The Second Industrial Revolution
• Why it matters▫ After WWI, American
economy experienced tremendous growth
▫ American workers produced more goods in less time
▫ This boom helped create the modern consumer culture we have today.
The Automobile Drives Prosperity
• Economic Growth▫ Stocks rose▫ Factories produced more▫ People could afford to
buy them• Explosive growth
sparked by the automobile industry▫ Henry Ford
Introduced a series of methods the revolutionized production, wages, working conditions, and daily life
The Automobile Industry• Became the nation’s
largest industry in the 1920s▫ 1920-10 million cars in the
nation▫ By 1929-26 million on the
road• By the end of the
decade-the market became saturated▫ Marketing became as
crucial as production▫ Relied heavily on
advertising and annual model changes
• Despite these efforts-sales slumped▫ Revealed a basic weakness in
the consumer goods economy
Consumer Revolution
• Flood of goods became available to the public
• Advertising▫ Psychological research
Focused on “fears” rather than “needs”
▫ Celebrated consumption• Installment buying• Bull Market
▫ Rising stock prices▫ 1929-4 mill owned
stocks▫ Buying on margin
Radio-advances consumerism1920-Westinghouse builds a 100 watt
radio station in a little shack on top of its 9 story factory in Pittsburgh, PA. KDKA
By Dec. 1921-there are five broadcasting stations on the air*KDKA-broadcast Calvary Episcopal Church*WJC (Newark) broadcast bedtime stories*9JR broadcast grain quotations to grain elevator operators
By Sep. 1922- 537 stations broadcasting*100,000 radios are produced*WEAF (NY) 1st to offer advertisingBy 1923-500,000 radios are produced*Edwin Armstrong invents the first “Portable Radio”
Movies• 1927-First talking picture-
The Jazz Singer with Al Jolson
• 1927-1st Oscars were given• By 1929 some 80 million
Americans flocked to the theaters each week.
• Many wild and controversial films such as The Shiek caused
an uproar among such viewers. By 1922 Will Hays
became head of an censoring organization still used today.
Sports• Sports gained popularity during the
1920’s. Professional sports had emerged in the U.S. during the late 1800’s. With the introduction of new technology in the 1920’s, however, professional sports became a form of mass entertainment available to most Americans.
• BATTLE OF THE CENTURY (1921) July 2, 1921 Jack Dempsey fought challenger Georges Carpentier in New Jersey. Dempsey was declared winner in the 4th round when he knocked out Carpentier.
• Johnny Weismuller swims 100m in 58.6 seconds (1922). He won 5 gold medals and 52 U.S. titles. (He was also famous for playing Tarzan)
• Babe Ruth breaks the home run record (1927) with 60 home runs. This record would stand until 1961 when Roger Maris scored his 61st home run.
Books/Magazines• Designed for busy Americans with
less time to read, magazines like Colliers, Saturday Evening post, and Readers Digest drew readers with their cartoons, short stories and many pages of advertising.
• 1928 – Billboard Magazine published their first charts
• Following WWI talented young authors wrote about their feelings of disillusionment and alienation.
• A sense of rebellion against the “Victorian age” developed
• Writers began to write frankly about sexuality
• Three important groups that emerged from this time period were:*THE ROUND TABLE
*Harlem Renaissance
*THE LOST GENERATION
Economic Weaknesses• Not a prosperous as it
first appeared• Old industries declined
Railroad suffered internal woes and competition from the growing trucking industry
The Coal industry was also troubled-being replaced by petroleum and national gas
Cotton textiles declined-with the development of rayon and other synthetics
• Hardest hit of all was agriculture▫ Farmers had expanded
to meet the demands of the war
▫ By 1921, farm exports declined by more than $2 billion
▫ Farmers per capita income was only $273 ($681)
City Life in the Jazz Age• Rural Americans
faced hardships• Immigrants settled in
cities• Farmers left their
fields• Great Migration was
to the cities• Skyscraper
technology▫ Empire State Bldg.-
1931
Advertising-1920sFor each ad-answer the following questions• 1. How is this ad trying to persuade consumers
to buy the product? • 2. To which social class(es) does the ad appeal? • 3. To which ethnic groups does the ad primarily
appeal? • 4. How, if at all, are blacks portrayed in the ad? • 5. How, if at all, are women portrayed in the ad? • 6. How could a wise consumer avoid letting the
ad talk her into buying something she doesn’t need?