The Roaring Twenties and Social Tensions Flashcards
Impact of the First World War
-factory production in America grew by 35%
-steel production increased by nearly 60%
-farming grew as EU farmers fought in war: price of goods rose by 25%, avg income of farm owner increased by 30%
-wage of unskilled workers rose by 20% as US took over industries as EU workers were fighting
-US took over Germany in medicine
-returning soldiers made people lose jobs
-demand from Europe decreased after the war and EU farming recovered
how did the invention of the assembly line and mass production effect the us economy in the 1920s, with Henry Ford
-previously it was 12 hours for skilled workers to make a Model T car
-workers lined up along a conveyer belt, and each worker performed a single job
-A model T car was produced every 10 seconds
-lead to drop in price: cost of Model T went from 950 to 300 dollars
-increased demand in cars
-other industries copied this
How did the development of mass marketing affect the us economy in the 1920s
-radios were used in advertising, with over 600 radio stations, so Americans spent their leisure time listening to adverts
-$2bn a year spent on advertising and 600k people were employed in this industry
-a NYC radio programme was called Eveready Hour as it was sponsored by the battery maker
-boosted the economy as it encouraged people to buy more products, which created more jobs in the advertising sector etc
How did new technologies affect the us economy in the 1920s
-Electrification of households(numbers exceeding 20% increase in less than three decades)
-the growth on consumer durability oriented products became a norm, which increase productivity
-machinery in factories propagated the cycle of prosperity allowing jobs to increase which in turn increases spending
-spending became more common, which products like Bakelite
How did republican economic policies affect the US economy
-they were pro-business
-they thought that the government would help by never interfering - less regulations
-decreased taxes on income and company profits,more money to invest in American industry and buildings
-put tariffs on imported goods, encouraged buying of American producers
-this is known as laissez faire economics
How did the introduction of credit affect us economy in the 1920s
-customer hired the product from businesses, paying for it in instalments, and became their after it was paid off in full
-75% of cars and 50% of electrical devices were bought using hire purchase
-more consumers bought goods, increasing demand
consumerism
-advertising encouraged consumerism and created a consumer society where people bought branded goods, making shopping a leisure activity
-as US became richer, people wanted to show off by buying goods
-1395 department stores
-5k fridges to 1m sold in one decade
-entertainment: 850m per year spent on radio
-created by mass production, advertising and hire purchase
stock market popularity in the 1920s
-1.5m americans bought shares, using their own money and buying on the margin
-helped the economy to grow, and lots of people bought shares, making stocks go up
-in around one year AT and T went from 70 cents to 3 dollars
-number of shares available doubled in 4 years
How did confidence affect the us economy in the 1920s
-Americans had confidence that their American boom would continue and that anyone could be rich
How did America’s natural resources affect the us economy in the 1920s
-Domestic raw resources allowed for internal trading, which decreases the price of resources as there are no import duties
-oil, coal and iron
-having taw materials in your own country creates more jobs in extraction and processing
-having raw materials allows for trade and export with other countries with any surplus material left over
-allows for increased consumer items which boosts the economy and adds to the cycle of prosperity
Facts for mass production and henry ford
-a model T car was produced every 10 seconds, taking 1.5 hours per car
-original cost of the model t car was $950, by 1925 it was only $290
facts for credit
-in 1925, 75% of cars and 50% of electrical devices were bought using hire purchase
how did stock market popularity impact of US economy in the 1920s
-More Americans became involved in buying shares in the American stock market
-Led to companies to sell shares, which would give them the money they needed to develop their businesses, allowing them to hire more people, providing them with money to invest in shares or buy consumer goods with, resulting in greater profit.
-people made lots of money from speculation, allowing them to spend money
why did farmers income drop in the 1920s in USA
-Europe imported less food because European nations were poor at the end of the war. They also responded to the tariff policies of the US by imposing import tariffs on food produced in America
-The US population was falling, meaning there was less demand
-Increased competition from the highly efficient Canadian wheat producers
-improved machinery, like harvesters, and improved fertilisers made American agriculture very efficient, by 1920 they were producing wheat surpluses which no one wanted
facts for consequences of farmers in the 1920s
-prices plummeted - in 1921 most farm prices fell by 50%
-total US farm income dropped from $22bn in 1919 to $13bn in 1928
-there were 5 times as many farm bankruptcies in the 1920s as there had been in the 1900s and 1910s
-hundreds of rural banks collapsed
-6 million rural Americans were forced of the land in the 1920s. Most were unskilled and they struggled to get jobs in the cities.
-African Americans were particularly badly hit. Three-quarters of a million were unemployed
why were older industries negatively impacted
-workers in coal mines suffered from increased competition from oil and electricity
-workers in the leather and textile industry suffered from too much competition
-new industries didn’t create many new jobs, as electrification and mechanisation meant new industries were less labour intensive
-coal mining faced competition from oil, gas and electricity
-textiles faced competition from silk and rayon
-
facts for older industries
-in 1928 there was a strike in the coal industry, as male workers received $18 for a 70 hour week(women received just $9) and $48 per week was considered the minimum for a reasonable life
-42% of Americans lived below the poverty line
-Unemployment stayed at 5% throughout the 1920s. Disproportionate numbers of African Americans and Hispanics were unemployed
-550k homes were heated by oil, not coal
-25% of jobs in coal mining were lost
-75% were jobless in Muncie, Indiana at some point
how did cities change in the 1920s
-cities grew quickly and people flocked to them
-skyscrapers were a symbol of prosperity and growth. They were built in New York because of the limited availability of land, in other cities they were simply a sign that the city was prospering
-Some rural Americans, particularly in the South campaigned against what they believed to be the immoral nature of cities,, which they argued were full of atheists, drunks and criminals
facts for the entertainment industry
-Americans spent more time on leisure activities in the 1920s than they had since USA was founded
- Americans spent $1.8 million more on their leisure activities in 1929 than they had 10 years before
-The average working week declined from 47.7 hours to 44.2 hours giving people more leisure time
-Wages rose by 11% giving them more money to spend on entertainment
how did radio change in the 1920s
-radio grew quickly
-in 1921 there was only one licensed radio station in American, by the end of 1922 there were 508.
-By 1929 the NBC network was making over $150 million a year.
-The number of radios in the USA grew from 60,000 in 1920 to 10 million in 1929
how did the jazz industry change in the 1920s
-the ‘Jazz Age’ developed in multi racial cities like new Orleans, centre of the Harlem Renaissance
-inspired new forms of dancing like the Charleston, involving side kicks and complex sequence of steps, caused from on screen stars during this in films (Our Dancing Daughter), the Black bottom was another dance came from George White’s Sandals
-jazz was played on radio
how did sport change in the 1920s
-people had more leisure time, so Americans spent their holidays watching sports
-Baseball became a big money sport with legendary teams like the Boston
Red Sox and New York Yankees: Babe Ruth set a record of 60 home runs
-In 1921, 300,000 people went to watch the baseball World Series
-Boxing was also popular, heavyweight world champion Jack Dempsey was a hero, when he fought Gene Turney, it generated 2m in ticket sales
how did cinema change in the 1920s
-movies became very popular
-By the end of the decade $100 million cinema ticket a week were being sold
-In 1924, around 40 million cinema tickets were sold each week. This figure had more than doubled
-the film industry sold around $2 billion in cinema tickets each year
-provided another way by which advertising could reach consumers.
-stars were Charlie Chaplin, Rudolph Valentino, Buster Keaton and Douglas Fairbanks
-they started producing films in colour in 1922 due to the Technicolor Corporation
-they introduced sound in 1927, with the first film with sound being The Jazz Singer. Previously films were silent and sometimes accompanied by live musicians
-they developed animation techniques. Steamboat Willy(Walk Disney) was the first movie to achieve success with this technique in 1928
How did motoring change in the 1920s
-8 million people owned motor cars in 1920s but by 1929 the number rose to 23 million (tripled in a decade)
-Mostly due to Henry Ford’s Model T car
-ownership, maintenance and driving became a leisure activity when competitors to Ford turn motoring into a hobby by offering a great variety of models(Model T only had one design and one colour)
-Easier to go on holidays or day trips(visitors to American national parks went up from 200k to 3m)
-Major cities were in reach of more people
