The 1920s saw a massive economic boom fueled primarily by the automobile industry and innovations of Henry Ford. Ford perfected assembly line production, greatly lowering car costs and making them affordable to the middle class for the first time. The widespread availability of cars transformed America by creating suburbs, new industries like gas stations and motels, and more jobs. Consumers had more disposable income and bought new appliances, radios, and other goods, fueling further economic growth. However, farmers continued to struggle despite the overall prosperity of the era.

1. A Booming Economy
The Twenties

2. Cars Cars Cars!!
● Many credit the massive economic boom after World War I to one industry:
The Automobile Industry
● Moreover, the vast majority of the credit for the boom in the Auto industry
falls on the shoulders of one man: Henry Ford

3. ● Ford DID NOT invent mass
production, but many argue he
perfected it
● He created the assembly line,
wherein a car moves down a line
and individuals each work on one
specific part
● Car production skyrocketed, and
the cost of producing a single car
dropped significantly, making
cars affordable for middle class
Americans for the first time
● Ford innovated in other ways
o Paid his employees a high wage
o Changed his employees hours
from 9 hours to 8
o Gave them Saturday and Sunday
off
 Ford practically invented the
concept of the “weekend”
● He did all this knowing his employees
would have more money and more
leisure time, which they would use on
one of his cars, making him more
money
Henry Ford Innovates

4. Beep Beep!
● The Car changed America in many, many ways, and drastically altered our
economy
o Thanks to the Auto industry, other industries exploded, including
Steel, wood, glass, rubber, asphalt, insurance, road-construction, and
gasoline
● In addition, it created new industries, like gas service stations, diners, and
motor hotels (shortened to “Motels”).
o All these new industries meant more jobs, and a massively prospering
economy
● Finally, the car helped create the rise of the Suburb. Now, people could
commute to work, rather than being forced to live within walking distance
or within distance of public transportation (i.e. trollies, trains, the subway).

5. The Consumer Revolution
Welcome to the future, where affordable, mass produced goods are now in
every home!
Refrigerators, washing machines, vacuum cleaners! Yes, here in the 1920s, we
have it all! And now you can HEAR it all in your very own home!
Want to know what is happening in the world, without all that horrible reading?
Forever with the back-and-forth movement of your eyes, it can be intolerable!
Now, with the advent of the radio, and electricity in every home, YOU can close
and rest your eyes while hearing the dulcet tones of Amos and Andy or your
local news broadcasts! Your neighbors are all hearing the news as it happens,
don’t be left out!

6. Credit and Advertising
● In the 1920s, as more expensive
consumer goods became
available, people needed a way
to purchase these items. Enter:
Credit
● Credit was used to buy more
expensive items. Banks would
give small loans to individuals to
buy an item, with a small down
payment, and they would pay the
item off over time
● Psychologists began to influence
advertising
● Advertisements played up to
individuals needs and desires.
o Everyone wanted to keep up
with neighbors, and feared
being viewed as “behind the
times”
● Advertisements tried to convince
people they could be who they
wanted to be simply through
purchasing the right products

7. ● Bull Market refers to the stock market taking off during this time
o A “Bull Market” is the term for a time period during which the stock
market prices are rising
● People began to “Buy on Margin.”
o Think of this as buying stocks on credit. You put down a small
percentage, and pay off the rest later.
o If the price of the stock goes up, you have no problems paying back
the loan you took out to buy the stock
o If the price of the stock goes down, paying it back would be difficult, if
not outright impossible
The Bull Market

8. Cities Grow
● People are flocking to cities during this era
o African Americans in the south are leaving in record numbers, and
they are moving to Northern cities for industrial jobs
o Mexican Americans are immigrating to the US and moving to cities in
the Southwest
● Skyscrapers are becoming the norm in most cities, and none exemplified
this more than the Empire State Building in New York City, completed in
1931

9. Suburbs Expand
● Thanks to the car, Suburbs exploded during this era
o Suburbs grew faster than the cities, as workers could now drive to
work and were not forced to live in cramped, dank areas in the cities
● The expansion of the suburbs actually created a political divide:
o Those who lived in the suburbs tended to be more politically
conservative, and slightly more affluent
o Those who remained in the cities tended to be more politically liberal
 Does this distinction hold up today?

10. Farmers Continue to Struggle
● While cities prospered, and suburbs exploded with consumer culture,
farmers’ struggles that began in the Gilded Age of the late 1800s continued
o Farmers didn’t participate in the “consumer culture” due to lack of
access, not to mention being far too poor to buy modern consumer
goods