Greatest Innovations…

List the most important innovations of all time.

What is the criteria for your decision?– Revenue generated?– Benefit to humanity?– Most widely popular/utilized/accepted?

How is this question related to the 1920s?

A Booming Economy: The 1920’s

Income increases

People purchase more goods

Companies earn higher profits

Companies expand and higher more people

“Boom Cycle”

* Employment and standards of living increased.

* As World War I ended, technology focused on consumer goods. Ex) radios, washing machines, telephones, and cars

* Increased wages caused an increase in buying power.

1925 RCA Radiola Super VIII

* Introduction of credit

1920s Census

More people lived in urban areas than in ruralMass culture of the cities: radios, movies, magazines and advertisingNew technologies revolutionized American life

Consumerism

Growth of Advertising

The “Electrified” HomeNew consumer goods

Vacuum, refrigerator, washing machine, store-bought clothing, and supermarkets

Effect on daily life?– Reduced the

number of hours and effort spent on household duties

The Automobile

Henry Ford revolutionized auto industry

Passenger car registration jumped from 8 million in 1920 to 23 million by 1930

Model-T 1909 - $850 1924 - $290

Automobile industry spurred related jobs and industries

The following industries grew as a result of the booming car industry:

Effects of the Car Industry

construction (roads and bridges)

steelrubber

glass

paint

oil

housing (as the suburbs grew)

“You can get [a Model T] in any color you want, so long as it’s

black.”

-Henry Ford

Fordism: 1900s Business Model Scientific managementMass production/use of assembly line for simple, repetitive tasks– Standardization

Worker’s contract: $5 a day, 40 hour-week AfFORDable to middle class– Between 1909 and 1924 price dropped 66%

Purchase car on credit

1920s Advertisements

For each ad…What is the message?What are the implications of the ad?

The Birth of Consumerism

Using new ‘scientific’ techniques and psychological research, advertisers were able to sell more products to more Americans Magazine/newspaper ads often focused on the desires and fears of Americans more than on what people really neededAdvertisers celebrated consumption, convincing people that they could be the person they wanted to be just by buying the right product

Reflection

How did the Automobile change life?

How did these new consumer goods change life?

Do these items make our lives easier?

What do we do with our added time?

On a piece of paper:List all of the electric appliances

in your home.

Which could you not live without?