Transcript Consumerism and Rise of Technology

Context
 Post WWI era of prosperity
 New economic models to increase production
 Decade of conservative politicians
 Supported capitalism, big businesses
 American dream
 Equate prosperity with progress
 Consumerism engrained in American culture
Consumerism
 Social and economic system causing desire to
purchase material goods in great amounts
 With rise of consumerism came rise of materialism
 Economic boom lead to higher wages
 Higher wages lead to more goods being bought
 1920s as the obsession of consumerism and
materialism flourish throughout the United States
Rise of Credit
 Increase in consumerism leads to the rise of credit
 Instead of paying in cash could put it on credit
 Easy to become stuck in debt
 Caused debt = factor of the Great Depression
Rise in Advertising
 More consumer goods available than ever before
 Convincing people their life would be better with the
product
 The rise in technology provided brand new ways for
advertisements to be spread
 Celebrities
 Used common insecurities of people
Coca-Cola
 One of the largest and
most visible companies in
the world thanks to its
successful advertisement
campaigns
 Holiday Campaigns
 Sports
 Contour bottle
New Technology
• 1920s was an important decade for new technology
• Many were common household items:
• Telephone
• Automobiles
• Toaster
• Refrigerator
• Washing machine
• Vacuum cleaner
• Rayon
Household Inventions
 Radio
 Ernest Alexanderson
 Credited for modern day radio
 High frequency alternator
 This helped lead to the invention of the
television.
 First broadcast in 1920 of the Harding-Cox
presidential election.
 Soon, 2 million homes had radios
Household Inventions
 Earle Dickson Band-Aid (1920)
 First version of Hair dryer invented
 Before women had to use vacuums!
 Clarence Birdseye Frozen food
 Meat + Veggies  preserved in waxed-
cardboard cartons, after exposure to high
pressure
The Great Depression
 October 29, 1929 – Black Tuesday
 Severe economic depression
 Caused by decline in consumer demand, financial
panics, and misguided government policies
 Decline in output, deflation, unemployment
Significance
 Economic prosperity influenced rise of new
technologies
 Urbanization
 Rise of credit
 Rise of debt
 Uncontrolled consumerism directly led to Great
Depression
 Created new American culture of consumerism
 Still see effects today
Bibliography
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