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Table of Contents Editorial Advertising Tactics Mass Production Radios and Movies of the Twenties Credit
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How is the 1920s Changing in Regards to Consumerism and the Way Americans Spend Their Leisure Time? By McKenzie Logan, Karsyn Countryman, Alexis Erb, and Caden Sadler Consumerism in the 1920s is changing the way Americans all over the U.S. spend their leisure time by convincing them to go shopping and buy more products. It was causing people to spend more money on things they didn't need, but people also bought necessities, like food and clothing. Companies convinced citizens to do this because they wanted more money. This issue is important because it is causing Americans to become lazy and spend more money, instead of saving up for something useful. An example of this problem would be an adult spending money on candy or movies instead of paying their bills. This magazine will support the idea that the 1920s are changing in regards to consumerism and the way Americans spend their leisure time. Credit is a negative response to this topic, but the positives far outweigh the negatives. The positive approaches in this magazine are advertising, mass production, and radios and movies. The negative approach is that people were making irrational decisions to spend rather than save, and they were using credit to do so. Sometimes credit was forgotten about and not payed back. Propaganda in advertisements also encouraged people to spend on credit. Mass production has also contributed to spending on credit in that the more stuff there is, the more stuff people want. Not all Americans can afford the newly mass
produced items because they didn’t have enough money at the time. So, now more Americans are buying on credit. Everyone during the 1920s started to become more aware of credit, being able to pay later. The rise of large-scale advertising, radio and movies increased cultural diffusion from without are rapidly changing thoughts as to what is essential living. The positive approaches in this magazine are advertising, mass production, and radios and movies. Advertising is good because it put the new things out there, Mass Production is good because it met the demands of the people who wanted the new things, and Radios and movies are good because radios got the news and advertisements out, and movies helped people visualize events and advertisements. The advertisements encouraged people to buy helpful, new appliances like pop-up toasters, vacuum cleaners, irons, and electric washing machines. Mass production made those appliances and distributed them to stores all over the U.S. Radios and movies electronically “sold� these items. Solutions to these problems might be being wise with your money and what you buy, or making sure you don't spend more than you can pay back. Though there was many problems, there are solutions. Solutions that we will discuss in this magazine.
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Advertising Tactics
Are New Advertising Tactics Good for America, or a Way to Brainwash Americans Into Buying Things They Don’t Need? By McKenzie Logan Alvin “Shipwreck” Kelly, a thirty-one year old man, has spent 20,163 hours sitting on top of flag
people buy what they want, and when they want it with credit.
poles for various advertisers across the country. He was first hired by a theater in Hollywood in 1924. After that, many different companies hired him to draw onlookers into their stores.
So, is advertising good for America, or a way to brainwash Americans into buying things they don’t need? It is good for America because, without advertising, the newly invented products would not be known. Some of the helpful products that make
The newly invented things would not be sold or
life easier are the pop-up toaster, vacuum
even “in style” if advertising did not help the
cleaners, electric washing machines, irons,
companies. Advertising helped companies sell
refrigerators, and stoves. Also, George
things and be able to make more with mass
Washington Carver invented more than 300
production and meet the demands of citizens who
products from peanuts.
wanted the new appliances.
Another way that advertising is good for America is credit. Without advertising, credit would not have been known for a long time. And without credit, people could not have bought the other advertised things if they didn’t have enough money. Advertising has helped
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Mass Production
Is Mass Production Lowering the Quality of American Products, or is it Good for U.S. Consumers? By Karsyn Countryman New technologies and other mass produced products are creating a vibrant consumer culture, and Americans are eager to own the latest and greatest items. However, is this desire to own mass produced items lowering the quality of American products? Or is it good for U.S. consumers? Americans have been left pondering this question as they consider purchasing the newest technological innovations the 20s have to offer.
So, what led to mass production? Well, it started with Henry Ford and the automobile. In 1913, Ford made an announcement unveiling his new assembly line, the making of cars. By 1929, at least half of all american families owned a car. By 1920, Ford produced over 20 million cars. His goal was to mass produce cars in order to lower their prices. Other innovations gave birth to new industries, and by the mid 1920s, one of every eight american workers had a job related to the auto industry.
Advertisers could now broadcast their message to everyone all over! Radios became way more effective than print media. The “consumers bible” was a magazine filled with hundreds of pages featuring products that people could buy. It became extremely popular. By 1929, radios were a big business. Americans were spending around $850 million on sets and parts in one year. Not all Americans can afford the newly mass produced items because they didn’t have enough money at the time. So, now more Americans are buying on credit. “Buy now and pay later” was the new thing. Everyone during the 1920s started to become more aware of credit, being able to pay later. Now individuals who could not afford to purchase an item at full price could now pay for that item over time with interest. The rise of large-scale advertising, radio and movies increased cultural diffusion from without are rapidly changing thoughts as to what is essential living.
To help sell mass produced items, radio stations have become the bees knees. Radios became a common feature in American homes of the 1920s. Hundreds of radio stations popped up over the decade. These stations developed and broadcasted news, serial stories, and political speeches. It made life easier for advertisers because they didn’t have to depend on the active participation of the consumers.
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Radios and Movies of the Twenties
Will Radio and Movies Give Americans Access to New Information, or Make Americans Lazy, Mindless Zombies? By Alexis Erb Bigger and greater technologies and resources were brought together in the 20s. But, is it a resource that we need to have get information from? Or is the information it gives us worthless? Americans have been hitting the stores hard to purchase radios and TVs to access greater and better information that the 1920s has brought them. So, are radios and TVs good for Americans or not so much? Well, surprisingly, Radios and TVs helped Americans interact with everyone. Wherever you were, you were guaranteed access to Radios and TVs. The radios and TVs really changed the American world in so many ways. Radios were broadcasting everywhere and broadened American life and culture. Let’s start off with Radios. Radios became a common resource in American homes of the 1920s. Hundreds of radio stations popped up over the decade. These radio stations developed and broadcasted news, serial stories, and political speeches. Radios made life easier for advertisers in ways they didn’t have to depend on the active participation of the consumers. Advertisers could now broadcast their message to everyone all over! Radios became far more effective than print media. Radios were just like Magazines, newspapers, billboards, and mailbox Advertisements, just an audible version so people could access information whenever.
Radios were full of advertisements and everything they aired engages the people in so many ways. They had shows on everyday from 7-9pm and they gave people a lot of information about big events such as the Titanic; they gave people information about the survivors and news of what’s happening. There was so much information given out from the 1920s that people just expected to hear lots of information on the radios everyday. Another bonus is that most radios were wireless (no cords!). Through everything- TVs and radios, it made people lazy which made them feel like they didn’t have to work. The American people had leisure time but they felt as if they needed to work two or three jobs to be considered “successful”. Leisure time is when people can watch movies and relax. Movies were very popular in the 1920s. Movies made it easier for all to understand what was represented in pictures and the actual meaning instead of interpreting the meaning. Movies made people visualize and it was much easier to understand. The whole idea was for the Americans to not be offended by a picture that they wouldn't have background information on. Movies and Radios really changed the American way of life in the 1920s.
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Credit
Is Buying Credit Good or Bad for America? BY Caden Sadler Is buying on credit a good or a bad thing? Now that the war is over, factories have stopped making rifles and ammunition, and started making luxury products, products that weren't available during the war. Americans can finally buy the products that they have been waiting for since the day the war started. However, there is a problem. Most Americans can't afford those luxuries. So they use credit. Credit is a form of buy now and pay later. As the war ended, America's economy declined. This decline was caused by several factors, one of which was the reduced demand for food in Europe. Another was that many factories producing war materials, such as ammunition, had stopped production. Irregardless, Americans continued to buy stuff on credit. People began to spend more money than they had, without really considering that they had to pay it back. Americans did not budget their money when they bought stuff on credit. New advertizing strategies and mass production also contributed to spending on credit. Americans believed that they needed to have the newest and best of everything to be happy. They would waste money on things that they didn't need or use, simply because it was in style. Advertisements encouraged this extravagant and unnecessary spending. Companies would claim that their products were necessities, and were far more important than other products. Customers were often oblivious to the propaganda in advertisements.
People often thought that they needed stuff just because their friends and neighbors had it. Companies made slight adjustments to their projects and advertised them as new and improved, and said if you don't have the NEW version you wouldn't be happy because your product was outdated. Mass production also affected spending on credit. Thanks to mass production, there was a lot more stuff around. And the more stuff there was, the more stuff people wanted to have. People were encouraged to buy stuff simply because it was cheap and a good deal, even if they didn’t need it. Eventually, people spent more money than there was in circulation. To try to fix the problem the government began printing more money. As a result, inflation occurred. As the amount of inflation increased, prices rose up, and people began to spend even more money, which lead to more inflation and so on. So, in conclusion, people buying on credit were spending money that they didn’t have, which was destroying the economy. This was an age of consumerism, and all of the consumerism was being fueled by credit. In other words, all of this consumerism, was being fueled by money that we did not have.
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Bibliography “1920s Consumption.” Khan Academy, www.khanacademy.org/humanities/us-history/rise-to-world-power/192 0s-america/a/1920s-consumption. “ISBN 9781934534885History Alive! : Pursuing American Ideals.” Direct Textbook, www.directtextbook.com/isbn/9781934534885.
Hart, Diane, and Bert Bower. History Alive!: Pursuing American Ideals. Teachers' Curriculum Institute, 2013. “Movies, Radio, and Sports in the 1920s.” Khan Academy, The Twenties in Contemporary Commentary, americainclass.org/sources/becomingmodern/machine/text5/colcomment aryradio.pdf. Source Pack
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