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Table of contents
Group Editorial… pg 3 Advertisements are a Form of Brainwashing… pg. 4 Is Mass Production Lowering the Quality of American Products, or is it Good for US Consumers?... pg 5 Crazy About Credit… pg 6 Movie Palaces Draw Crowds… pg 7 Bibliography… pg 10
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Group Editorial How is the 1920s changing in regards to consumerism and the way Americans spend their leisure time? Life is pretty good for Americans right now. Business is booming, more products are being bought than ever before, and Americans have found a new way to spend their leisure time. The sky's the limit and there is no bringing America down. The Automobile business is going crazy with affordable prices, and happy consumers. More Americans are buying cars than ever before because more cars are available due to Henry Ford and the assembly line. Workers are getting paid better and products are flying off the shelf. People can now live farther away from their jobs and get there in an amazing amount of time because of the automobile. Critics will argue that this new age of consumerism is causing Americans to buy products they do not need. What if you can’t afford the new Model T? Credit is here to save you! When having credit you can spend it on anything without paying for it now. The new icebox you can get right now without spending a penny. You could buy anything you want and enjoy it without having to pay for that item at the moment. While some might argue that credit is causing Americans to go into debt and that it ends up costing consumers more money because they have to pay interest, the reality is that credit is here to stay.
Movie palaces are the best place to go when you have free time, it is only 25 cents to see a movie! Listening to sports is now a possibility with radios! Now Americans don’t have to leave the house, you can just stay home and listen to your favorite sports live. But if you really want to catch a baseball game in person, you can go down to your local stadium during your free time! Consumerism and credit is one of the best things that’s ever happened to Americans. Why wouldn’t Americans want more products on their shelves? For so long Americans have lived without luxury items like the ice box and sliced bread. Purchasing goods like radios, cars, vacuums, beauty products, and clothing is now a possibility for every American! Who cares if you buy now and pay later. Americans don’t have to save up for weeks or months in order to buy a product. So don’t feel bad if you don’t have the money to buy what you want. Americans need to think about consumerism and leisure time differently. Americans deserve to be happy. Consumerism is one way to generate happiness in today’s world. Another way is to take in the latest movie or watching a boxing match. Think about this next time you see a product on the local shelves or can’t decide how to spend your Sunday afternoon. 3
Advertisements are a form of Brainwashing Are new advertisement tactics good for Americans or a way to brainwash Americans in buying things that they don’t need? By: Adonajah Diss Readers beware! While you and your family sit around the radio listening to your favorite show, advertisements sneak their way into your entertainment. They make you want to rush out to buy a certain brand of cigarettes or the latest beauty product. They lure listeners in with promises of health or instant beauty. Ladies, you are the biggest target. Advertisements promise you will be more firm and happier if only you wear a certain brand of makeup. They use slogans like: “Ladies, you will pick up more men on the streets that are three times your age because of how attractive you are.” This is wrong on so many levels. Do we really want women picking up older men on the streets? What message does this send to young women? Not only does it send a bad message, it also leads to forced romances
Advertisements can be a good thing for businesses. Stores get better business, bigger checks, and more new things lining the shelves. But there is a downside for consumers. Consider the example of cars. There is a bit of a disadvantage because they lowered the prices to purchase a car, but the workers got stuck doing the same repetitive task over and over. Workers did, however, get double the pay by $5.00 every day. By lowering the prices, consumers were happier and they added training for people who didn’t know how to drive a car so they would have more customers. Advertisers promised that the car would be a faster way to get to work everyday. What consumers didn’t realize, though, is the extra costs involved with owning a vehicle. That’s pretty tough on the family budget.
that surely end up broken. Buyer beware of false advertising!
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Is Mass Production Lowering the Quality of American Products, or is it Good for US Consumers? Name: Aidan Davis Starting in the early 1920s, mass production began to rise from all angles of the market. This allowed people to spend more money due to the prices lowering. Middle class was able to now purchase the items the upper-class were purchasing. During wartime, more medical supplies were being brought out to the soldiers. The army got a ridiculous amount of armoury and weaponry all due to mass production.
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Crazy About Credit Is buying on credit good or bad for America? By: Taylynn Gourley Have you bought the latest and greatest products at Macy's Department Store? If not, what's stopping you? If it´s money, there's a new way to buy products. Credit, is allowing people to buy things now and pay later. People are buying more goods because more goods are available due to Henry Ford's assembly line. It reduces the labor cost, and T Model prices are more affordable. Henry Ford's assembly line is leading too mass production. Our latest goods are becoming assets! Advertising is beginning to spread everywhere. They will show up on the radio while your cleaning the kitchen, or when your drinking your coffee while reading the newspaper, And even walls on the outside of a store when your taking a stroll. If you can't afford the money to buy the latest product, you probably don't have a lot of friends. If you don't have the money to buy our product, get credit. Credit allows you to buy products that you don't have to pay for now. You can pay for the latest icebox without having to pay for it yet.
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Movie Palaces Draw Crowds Will radio and movies give Americans access to new information, or make americans lazy mindless zombies? By: Ashley Bonilla We are living the golden years of the 1920s. There’s no better time to be alive for movie and sports. Entertainment is at its height and with the widespread creation of the radio, sports can be thrilling to hear. Movies and radios can now give Americans access to information and here’s why. As more people receive more income, the influx of cash has lead to new patterns of leisure and consumption which leads to movies and sports to become more popular. Movie palaces can now seat thousands and it’s only 25 cents to go see a movie! Now instead of going home and feeling stressed out after a day of work, now you can go watch a movie with family and friends and escape from our problems. Also instead of films giving information now you can watch a black and white film for your own entertainment!
As the film industry keeps growing, especially in Hollywood and New York, more films start to become longer and more polished and watching films like The Covered Wagon and Nanook of the North are very enjoyable. Since the creation of the radio, now we Americans can enjoy live sports in our homes instead of having to pay to go see a sporting event. The use of newspaper and radios also make it possible for more usto listen to their favorite sports. The media attention that sports bring helps produce record crowds like the heavyweight fights between Jack Dempsey and Gene Tunney. These new venues for leisure activities create an environment for us to forget about our problems and relax.
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Bibliography Grace, Michael. "The Movie Palace – From Hollywood To London To Berlin…." CRUISING THE PAST. N. p., 2019. Web. 31 Oct. 2019. "Movies, Radio, And Sports In The 1920S." Khan Academy. N. p., 2019. Web. 23 Oct. 2019.
Daspin, Eileen, and Emily Joshu. The Roaring 20s: the Decade That Changed America. Time Inc. Books, 2019. "Pop Culture And Consumerism In The 1920S — UNLV Public History." UNLV Public History. N. p., 2019. Web. 24 Oct. 2019. 1920s consumption. (2019). Khan Academy. Retrieved 23 October 2019, from https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/us-history/rise-to-world-power/1920s-america/a/1920s-consumption Consumerism, America in the 1920s, Primary Sources for Teachers, America in Class, National Humanities Center. (2019). Americainclass.org. Retrieved 23 October 2019, from http://americainclass.org/sources/becomingmodern/prosperity/text3/text3.htm
Lindop, Edmund, and Margaret J. Goldstein. AMERICA IN THE 1920S: THE DECADES OF TWENTIETH-CENTURY AMERICA. Twenty-First Century Books, 2010. .
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