A GROWING ECONOMY Roaring Twenties:

Learning Objectives 1.Analyze how the growing importance of the automobile and other new industries improved the US standard of living. 2.Analyze the growing economic crisis in farming in the 1920s.

The Rise of New Industries The rise of mass production, or large scale product manufacturing, created more supply and reduced consumer costs in the 1920s – Ex. Henry Ford was producing a new Model T every 10 seconds by 1925 Helped lower the cost of a Model T from $850 in 1908 to $295 in 1924 – The assembly line helped manufacturers mass produce goods by dividing operations into simple tasks

The Social Impact of the Automobile Thanks to Henry Ford, cars went from a toy of the wealthy to a necessity for the middle class – Created new small-business opportunities Garages, gas stations, motels – Enabled more people to live farther from work

The Airline Industry By the 1920s, airplanes began to be used for delivering mail – The aviation industry received an economic boost in 1925 with the passage of the Kelly Act Authorized postal officials to contract with private airplane operators to carry mail Charles Lindbergh’s flight from NYC to Paris helped promote the idea of commercial flight – By 1928, 48 airlines were serving 355 American cities

The Radio Industry By radio stations across the country. – KDKA was America’s first radio station – NBC and CBS were also established in the 1920s broadcasted radio shows News Sporting events Advertisements Music – By 1929, 10 million Americans owned their own radio

Advertisements To create consumers for new products, manufacturers turned to advertising, another booming industry in the 1920s – Associated their products with the modern era & also prayed on consumers’ fears and anxieties

Facts?

The Consumer Goods Industry With a rising disposable income, Americans feverishly bought new innovations such as: – Electric razors – Frozen foods – New hygiene products – Washing machines – Refrigerators – Electric irons

The Consumer Society Higher wages, shorter hours & shorter workdays resulted in a decade-long buying spree – Manufacturers created appealing messages that linked products with the “modern era” – Many Americans were willing to go into debt to buy new consumer goods Many Americans started buying on credit at a faster rate than their incomes increased – As a result, many more Americans went further into debt…

The Farm Crisis Returns Farmers did not share in the prosperity of the 1920s – Advancements in farm technology allowed farmers to produce more But because there was not an increase in demand for agricultural goods, prices for crops continued to drop – To make matters worse, the cost of new farming equipment forced farmers deeper into debt » Farmers remained mired in recession throughout the 1920s and their problems would only get worse when the Great Depression began in 1929