Chapter 20 Quinn Mattison
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Who benefited and who suffered in the new consumer
society of the 1920s?
The beginning of the 20s after WW I were normal, but labor
started declining. As businesses promoted themselves, the
government became more and more corrupt. At the end of the
1920s, the stock market crashed, and the economy stayed in one
of the worst depressions for many years. A few new presidents
were elected as citizens hoped the economy would improve, but
it didn’t.
Block 8th
 A decade of prosperity - The 1920s was a time of
conservatism and it was a time of great social change.
From the world of fashion to the world of politics,
forces clashed to produce the most explosive decade of
the century. It was the age of prohibition, it was the age
of prosperity, and it was the age of downfall.
 A new society – New technologies; consumer goods,
telephones. Americans spent more on leisure stuff like
vacations, movies, and sporting events. Radios and
phonographs brought Americans entertainment. Andre
Seigfried considered the standard of living to be a
sacred acquisition Americans will defend at any price.
 The limits of prosperity – Increased production was
very unequally distributed. A handful of firms
dominated the sector. Improved productivity means
goods could be produced with fewer workers, people
lost jobs because of it. Most families had no savings.
 The farmer’s plight – Mechanization and increased use
of fertilizer and insecticides made agricultural
production. This made farm incomes decrease and
banks covered tens of thousands of farmers who were
unable to pay their mortgages. The numbers of farms
decreased and mining and lumber, production
decreased while the overall population increased.
 The image of business - Businesspeople like Henry Ford
and engineers like Herbert Hoover were cultural heroes
and there were Numerous firms established public
relations departments. After the Ludlow massacre of
1914, John D. Rockefeller hired a public relations firms
to repair his tarnished image. The succeeded in
changing long-standing popular attitudes toward
wallstreet, people became aware of the “money” trust
manipulation of wall street.
 The Decline of Labor
 Business appropriated the rhetoric of Americanism and
industrial freedom as weapons against labor unions.
 Welfare capitalism
 Propaganda campaigns linked unionism and socialism
as examples of the sinister influence of foreigners on
American life.
 During the 1920s, labor lost over 2 million members.
 The Equal Rights Amendment
 The achievement of suffrage in 1920 eliminated the
bond of unity between various activists.
 Alice Paul's National Woman's Party proposed the
Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).
 Women's Freedom
 Female liberation resurfaced as a lifestyle, the stuff of
advertising and mass entertainment.
 The flapper
 Female freedom became a marketing tool.
 New freedom for women only lasted while she was
single.