Roaring 20’s Economy

Introduction—during the war  Canada’s economy grew due to all the factories producing war supplies  Great demands  Unemployment disappeared

Poor Economy after WWI  End of war  end of demands for goods and services  Country in an economic slump  Factories shut down  Agriculture sector suffered drought  Difficult to maintain standard of living  Canadian soldiers came back to unemployment  Unemployment was very high  Little the government could do

War torn Europe  Europe was rebuilding itself  Canadian agriculture sector rose  Wheat on high demand  U.S. took an increasingly isolationist stance  Britain supplanted by the U.S. as Canada’s main economic partner

Rebuilding Economy  1920s—Canadian workers began to create unions to ensure job security.  Strikes held to improve working conditions  Adjust from war economy to peacetime economy

Roaring 20’s economy  Viewed as an era of great economic prosperity driven by the introduction of a wide array of new customer goods

Growth in Industry  The Canadian pulp and paper industry expanded rapidly during the 1920s.  Demand was huge in the American market.  During the 1920s Canada exported more pulpwood and newsprint than the rest of the world combined.

Trade—U.S.  U.S becoming Canada’s main economic partner  increased trade with the U.S.  The US purchased most of Canada’s raw materials  US set up branch plant in Canada to produce American products to avoid Canadian Import taxes

Boom in Old and New Industry By the economic slump that followed the First World War was over. World economies had improved and countries were buying Canadian goods. Demand for Canadian wheat reached record levels in the 1920s. Domestic and foreign industrial demand for iron ore, nickel, zinc and copper caused a mining boom.

Tariffs  Tariff: Tax on foreign goods being imported.  The federal government introduced tariffs to protect Canada’s manufacturing and industrial base.  Example: US made farm machinery was taxed so that it was more expensive than Canadian-made farm machinery.  What did this do for Canadian companies?

Changes….  Wages were rising for many people and for the first time people could buy goods on an installment plan, or credit.  Beginning of a debt society.  Workers had more income, therefore more DISPOSABLE INCOME.

Growing Economy  Factories began to produce new products, like cars, radios and refrigerators.  Unemployment dropped and peoples’ lives were back on track.

Women in the Economy  During war, many women obtained jobs  Most of women retained their jobs throughout the 20’s  One in five workers were women

Innovations and Technology   1920’S What the Future will look like

Canada becomes a Consumer Society Along with the 1920s came with a number of consumer products that many Canadian families ‘had’ to have. Mass Media was introduced in the 1920s, in fact, by 1929 there were 300,000 radios in Canada, up from fewer then 10,000 radios in 1924 (beginning of boom) Mass media = Mass Advertising

Advertising  Advertisers made luxury items seem like necessities to hundreds of thousands of Canadians.  There was an astounding range of household goods made available by places like EATONS.

Mass Production  Mass development allowed for cheaper prices of technology products  New technology  Automobile  Movie  Radio  Refrigerators

Mass Production (cont.)  Cars  Before the war, cars were rare luxuries  By 1920, cars were much cheaper  Cars had wide effects on the economy and society Gas stations motels  Source industries were broadening  Unemployment dropped

The Automobile  The car was initially very expensive to build. As a result, Ford invented the “Assembly line” which allowed the car to be mass produced quickly and efficiently dramatically decreasing its cost.  The Model T’s were built in Windsor, Ont.  Canada and the United States reacted to the invention of the car by building roads, gas stations, parking lots and drive in motels.  Demand for the car was so high that Ford had a very difficult time keeping up with production.  Millions of new jobs were created. The “Roaring 20s” were in full swing Ford’s first model The Assembly line Of The Model T

What did the automobile do for Canadians?  Before the 1920s only the rich could travel Canada.  After the early twenties the average Canadian could.  Canadians went on Sunday family drives.

“Miracle” Inventions  Automatic washing machines, hand operated washing machines, electric irons, electric toaster, electric stoves, vaccuum cleaners and sewing machines.  These products gave people more free time.

Radio The first radio broadcast in North America was in Montreal on May 20, The first radios were very crude with very poor sound quality. In a Canadian electronics engineer named Ted Rogers came up with the idea of creating a radio that could plug into an electric outlet. Hence, he created the first “batteryless” radio. Most radio stations were American. 80% of the radio stations that Canadians listened to were American. What impact did this have on Canadian culture? As a result of the “Americanization” of the airwaves, the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation was created in 1936.

Radio  The first Broadcast of Canadian content that was widely listened to was Foster Hewitt’s Hockey Night in Canada on Mar 22, 1923  For a Video Clip of Foster Hewitt and Maple Leaf Gardens, Foster Hewitt - CBC ArchivesFoster Hewitt - CBC Archives Foster Hewitt Hockey Night in Canada: Leafs vs. Canadiens

The Radio and the Family  Radio was a way for families to spend time with on another.  The entire family would huddle around a radio set and listen to their favourite weekly shows of music, comedy, soap opera, education, news and preaching.

The Telephone  Alexander Graham Bell ( )  Born in Edinburgh, Scotland. Came to Canada in 1870 at the age of 23.  Invented in telephone in Brantford, Ontario.  By the 1920s, only 1 in 4 families had a telephone. However, by 1929, 3 out of 4 Families had a telephone  The impact of the telephone is Canada was immediate. It brought Canadians closer to together; especially those who lived in isolated areas. Alexander Graham Bell ^

In Your Notes:  Using the Canadian Challenge Textbook, turn to pages  Read the section and answer the questions at the bottom of pg 58  How would the economy be different without the influence of WWI?  Would it be almost the same or would the changes be drastic?  How did War-time inventions influence within peace-time society?  How did these inventions connect the average Canadian families?

Roaring 20s—Overview  United States replaced Britain as Canada’s main economic partner  technological advancements increased trade and employment rate  More women in the economy

Conclusion  The economic boom made life easier for many Canadians and in many ways it brought families together, and unified this young country.