9 Gruesome Things That Were Perfectly Normal a Century Ago

Sports were violent

People discovered new methods to keep themselves entertained in the 1920s, from listening to football games on the radio to attending boxing matches and watching men throwing punches and concussions into each other or animals ripping each other to shreds.

Cockfighting, for instance, became quite popular again in the 1920s, according to the White River Historical Quarterly, as well as dogfighting. Competitions between animals, between men and animals and the associated betting, could be found all over like New York City and San Francisco.

The traditional sports that involved human athletes, such as football or boxing, were also far more violent and bloody than what we are used to seeing on TV nowadays. Football players lacked essential protective equipment and boxers fought with their bare-knuckles, and for the most part, without any rules. Add to that, unlimited rounds, ending only when one fighter quit or the fight was stopped by police. During those times, more than 200 boxers died in the ring because of that.

See also 6 Rare Pictures of What Really Happened on 1920 Bombing of Wall Street.