SOCIAL & CULTURAL TRENDS UNITED STATES HISTORY CHAPTER 14 PRENTICE HALL

THE GILDED AGE Mark Twain’s book “the Gilded Age” depicted American society as “gilded” or having a rotten core covered with gold paint. Most people were not this cynical about America, still the last decades of the 19 th century are referred to as the “Gilded Age.”

VOCABULARY GILDED AGE CONSPICOUS CONSUMERISM MASS CULTURE JOSEPH PULITZER WILLIAM RANDOLPH HEARST TECHNOLOGY AND INDUSTRIAL GROWTH

AMERICA BECOMES CONSUMERS America’s workers began working for wages rather for themselves on farms. Cash became more plentiful and at the same time prices began to drop.

CONSPICIOUS CONSUMERISM As people began to earn more money and prices continued to drop a new culture developed called conspicuous consumerism. People wanted and bought the many new products on the market. All but the very poorest working-class were able to do and buy more.

ADVERSTING ATTRACTS CUSTOMERS Rowland H. Macy opened what he called a department store in NYC in It became the largest store in America. Using sale methods like widespread advertising, they offered a variety of goods organized into departments and high-quality items offered at low prices. Soon competitors grew with Jordan Marsh in Boston; Marshall Field in Chicago; Wannamaker’s in Philadelphia. Department stores pioneered new marketing and sales techniques, and developed trademarks and distinctive logos.

HIGHER STANDARDS OF LIVING People began to equate success with the amount they could purchase. All levels of working class rushed to modernized their homes & clothing styles. Cost of living decreased because manufactured products and new technology cost less. Better sanitation and medical care contributed to longer life expectancies.

THE VICTORIAN AGE The end of the 19 th century is often called the VICTORIAN AGE, after the queen of England. The rich became richer than ever before and the middle-class tried to imitate them. Factory-produced clothing and food gave homemakers a break, but expectations of cleanliness and more complicated meals meant more time on those tasks. Luxuries like indoor plumbing became a became popular.

MASS CULTURE One effect of the spread of transportation and communication is that Americans all across the country began to look more and more alike. Household gadgets, toys, food preferences were often the same. This is known as mass culture.

NEWSPAPERS CIRCULATE FAR & WIDE Between 1870 & 1900, the number of newspapers increased from about 600 to more than 1,600. Joseph Pulitzer, stated a morning paper called The World in the 1880s. Success eventually led him to start an evening paper called The Evening World. Pulitzer believed the job of a newspaper was to inform people and to stir up controversy. William Randolph Heart, with his Morning Journal soon became a first competitor.