Transcript The Business of America

12-19-07
Obj: To understand the
country’s prosperity after
WWI
Focus: Complete worksheet
questions on sec. 3.
The Business of America
Chapter 20
Section 3
America’s Standard of Living Soars
 The
1920’s were very “pro- business”
 President Hoover sought to keep taxes
down and business profits up
 1920 – 1929 were very prosperous years
for America
 Americans owned 40% of the world’s
wealth
The Impact of the Automobile
 Visible
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Changes
Paved roads for year – round driving
Houses were built with driveways and a
carport or garage
Gas stations, repair shops, public garages,
motels, shopping centers
First automatic traffic signals
Holland Tunnel opened in 1927
The Impact of the Automobile
 Allowed
rural families to go “into
town” easily
 Gave families opportunity to go on
vacations in faraway places
 Allowed women and young people to
become more independent
 Allowed workers to live farther from
their jobs resulting in urban sprawl
The Impact of the Automobile
 Auto
industry also symbolized the
success of the free enterprise
system
 80% of cars owned in the world
were in the
United States
The Young Airplane Industry
 Airplanes
were used to deliver mail for the
government
 Airplanes later became a means of
transportation
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Henry Ford’s tri – motor plane could carry 10
passengers
The single – engine Vega could carry 6
passengers
Electrical Conveniences
By the end of the 1920s even many
working class homes had small
electric appliances
Well to do families had
electric refrigerators,
electric cooking ranges
and toasters
 Electric
appliances made the lives
of housewives easier and freed
them for other community and
leisure activities
The Dawn of Modern Advertising
 Advertisers
stopped limiting
themselves to just providing facts
about the product.
 Advertisers hired psychologists to
study how to appeal to buyers
“Light a Lucky and you’ll
never miss sweets
that make you fat”
Constance Talmadge,
Charming Motion
Picture Star
 Advertisements
were meant to make
people think they
NEEDED the
product
 Items people
formerly considered
luxuries, now
seemed necessities
A Superficial Prosperity
 During
the 1920s people felt that
prosperity would last forever.
 As productivity increased,
businesses expanded in size and
attitude
 Some companies merged,
creating larger businesses
 Chain
stores that sold groceries,
drugs, shoes and clothes sprouted
everywhere
 Five and dime stores, like Woolworths
spread rapidly
 Not
all businesses were
successful.
 Iron and railroad industries
 Mining and farming concerns
suffered losses
Buying Goods on Credit
 Another
solution to luring
customers – easy credit (the
Installment Plan).
 Economists worried that
installment buying may be a sign
of careless and superficial
prosperity
 Most Americans
focused their
attention on the present with little
concern for the future.