HIS271Y1 Lecture : 17 - The 1920s.doc
Document Summary
Republicans in government this decade; laissez faire; return to normalcy . The economy grows although it is not an even distribution; agriculture lags behind. The nation"s net income leapt to 87 billion by the end of the decade. Unemployment is quite low; about 1. 8% in 1926. Mass consumption & the growth of advertising. Per capita income of the white middle class increased by a third; cost of living stayed relatively same; meant more disposable income. Mass production of a broad new range of products. The growth of modern advertising stimulates the desire for new product. It removed certain values from american society; notions of thrift/saving. Advertisers saw themselves as missionaries of modernity . Post-war advertising isn"t about the product itself but about what it can do for you. The idea is to link the possession of a material good to the fulfillment of an imagined spiritual need; this is a successful method.
