roaring twenties

Question 1

Economic benefits:
impacts on the US industry

Answer 1

factory production in the US grew by 35%
Largest growth areas - steel industry. In 1910, 26.1 million tonnes of steel were produced in America whilst in 1920, 42.1.
Natural resources . coal, petrol, and gas production
Transport - shipbuilding increased + railroads were modernized for transport
Consumer goods - American brands, e.g. cigarettes became popular in Europe

Question 2

Economic benefits:
Agriculture in the 1920s

Answer 2

Many European farmers had to fight in the war so production in Europe dropped - creating huge global demand for agricultural goods
When Europe started to recover, America supplied 30% of the world’s wheat and 55% of its cotton
Prices for their goods rose 25% during the war
The average income of a farmer who owned a farm rose by 30%
Farmers began to use machines + tractor sales increased
Farmers took out loans in order to expand their farms –> increasing production of wheat

Question 3

Economic benefits:
Workers

Answer 3

Demand for industrial and agricultural goods meant more workers were needed
The number of people at work increased by 1.3 million during the last 2 years of the war
Many experienced wage increases - e.g. wages of unskilled workers increased by 20% during the war
More jobs for people from other backgrounds since replacements for soldiers were needed –> women joined the workforce + black Americans moved to industrial jobs in the northern states

Question 4

Economic benefits:
Limitations

Answer 4

European farming had recovered by 1920 - demand from the USA dropped
Many new workers - mainly women lost their wartime jobs as a result of soldiers returning
Race riots as the number of black workers increased
Farmers who had borrowed money to expand production struggled to pay back their loans since demand began to drop

Question 5

Reasons for economic boom in the 1920s

Answer 5

New production methods that increased production rates
Availability of credit to buy new things
Advertising - encouraged consumerism
Unemployment never rose above 3.7% until 1929

Question 6

Reasons for economic boom in the 1920s:
Henry Ford and mass production

Answer 6

It took 12 hours for skilled workers to produce a Model T car in a workshop but after mass production on one of its most efficient days, a Model T car was produced every 10 seconds.
Mass production - workers lined up a conveyor belt increasing efficiency
As a result of these innovations, a Model T car went from costing $925 to $295 - causing a huge increase in demand for cars
Increased production of this industry helped the economy boom since this construction required products from other industries such as steel, rubber, glass, and textiles.

Question 7

Reasons for economic boom in the 1920s:
Hire Purchase

Answer 7

In 1919, Alfred Sloan set up a credit agency for ordinary customers. This consisted of people paying for products in installments until they owned them. This was known as hire purchase.

Question 8

Reasons for economic boom in the 1920s:
Advertising

Answer 8

Advertising became a major business. Companies used big posters and color pages in newspapers + magazines to attract customers - they would overwhelm them. Some even created new markets for their goods, such as Listerine rebranding their product from an antiseptic to a mouthwash.
1929 - 618 radio stations and most of these ccarried adverts or were sponsored by big brand names.
Americans spent part of their leisure time listening to adverts.
1929 - $2 billion had been spent on advertising and 600,000 people were hired into this new industry.
new advertising methods created a consumer society.
More demand –> more production –> more jobs –> more money to spend

Question 9

Reasons for economic boom in the 1920s:
Consumerism

Answer 9

Advertisers + marketing companies tried to encourage consumerism - e.g. disposable handkerchiefs were created instead of using reusable ones.
Shopping became a leisure activity
1929 - 1,395 department stores to choose from
5,000 refrigerators were sold in 1921 but in 1929, 1 million were sold
$850 million per year being spent on radio equipment

Question 10

Reasons for economic boom in the 1920s:
Stock market popularity

Answer 10

Between 1927 and 1929, 1.5 million ordinary Americans were involved in buying shares in the American stock market on Wall Street
They either used their own money or a method called “buying on the margin” - borrowed money from a bank in order to invest in shares and then paid back, receiving a profit.
People became shareholders - they were confident shares would go up since they did until 1927.
In 1925 - around 500,000 shares were available but by 1929 there were 1,127,000.
More businesses had more money - able to hire more people

Question 11

Social impacts of the roaring twenties:
Leisure industry

Answer 11

Americans spent $1.8 billion more on leisure activities in 1929, than a decade before

Question 12

Social impacts of the roaring twenties:
Cinema

Answer 12

1929 - 40 million cinema tickets were sold each week but this number more than doubled by 1929.
They produced film in colour by 1922 and introduced sound by 1927.
Developed animation techniques - Walt Disney’s movie was the first to achieve general success in 1928.
Most saw films on a weekly basis even if they didn’t have a TV at home.
$2 billion in cinema tickets each year-
Celebrities of men such as Rudolph Valentino and Charlie Chaplin.
Hays code - criticised the film industry for being immoral so created a code for films until 1968.

Question 13

Social impacts of the roaring twenties:
Jazz and dancing

Answer 13

‘Jazz Age’
Mixture of black and white American folk music that had developed in multi-racial cities such as in New Orleans
International fame
Jazz became popular with white and black people and made big stars like Louis Armstrong
Opposition - associated immoral behavior amongst younger people
Inspired new forms of dancing - the Charleston - on-screen stars like Joan Crawford
Marathon dancing

Question 14

Social impacts of the roaring twenties:
Sport

Answer 14

More leisure time - watched favorite sports
1921 - 300m000 went to watch the baseball World Series
Huge number of sporting heroes

Question 15

Social impacts of the roaring twenties:
Radio and Advertising

Answer 15

Radios became very important - in 1910 there were 60,000 radios whilst in 1929 there were 1 million
At first hundreds of local stations but then became part of networks such as NBC - USA began to hear similar views, news, and adverts
Some women began buying Max Factor makeup for fun
New hobbies - photography, using their new Kodac cameras

Question 16

Social impacts of the roaring twenties:
Motoring

Answer 16

At the start of the decade - 8 million people owned motor cars but by 1929, 23 million
Model T car’s low price meant there was only one design and colour - competitors saw a gap in the market and created more models. K Model Chevrolet in 1925 was a more expensive car, motoring became a leisure activity rather than just transport.
Easier to go on holiday + day trips
Bargain hunters visited suburban shopping centers
Major cities were within reach of more people

Question 17

Social impacts of the roaring twenties:
Position of women in 1918

Answer 17

Jobs:
WW1 improved the position of women - needed to replace the men who went to fight in the war
Made up to 20% of the workforce in places such as weapon factories and steel mills
Most still worked in jobs seen as traditionally female, mainly in low-paid service work - like assistants and secretaries.
Rights:
Some states gave them the right to vote in local + state elections such as New York - 1917
Many women did not have the cote or the same employment opportunities, right to equal pay and legal rights as men
Lifestyle:
Most thought they should stay in household jobs, follow husband’s lead
Many were expected to be with a chaperone if they went out and not to drink/smoke

Question 18

Social impacts of the roaring twenties:
Improvements for women

Answer 18

Jobs:
More women workers - 2 million joined the workforce
Access to different types of jobs - one study showed they were present in 537 of 572 different types of jobs available
More married women worked - 1.9 million to 3 million during the 1920s
Rights:
1920, the Nineteenth Amendment of the US Constitution gave women the right to vote
Women even became politicians
1928 - 145 women in state governments
Lifestyle:
Divorce rates rose from 10% to 17% - the birth rate fell to 21.3 births per 1,000 people.
Increase in electrical appliances - household jobs were easier thus meaning women had more time
Some rebelled and became flappers
Limitations:
12% of married women had jobs at the end of the 1920s
Racial minority women remained in lowest paid jobs - domestic servants
Followed their husband’s decision in voting
Did not achieve equal pay. 1927 - earned l $12 less than men per week
Still expected to stay at home
The proportion of women in higher education fell

Question 19

Social impacts of the roaring twenties:
Flappers

Answer 19

Members - single working-class, middle-class college studentss and upper-class free spirited women.
Challenged traditioal image of a woman by cutting hair short, colouring it, using makeup and wearing less clothing.
Went to clubs and dancehalls, where they smoked and danced
Actions - rejection of the values of their parents who grew up in clean-living culture of the 19th century
Challenged traditional attitudes - Clara Bow became known as the ‘It Girl’
more women went on dates without chaperons
greater emphasis on appearance
increase in number of women who had sex before marriage
Flapper lifestyle was only for those who could afford it - left out many ethnic and racial minority groups
Short-lived - many gave up their freedom as they aged and followed traditions.

Question 20

Problem industries:

Answer 20

The 1920s - a decade of division
Many newer industries were successful but those in farming, coal mining, and textile manufacturing had a difficult time
1/3 of the labor force in the US worked on farms - during WW1, they benefited from price increases
in the 1920s - prices dropped - e.g. wheat went from $2.50 per bushel to less than $1 per bushel
Cotton prices fell by as much as 2/3
Farm incomes dropped and around 2/3 began to operate at a loss
In 1924 alone - 600,000 people lost their farms

Question 21

Problem industries:
Over Production and Mechanisation

Answer 21

Demand for farmers’ goods fell but production rates continued to increase
New man-made materials such as rayon meant less demand for cotton - also fashion of shorter clothing
A ban on the production, sale, and drinking of alcohol in 1917 meant a decrease in demand for wheat
Mechanization - the replacement of horses with tractors - farmers now needed fuel for their farm instead of food - e.g. wheat
The US government introduced the Emergency Tariff Act in 1921 - which put tariffs on goods from overseas but other countries now did the same
Recovery of Europ by 1922 - farms were able to produce enough for themselves, reducing demand from the US

Question 22

Problem industries:
Production

Answer 22

Production rates grew rapidly however demand was decreasing
Easy access to credit - farmers borrowed money to run and improve their farms
Mechanisation - 10 times as many tractors in 1920 compared to in 1915
Other scientific advances - new seeds, fertilizers, pesticides
Even though demand dropped in 1920, farmers produced 9% more
There was a big cotton crop in 1926 but little demand - its pricce dropped and many farmers in the southern states went bankrupt
By the end of the 1920s, farmers now made up only 1/5 of the labour force

Question 23

Problem industries:
The decline of older industries

Answer 23

Newer industries producing motor cars, radios, etc boomed in the 1920s but older ones started to decline.
Lower demand for their goods + increased competition that could replace them

Question 24

Problem industries:
The decline of older industries
Coal mining

Answer 24

In 1920, 568 million tonnes of coal had been mined but this number fell to 518 in 1930.
Oil began to replace coal for heating homes
By 1929, 550,000 homes were heated by oil
Miners also faces competition from electricity and gas as alternative sources of power

Question 25

Problem industries:
The decline of older industries
Textile factories

Answer 25

Textile industry faced huge drop in demand
Changing fashions + competition from silk and the new material rayon
This production began to decline in the rural south, mills of New England, and the Appalachian regions

Question 26

Problem industries:
The decline of older industries
Railroad industry

Answer 26

Railroad industry had grown rapidly in WWI for transport
Railroad use for the transportation of goods continued to increase at a rate of around 10% but this did not compare to before
This was due to a rise in car ownership for personal use, and increase in the number of roads which meant more comercial goods were transported on them

Question 27

Problem industries:
The decline of older industries
Effects of decline

Answer 27

As older industries suffered so did workers
Normally one industry dominated a region - not easy to find alternative work
Workers had to leave their homes but they also lacked the skills required
Workers stayed in the older industries and experienced poverty
Strikes - became more violent
Wages were cut - in 1920, average rail worker earned 1,807 compared to 1,749 by 1929
Jobs were lost
Employment was unstable - in the town Muncie, Indiana, 72% were jobless at some stage of their working life