The Roaring Twenties

What characterizes the Roaring

20s?
• The 1920s is known as a time of great
prosperity
• Also called the “Jazz Age”
• Businesses grew and people moved to the
cities
• Prohibition – 1920-1933
• Time of great investment in the stock
market
 What was business fever?
• The United States
saw economic boom Percentage of American Families Owning
in the 1920s Various Appliances, 1920 and 1930

• Massive growth in the Inside flush toilets

1920
20%
1930
51%
number of businesses Central heating 1% 42%

and companies Home lighting with electricity

Mechanical refrigerators
35%
<1%
68%
8%
• 500k African Washing machines 8% 24%
Vacuum cleaners 9% 30%
Americans moved Radios <1% 40%
from south to Automobiles 26% 60%

Northern Cities W: 472

How did Iadvertising
use Barbasol Change in the
and you can’t
even tell I1920s?
have
to shave my
• spread of the car and highway
face every day!

came billboards
• As the number of new
products increased,
businesses found new
methods to sell merchandise.
• Advertisers used themes of
youth, beauty, wealth, luxury,
and convenience
• End
 Why the boom in industry?
• Increased production
and encouragement
of big business
• Three limited
involvement
presidents
– Warren G. Harding
– Calvin Coolidge
– Herbert Hoover
• The Automobile
 The Automobile
• Influences economic prosperity
• Encourages growth of suburbs
• Changes patterns of leisure - road trips
and vacations become commonplace
• Affected patterns of crime
• Changed courtship - dating
• Ford Model T most popular - 15 million
were produced between 1908 - 1927
 Model T
Henry Ford
established the
assembly line to
manufacture
inexpensive
automobiles for
the general public.
The easy to
operate and
There are three major impacts on society that the
affordable Model automobile spurred. . The car allowed mobility for
T allowed the people who owned them which allowed owners to
experience life beyond their backyards and immediate
middle class to homes. New industries emerged after the adoption of
own cars for the the automobile as a staple of American life. These
industries included road building, gas stations and auto
first time. mechanic garages. Thirdly, the rural areas of America
became less isolated as people both left and came to
these areas spreading trade and ideas.