Level: 3B. Content

Content living inside a Group.

  • The Floorplan

    The Wormsers lived in the Drake Tower’s expansive 27th-floor penthouse, which boasted four generously sized bedrooms, as well as separate quarters for three live-in domestic workers. Situated on the first setback of the skyscraper, the apartment had four large terraces—one at each corner of the building—offering panoramic views of Lake Michigan and the city from […]

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  • City Life

    By 1920, more Americans lived in cities than rural areas for the first time in history. With soaring buildings, bustling factories, electric lighting, and crowds of people, the modern city epitomized significant changes in American life. As centers of commerce and cultural vibrancy, cities like Chicago offered recreation to all social classes. Electrified streetcars, elevated […]

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  • The Jazz Age

    After World War I, a new musical form developed by Black musicians in New Orleans erupted in popularity across the country.

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  • The Machine Age

    Much as people today are aware of the internet shaping their daily lives, Americans in the 1920s and ‘30s noted the strong influence of machines on society.

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  • The Great Depression

    The American stock market crashed on October 29, 1929, plunging the U.S. and most of the Western world into a deep economic depression.

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  • The Wormser Household

    Get to know the Wormser Family and their household workers. Hear their stories of living and working in the Drake Tower penthouse.

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  • Joseph Urban

    Urban introduced European modernism to America through his designs for opera, theater and film sets, buildings, and products ranging from furniture to cars.

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  • Craftspeople and Collaborators

    Many talented people worked with Joseph Urban to bring his modernist designs for the Wormser Bedroom to life.

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  • Changing Roles for Women

    From the mid-nineteenth century onwards, women’s opportunities for education and employment expanded steadily though unequally. By the 1920s, the increased availability of consumer goods and the rise of film and radio produced a popular culture that celebrated and, at the same time, undermined the independent, educated, and sexually expressive young woman. She was encouraged to […]

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  • Modern But Not Mainstream

    Although people may associate the “Roaring Twenties” with the glamour of Art Deco, modernist design was not the dominant style of the period.

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