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The 1920s. Changing Consumer Habits. Companies focused on inventing & producing consumer goods Examples: radios, automobiles, icebox, washing machine, vacuum cleaner People buying goods using “credit” mass production of goods = cheaper products
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Changing Consumer Habits • Companies focused on inventing & producing consumer goods • Examples: radios, automobiles, icebox, washing machine, vacuum cleaner • People buying goods using “credit” • mass production of goods = cheaper products • increased use of advertisingto sell products
Transportation • Car ownership grew 18 million from 1920 to 1930 • New roads = more mobility, causing growth in the suburbs • Charles Lindbergh’s 1927 transatlantic flight – could fly across the Atlantic Ocean
President Harding • Republican President elected in 1920 • Most famous for three scandals: • - “Ohio Gang”(president’s advisors caught using power of the presidency to get rich) - Teapot Dome Scandal(extreme example- gov. claimed some land oil- rich land for supplying the navy, but the secretary of the navy secretly let private companies get and use the oil in return for $) - Mysterious death in S.F at the Palace Hotel in 1923
Calvin Coolidge • Harding’s Vice President • Became President in 1923 (after Harding’s death) • Elected in 1924 with slogan “Coolidge or Chaos” • Anecdotes- ‘Silent Cal’ (you don’t have to write this stuff…) • in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose.“ • It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?"
Herbert Hoover • Conservative pro-business Republican elected in 1928 • Believed in the individual & a small federal government
Anti-Immigration Movement • Mitchell Palmer (U.S. Attorney General) started the “First Red Scare” • He deported immigrants during the “Palmer Raids” • In 1921 & 1924 limits were placed on immigrants from Italy, Russia, and Slavic nations. • Fear and discrimination against immigrants & minority ethnic groups spread throughout the U.S.Ex: Sacco & Vanzetti Trial Question: Why would Americans dislike immigrants?
Prohibition • The 18th Amendment “Volstead Act” prohibited the manufacturing or sale of alcohol (1919) • It was hard to enforce – smuggled and bootleg liquor was common – led to a rise in organized crime (mob) • The 21st Amendment ended Prohibition in 1933
Civil Rights Women in the 1920s • Gain right to vote in 1920 with the 19th Amendment • Women expressed new freedoms and political rights - birth control, voting, and new fashions (though few in number, flappers represented the “new woman”) African Americans in the 1920s • Black Americans moved north to cities for jobs, but still suffered from discrimination • KKK membership grew to 4.5 million by 1924 • Increase in Civil Rights groups fighting for change (ex: Marcus Garvey’s “Back to Africa” movement)
Sports Mania • Era of Babe Ruth & Yankee Stadium • Sports figures were heroes and big business (1927 Dempsey fight made $2.6 million) • Negro National Baseball League started in the 1920s
Entertainment • Rise of movie stars (Rudolph Valentino & Charlie Chaplin) became popular in the 1920s • Talking movies started October 6th, 1927 with “The Jazz Singer” • Harlem Renaissance – rebirth of black culture in New York City