By the car industry now booming due to Henry Fords genius thinking, Ford then created jobs for other industries like steel, glass, rubber and oil. The rubber, steel and glass were need by Ford to build the cars. This then had a knock on effect on other companies, which saved raw materials, manufacturing them and to the people who delivered them to the companies. The demand now was high. Another company that was affected by the mass production of the cars was the road industry. Before the Ford was built there was no need for the roads because there were no cars people used public transport. But due to the production of the cars they had to build new roads and improve or repair damaged roads. The oil industry also boomed due to the result of the car. Oil was needed for the engines and to make petrol so that the cars could be operated. Due to the new production lines, production prices fell over 50% therefore this caused an increase in sales and profit.
However the car wasn’t the only product to be seen on the market. Consumer goods were another thing being mass-produced. Such things produced were: telephones, radio sets, refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, ovens and washing machines. These new inventions were very popular towards Americans and sales increased by the day.
As new products appeared on the market and as sales increased there was a ‘cycle of prosperity’. As production increased there was an increase in employment. This meant more people earned money and had the more to spend on consumer goods. This then created a high demand in goods and companies were asked to manufacture more to meet demands.
With the money came the fashion, people had more time and money to pamper themselves and fashion came into place. The slaves of Africa brought a whole new trend to America and one new flavour was Jazz music. This music in time became popular down the clubs and amongst people. At this time intact a new for of women appeared. ‘The Flappers’ they were known as. They were the modern version of the women all in short skirts, bobbed hair, with lots of make up. They also drank and had a good time in bars and clubs just like the gentlemen. Women had no restrictions now, they could wear what ever they wanted, and they even kissed their boyfriends even smoked cigarettes in public. Due to women smoking this boosted the cigarette industry too. Sales nearly doubled during the booming years.
In the 1920’s Americans were enjoying their lifestyle due to all the products being available on the market. There was confidence in the American people. This then persuaded them to buy more goods by cash and now even credit. This allowed people to buy goods and pay a certain amount every month to pay off for the goods. This was called ‘hire purchase’. Mail orders also increased too. As the word spread it increased the market and enable people to have the products the suburb areas of the country. Advertisements were also a big hit. They appeared in newspapers, magazines, radio commercials, and even on billboards and cinemas. They encouraged the Americans to buy the products and the message they were trying to put across was that everyone should own all this new stuff hitting the market.
On the other hand some people of America suffered more than others. The ones affected the most were the farmers. They were able to produce the goods but over produced therefore engaging the drop in food prices which then affected the farmers in their wages. Their income fell! Some were even forced to sell their land just to get money. Some farmers even shifted to parts like California where ‘fruit farmers’ were benefiting from the boom. As the boom went on so did racial discrimination. Black farmers lost their jobs many were forced to move from the South side to the North side where work was more possible. But due to them being black they were not paid as much as the white farmers.
To conclude there were several main features of the economic boom during the 1920’s ranging from long term to short term. However tall these are linked together each feature had an effect on the boom. If companies like Ford hadn’t taken the risk of expanding and trying out new lines (assembly lines), new technology or products wouldn’t have been made. Due to taking risks other industries were booming. If companies didn’t invest and expand it would have meant that more people would have been unemployed and not earning so therefore causing nobody to buy and enjoy the new products on offer. So by linking the minor features of the boom together this created the ‘MAIN’ features of the boom in America throughout the 1920’s.
