties”; and followed the end of World War I and preceded the onslaught on the “Great Depression”. It was the age when the nation cast aside its morals and tolerated such things as booze, jazz music, flappers, and gangsters. It also marked the beginning of a custom which Americans have continued down through the years. That is the cheering of daredevils and the worshiping of hero athletes. Gertrude Ederle is among the first that falls in that circle.

There are very few people still around who remember the “Roaring Twenties” and we guess we fall in that category. Even so, we were just past seven years at the time and only learning to read. So a lot of the information that we gathered in those early years came by sitting at the feet of our parents and other adults and doing a lot of listening. Sometimes we picked up a little knowledge by visiting in the home of our more prosperous and listening to their radios.

Let us name a few of those athletes whose achievements opend the doors of society for them in the “Roaring Twenties”. Leading the list just has to Babe Ruth, baseball’s all-time great, whose antics on and off the diamond made him the most sought-after person at any party. He name still is the most recognized name on the whole sports scene, then and now.

On the football scene, start talking about the greats in that activity and the name of Red Grange surely leads the list. Down through the years, he always is remembered as the “Galloping Ghost”. In the 1920’s the name of Bobby Jones still is the dominant figure in golf. In women’s golf, Babe Didickson left a mark with her towering drives off the tee. As a matter of fact, she was so versatile in all sports that she is considered the greatest woman athlete ever. If you mention Jack Dempsey as the top man in boxing, go no further. Some of the old-timers say that the power from the blows he landed with his fists still is reverberating out in space. And in the field of tennis, you knew it would be “Big Bill” Tilden ruling the roast in the men’s division, while Helen Wills Moody was the dominating force in the women’s division.

Well, folks, probably there are other athletes who were outstanding in the less-publicized activities, but these unquestionably are the persons who ruled the sports scene in their particular major activity during the “Roaring Twenties”!  What do you think – if you were around during that decade?

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