The 1920s were a time of great innovation, change and growth in the United States. The country was returning to normalcy after the World War, prohibition had just begun and citizens around the country were being introduced to new, radical inventions. Inventions like the automobile and radio would have a profound impact on the US unlike anything people had seen since the steam engine came to fruition during the Industrial Revolution. Furthermore, services like the extension of credit in the form of personalized loans would spur creativity from individuals who needed capital to fund their newest ideas. In this paper, the fundamental points will use the aforementioned inventions …show more content…
In the past, people had been forced to use “highly polluting horse-drawn vehicles” to travel distances that were too far to walk and unattached to the railroad system. But when Henry Ford’s Model T came onto the mainstream market with a price that average Americans could afford ($490), the automobile market exploded, with 9 million cars on the road by 1920. Automobile sales sparked other industries including infrastructure projects to expand the road and highway systems across the country, motel chains and gas stations. This vast network allowed regular citizens to travel farther in a smaller amount of time than ever before. People were able to drive to visit their relatives more often, businessmen now had an easier time meeting with clients and customers, and families could vacation in every corner of the …show more content…
Radio was crucial because it allowed people to stay attuned to what was going on in their states, in the country and around the world. Until 1920, the radio was a high-tech device only used by the military and government during WWI. But in 1919, a group of American companies (General Electric, AT&T and Radio Company of America) formed a joint-venture with the goal of bringing radio to the middle class. They were successful as 60% of American families had a radio in their home by 1930. This was significant because for the first time a majority of Americans were able to easily access the same material. They were able to listen to the same news, sporting events, weather reports, political commentary and music. This access drove popular culture with the adoption of jazz music and “the modern woman” redefined by the flapper. It also helped shape popular opinion with the passage of the nineteenth amendment (women’s suffrage) and the view that the middle class was the glue that drove the American economy. President Hoover’s campaign slogan said it best – “a chicken in every pot, a car in every