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?