1920s lecture 3
Post on 20-Oct-2014
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An Economic RevolutionAfter today you should know:
1)How the economy changed in the 1920’s2)How industry changed society in the 1920’s?3)Who struggled economically in the 1920’s?
Ford Revolutionizes Industry
• First cars appeared in late 1800’s
• Owned by the wealthy• 1908 Henry Ford started
selling the Model T• Began mass producing
– Making identical cars and keeping them simple
Henry Ford Studies…• Studied manufacturing
processes• Hired experts in scientific
management• Adopted use of
interchangeable parts, moving belts
• Studied how workers should move to be the most efficient
The Assembly Line• Items move along a conveyor
belt to different work stations
• Each worker was assigned to a work station
• Their job was to complete a specific task in the manufacturing process– Same activity all day, every day
The Model T• 1917 – Model T sold for less
than $500– Still not cheap
• By 1920, Ford could produce a car every minute– Price went down
• Average Cost of Car in 1908– $850
• Average Cost of Car in 1925– $525
• Average Cost of Car today– $27,589
Competition and Productivity
• In 1920’s over half the cars on the road were Fords
• General Motors, Chrysler tried to improve Ford’s model– Developed new designs– Colors
• Competition caused industry to grow
• Ford didn’t change model until 1927
• Productivity rose by 60%– Measure of output per
unit of input (labor)• Auto industry boom
led to WELFARE CAPITALISM
Welfare Capitalism• Ever heard of a job with BENEFITS?
– Idea started in the 1920’s• A system in which a company provides benefits to
employees in an effort to promote worker satisfaction and loyalty– Paid pensions (retirement)– Recreation programs for workers
• Purpose was to encourage workers to shun unions and accept lower pay
What would life be like if cars were never invented?
Industry Changes Society• Car production boosted
steel, glass, rubber, and oil industries– Down since end of WWI
• Repair shops, motels, gas stations, restaurants
• Created tourist industry– Made travel easy, available
to everyone
Growth in Northern Cities• Automakers put
Detroit, MI on the map– 1910 – 500,000– 1930 – 1,500,000
• Other Northern cities exploded– Akron, Ohio – rubber
industry • Suburbs grew because
of access to cities by car• Florida
Change in the Consumer
• During the war Americans sacrificed buying things for their own pleasure
• In 1920’s consumers got back into the habit of buying and liking it
• New products and new entertainment exploded
New Products
• New, efficient and faster manufacturing processes helped factories produce more things and do it more quickly
• New products:– Refrigerators– Electrical appliances– Vacuum cleaners
• Electricity spread because of these new products
The Radio• The new favorite
technology was the RADIO
• By end of 1920’s - 4 in 10 homes had a radio
• Families gathered around the radio for news, dramas, comedy
• Connected the world
The Airplane
• Commercial flights began in 1920’s
• Travel cross country was more comfortable by train– Planes were
unpressurized and uninsulated
– Couldn’t fly at night
• People flew mostly for thrills
Advertising
• Modern, persuasive advertising developed
• Companies paid for ad space in newspapers, magazines, on radio
• Gave wide exposure to consumer products
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cofP4NwNCQg&feature=related
Paying on Credit
• In early 1900’s people paid for items in full
• Borrowing money was not respected
• Installment buying introduced in 1920’s– Making for an item
over time in small payments
• People started buying on credit and loved it!
• By end of the 1920’s, 90% of long-lasting were bought on credit
• “Get what you want now!”
The Roaring 20’s
• Boom in cars, consumer goods, radio and advertising earned the 1920’s the nickname the ROARING 20’s
Trouble for Farmers
• European farmers returned to their fields– Tons of products
entered U.S. markets– U.S. farm prices
plunged• 19221 Fordney-
McCumber Tariff only helped a little
• Bugs destroyed cotton crops all over the South
• 1927 Mississippi River flood– 1,000 people died– Destroyed homes, farmland
• Hurricane struck Florida– Ended boom in Florida– Florida sunk into depression
Lasting Effects of WWI
War Debt• European nations borrowed $10 billion from the U.S.
– Struggled to pay it back– Couldn’t earn money to pay off debts to U.S.
• Germans couldn’t pay the reparations – U.S. started loaning money to Germany– Assumed the role of banker to all of Europe
Lasting Effects of WWI
Arms Race• Arms Race - nations competing to build more and
more weapons in an effort to avoid one nation gaining a power advantage– Peacetime brought pressure to reduce U.S. armed
forces to save money and reduce the threat of war• People feared that Britain and Japan were on the
verge of naval arms race
Lasting Effects of WWI
Arms Race• U.S. organized the Washington Naval Conference
in 1921– Major naval powers of the world attended– Agreed to cut back on the size of navies– Led to an agreement on issues that threatened world
peace– Considered a great success at the time
Lasting Effects of WWI
Air Power• General Billy Mitchell
encouraged U.S. to invest in building up its air power– Conducted tests to prove
air power is better than naval power
• People were not convinced
Lasting Effects of WWI
Treaties With Others• U.S. did not join League of Nations but wanted to
prevent another war• France proposed a treaty between U.S. and France, but
U.S. suggested a bigger plan• KELLOGG-BRIAN PACT - said countries would condemn
war as solution for international problems– 60 nations involved– But a countries word was the only enforcement