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Between the Wars (1920-1940)

Prosperity & Depression

By the 1920s, the horse and buggy was slowly being retired in favour of the automobile. Electric lighting, introduced before the war, became widespread afterwards, as did indoor plumbing, radio, and telephones. Many left the hardships of the family farm for an office and a briefcase. More women entered the workforce. Jazz music and dance clubs became popular. Charlie Walter's Dance Orchestra introduced the great dance hits of the period to the Napanee district. Napanee welcomed a new Chinese restaurant, the Grand Cafe, which was reported to be "one of the handsomest eating places to be found in Central Ontario."

The Roaring Twenties abruptly ended with the beginning of the Great Depression in 1929. With the Depression came high unemployment, and the Canadian Government responded by initiating a number of Public Works Projects. During the 1930s, a number of roads in Lennox & Addington were constructed or redeveloped, including County Road 41, a major north-south route, which opened to the public as Highway 41 in 1935.

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