Economic boom

Question 1

Population 1920s

Answer 1

120 million

Question 2

Car ownership by 1929 USA/UK

Answer 2

1 in 5 americans
1 in 43 british

Question 3

Sales of cars 1919 -> 1929

Answer 3

9 million to 26 million

Question 4

Radio sales 1919->1929

Answer 4

60,000 to 10 million

Question 5

Telephone sales 1915 to 1930

Answer 5

10 million to 20 million

Question 6

Cost of Ford Model T

Answer 6

Reduced from 850$ to 290$ = 3 months wages

Question 7

Ford Model T production

Answer 7

15 million by 1927, 1 ever 10s in production line

Question 8

Birth of new aircraft industry

Answer 8

160,000+ commercial flights / year by 1930

Question 9

Farming

Answer 9

More farms in 1920 than 1930
Farming income 22$B 1919 to 13$B in 1928
Farm prices dropped 50% in 1921 alone
In 1922 Harding reduced agricultural exports: Ford-McCumber Tariff

Question 10

Buying new products

Answer 10

40% households had radio 1930
1/3 bought from catalogues in 1928
8/10 radios and 6/10 cars bough with credit

Question 11

Population in rural areas + unemployment

Answer 11

1920s 60 million (1/2) lived in rural
40% of total lived below poverty line
Unemployment constant at 5%
750,000 black workers laid off

Question 12

Chicago workers

Answer 12

3% unskilled owned a car / 30% of middle class

Question 13

Rep WASPs Presidents

Answer 13

Harding 1921-23
Coolidge 1923-29
Hoover 1929-32 *rugged individualism

Question 14

CAR INDUSTRY

Answer 14

employed half a million workers
caused boom in construction: suburbs -> road construction BEST employer 1920s
growth in other industries: 75% of glass + 20% of steel used for cars
Cars cost 3 months wages in 1925 $290
1 car per 5 people in USA, 1 per 43 in UK

Question 15

FORD MODEL T

Answer 15

production line Ford 1913
1 car every 10s
Over 50% of cars were Ford Model-Ts
Made cheaper cars

Question 16

BOOM CAUSE first world war

Answer 16

Isolationist + lent money
Its resources not strained: outstrip germany’s industry

Question 17

BOOM CAUSE rep policies

Answer 17

Protective tariffs
Rugged individualism
No govt interference - ‘laissez-faire’
Low taxation - invest in american goods
Powerful trusts run industries

Question 18

BOOM CAUSE new industries + mass production

Answer 18

Electricity: amost all urban homes had by 1929
Cheaper methods of production = mass production
Entertainment, motor
nationwide advertising, mail order, chain stores + mindset change (spending good quality)

Question 19

BOOM CAUSE motor industry

Answer 19

4.8 million cars made in 1929
Employed + supported other industies

Question 20

BOOM CAUSE consumerism

Answer 20

Prosperity chased
Banks lent money easily: 8/10 radios and 6/10 cars bought on credit
Confidence increased + stock market

Question 21

WEAKNESS: prosperity not far reaching

Answer 21

Chicago only 3% of skilled workers owned a car: in other richer cities 30%
40% living below poverty line
Farmers poor conditions: overfarming caused drought (Dust Bowl)

Question 22

WEAKNESS old industry

Answer 22

COAL: price down due to overproduction, replaced by electricity and oil
Underpayed workers: in North Carolina 1928 strike: 70h week payed $18 men, $9 women (min was $48/70h week
TEXTILE: mechanisation laid off workers
Boom no effect on unemployment

Question 23

BOOM CAUSE natural resources

Answer 23

Mineral, land, oil…
USA became a great industrial power: did not rely on trade