Read the following article and take bullet point notes in your notebook about major topics and concepts. Will be checked in class tomorrow.
By the end of the 1920s, Americans were overwhelmed by the rise of a
modern consumer culture. In response, many of the bitter cultural
tensions that had divided Americans had begun to subside. The growth of
exciting new opportunities to buy cars, appliances, and stylish clothing
made the country's cultural conflicts seem less significant. The
collapse of the new economy at the decade's end would generate economic
debates as intense as the cultural conflicts of the early and mid-1920s.
Americans in the 1920s were the first to wear ready-made, exact-size
clothing. They were the first to play electric phonographs, to use
electric vacuum cleaners, to listen to commercial radio broadcasts, and
to drink fresh orange juice year round. In countless ways, large and
small, American life was transformed during the 1920s, at least in urban
areas. Cigarettes, cosmetics, and synthetic fabrics such as rayon
became staples of American life. Newspaper gossip columns, illuminated
billboards, and commercial airplane flights were novelties during the
1920s. The United States became a consumer society.
Two automotive titans, Henry Ford and Alfred Sloan, symbolized
the profound transformations that took place in American industry during
the 1910s and 1920s. In 1913, the 50-year-old Ford had revolutionized
American manufacturing by introducing the automated assembly line. By
using conveyor belts to bring automobile parts to workers, he reduced
the assembly time for a Ford car from 12 ½ hours in 1912 to just 1 ½
hours in 1914. Declining production costs allowed Ford to cut automobile
prices six times between 1921 and 1925. The cost of a new Ford was
reduced to just $290. This amount was less than three months wages for
an average American worker. It made cars affordable for the average
family. To lower employee turnover and raise productivity, Ford
introduced a minimum wage of $5 in 1914 (twice what most workers earned)
and shortened the workday from nine hours to eight hours. Twelve years
later, Ford reduced his work week from six days to five days. Ford
demonstrated the dynamic logic of mass production: that expanded
production allows manufacturers to reduce costs, and therefore,
increases the number of products sold; and that higher wages allow
workers to buy more products.
Cars were the symbol of the new consumer society that emerged in
the 1920s. In 1919, there were just 6.7 million cars on American roads.
By 1929, there were more than 27 million cars--or nearly one car for
every household in the United States. In that year, one American out of
every five owned a car, compared to one out of every 37 English and one
out of every 40 French car owners. Car manufacturers and banks
encouraged the public to buy the car of their dreams on credit. Thus,
the American love affair with the car began. In 1929, a quarter of all
American families purchased a car. About 60 percent bought cars on
credit, often paying interest rates of 30 percent or higher.
Cars revolutionized the American way of life. Enthusiasts claimed
that the automobile promoted family togetherness through evening rides,
picnics, and weekend excursions. Critics decried squabbles between
parents and teenagers over use of the automobile and an apparent decline
in church attendance resulting from Sunday outings.
The automobile also transformed the American landscape, quickly
obliterating all traces of the horse and buggy past. During the 1920s,
the country doubled its system of roads and highways. The nation spent
over $2 billion annually building and maintaining roads. By 1929, there
were 852,000 miles of roads in the United States, compared to just
369,000 miles in 1920. The car also brought pollution, congestion, and
nearly 30,000 traffic deaths a year.
The automobile industry provided an enormous stimulus for the
national economy. By 1929, the industry produced 12.7 percent of all
manufacturing output, and employed one out of every 12 workers.
Automobiles, in turn, stimulated the growth of steel, glass, and rubber
industries, along with the gasoline stations, motor lodges, campgrounds,
and hot dog stands that dotted the nation's roadways.
Accompanying the rise of new consumer-oriented businesses were
profound shifts in the ways that businesses operated. To stimulate sales
and increase profits, businesses expanded advertising, offered
installment credit, and created the nation's first regional and national
chains.
Installment credit soared during the 1920s. Banks offered the
country's first home mortgages. Manufacturers of everything--from cars
to irons--allowed consumers to pay "on time." About 60 percent of all
furniture and 75 percent of all radios were purchased on installment
plans. In contrast to a Victorian society that had placed a high premium
on thrift and saving, the new consumer society emphasized spending and
borrowing.
A fundamental shift took place in the American economy during the
1920s. The nation's families spent a declining proportion of their
income on necessities (food, clothing, and utilities) and an increasing
share on appliances, recreation, and a host of new consumer products. As
a result, older industries, such as textiles, railroads, and steel,
declined, while newer industries, such as appliances, automobiles,
aviation, chemicals, entertainment, and processed foods, surged ahead
rapidly.
