What was hedonism in the 1920s? What were people doing that contributed to this

Question: What was hedonism in the 1920s!? What were people doing that contributed to this feeling in the United States!?
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The First World War (1914-1918) had wiped out an entire generation of young men, the horror of trench warfare, mustard gas attacks and aerial bombing of civilians had made people feel that the world was a horrible place and they should enjoy themselves whilst they could!.
As a result the "Roaring Twenties" was a period when suddenly girls wore short skirts, smoked and drank in public, flirted and necked and generally had a Hell of a time! The men of course were not slow to join the partying!.
At that time recreational drugs such as cocaine were not illegal so they were also a frequent stimulant of choice amongst the wealthier partygoers, even sniffing "laughing gas" was considered a cool thing to do!.

In a large part, the reaction to this period of abandon was a backlash by staunch Christians which ended with the introduction of Prohibition in 1929 (!?check) - the unintended consequence of which was a rise to power of the bootleggers and organised crime!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Materialism, hedonism, and individualism pervasive in the Roaring Twenties found reflection in the writings of F!. Scott Fitzgerald!. His masterpiece, The Great Gatsby, depicted the 1920s' era which Fitzgerald dubbed the "Jazz Age!." Zelda Fitzgerald, Scott’s free spirited wife, was the ultimate Flapper and his chief inspiration!. The African-American artistic movement flourished during the period's Harlem Renaissance in New York City!. Black writers, such as Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston, helped promote social integration by challenging racial stereotyping!.

Modern, streamlined, geometric Art Deco Design was the defining style of the Roaring Twenties!. Surrealist Art, born in the era, exercised the artist’s unconscious by moving beyond traditional aesthetics to irrational thought and dreamlike states!. Sadly, the Roaring Twenties came to a cataclysmic close on "Black Tuesday," the Stock Market Crash of 1929!.

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