The combination of an increase in the popularity of the car and than the upsurge of American recreation helped towards the success of the movie industry. In the early days theatres had low attendance because of a sparse distribution of theatres. But as cars became more popular, transportation became less of a hassle, and as a result movie attendance heavily increased with the increase of car sales. With performances by sex symbol, Rudolph Valentino, dramatic performances by comedian, Charlie Chaplin, and many other famous actors, the movie industry was able to attract a huge audiences of loyal viewers, surprisingly during the years of silent black-and-white films. Theatres began to advance and in 1922, improvements in sound recording technology enabled the filming and broadcasting of the first movie ever made with sound, The Jazz Singer starring Al Jolson. And finally in 1926, the advent of Technicolor enabled the creation of movies with not only sound but with colour also. Consequently, the movie industry became a major part of American industry in general. “In 1927 alone, over 14,500 movie theatres throughout the nation showed over 400 films a year each, as movies became America's favourite form of entertainment” (Gordon and Gordon, pg 68). Actors starting getting paid huge amounts of money such as £4000 a week, while the average American worker earned around a mere $2,000 per year. The advent of certain technologies helped to bring about the immense success of the movie industry; a success that would last even to this very day.
The car was certainly one of the greatest fads of the 1920s, but it was not the best, it was the radio, which became an instant success among the American people. Being substantially cheaper than a car, the radio became a part of virtually every home in America in only a few years. Following the beginning of the first public radio broadcasting station, KDKA, in Pittsburgh, many thousands more broadcasting stations popped up all over the country, it became instantly a national obsession; many people would stay up half the night listening to sports, sermons, Red Menace news, and concerts. “Those who couldn’t afford radios in the home gathered around crystal sets in public places“(Gordon and Gordon, pg 32). Radio allowed listeners to not only keep up with national issues and events, it also allowed them to experience new ideas, enjoy live sport, new entertainment, and to form opinions on matters that had never been publicized to a national degree. “The radios in thousands of homes linked people in simultaneous enjoyment and excitement” (Stevenson, pg 150). Stevenson stated – "Mechanical inventions of the day were keeping up with the events. Radio not only reported the events but shaped them.” Radio tended to make the people of the United States feel united and to be patriotic, it gave people the sensation as if they could have thoughts and feelings simultaneously. For many people it was comforting and strengthening. With the obvious benefit the radio also had many negative side effects. E.g. people who spent a lot of time listening to the radio became very idealistic, and a few individuals even experienced difficulties in knowing what real life and confusing it with radio. “The hobby of radio listening encouraged a tendency, a feeling that one's country and one's self were exempt from unpleasant consequences” (Stevenson). This is saying people in the 1920 didn’t know about bad things in life but only good. Advertisements quickly followed in radio popularity. Stevenson remarked,”Radio advertising did not help the American public to become more open-minded.” In the 1920s there were no laws on the conduct of Advertising, so there were lies in promising more than the seller delivered to the buyer. The false advertising of advertisements helped to create ignorance among most Americans towards anything unpleasant. Even though radio had brought the nation together as a whole, it also had the unfortunate side effect of making people of the 1920s more close-minded, ignorant, and disillusioned. Perhaps it was the sense of denial and false-hope created by radio that made America so mentally unprepared for the Great Depression.
The radio and car were not the only inventions to influx itself into the consumer market. Ford's methods of mass production and efficiency enabled factories to produce a mass of diverse consumer appliances ranging from washing machines to electric kettles. As a result of World War I, production in American factories had been overhauled to accommodate for wartime needs. And after the war, these factories had to either mass produce other goods besides munitions or fire workers, so they turned to the worldwide market of consumer goods. American demands for consumer goods skyrocketed during the 1920s, not only because of post-war demands but also of American indulgence in luxury and convenience. The primary reason why Americans bought so many household appliances was so they could spend more time with the family or enjoying activities such as the theatre by buying appliances was to simplify everyday tasks such as dishwashing or cutting grass. Like the domino effect that took place with the boom of the automobile industry, demand for consumer goods catalysed the growth of various other industries and increased the number of jobs, which consequently increased worker wages. “It fact, wages increased were up 33 percent from pre-war periods even after being adjusted for inflation” (Gordon and Gordon, pg 86). In order to accommodate for the labour shortages, businesses started bringing machines that could do the work of 5 men in half the time. The standardization of the assembly line process further increased factory efficiency. Instead of having workers move around to select tools the tools were brought to the workers by means of conveyor belts or movable storage units. The massive resource requirements of factories and household appliances stimulated the growth of utilities industries like never before. Electricity and plumbing became a standard in American homes. As a result of the massive growth of the consumer goods market, the economy was strengthened, but harmful side effects also resulted. The specialization of labour tasks in factories decreased the need for skilled workers, since workers were only required to do a few tasks many times instead of doing many tasks a few times.
Scientific advancements during the 1920s were not confined to only industrial technologies, health and medicine advanced greatly during the same time period. “Not surprisingly, a post-war interest developed in nutrition, caloric consumption, and physical vitality” (Gordon and Gordon, pg14). This crusade for health was mainly lead by the liberals and out-going women, of the 1920s. Coincidentally, the discovery of vitamins and their effects also happened around the same time. Through radio broadcasts, the public learned of the benefits of consuming foods with high nutritional values, and thus a generation of health fanatics was started, on the other hand because “cigarette consumption rose to roughly 43 billion annually and bootleg liquor became a $3.5 billion a year business during the same time period“(Gordon and Gordon, pg 68). While pursuing a pure goal of excellent health, the American people were ignorant of the fact to realize the harm that cigarettes and liquor had wrought upon them. The prosperity that America experienced during the 1920s seemed like it would last forever.
There were virtually no signs of economic depression; wages were at an all time high, and the economy never stopped getting stronger, everyone indulged in luxuries and entertainment, and there was always a general atmosphere of hope and promise for the future. Life was easy and convenient thanks to the many technological advances that took place during the 1920s and the cities grew massively as a result.
Bibliography
-Bruce, YOWSAH! YOWSAH! YOWSAH, The Roaring Twenties. Belmont California: Star Publishing Company, 1981.
-Gordon, and Alan Gordon American Chronicle. Tennessee: Kingsport Press, Inc., 1987.
-Sloat, 1929 America Before the Crash, New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., 1979.
-Stevenson, The American 1920s. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1962.
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