Bell Ringer

1. Bell Ringer • Give a list of the Progressive era reforms and explain which one was the most significant. • If you don’t know them, look them up! You MUST know this list of reforms!

2. The Twenties Chapter 22

3. PostWar Prosperity and its Price • Harding won the presidency in 1920 due to his call to “return to normalcy” • The postwar economy underwent drastic changes • Increase in efficiency of production • Climb in real wages • Decline in the average worker’s hourly week • Boom in consumer goods industry • This economic boom changed how Americans organized business, earned their living, and enjoyed their leisure time • It also led to the worst economic depression America has ever seen

4. PostWar Prosperity and its Price • America underwent a second industrial revolution • Electricity replaced steam as the main source of power (30% of factories in 1914 vs. 70% in 1929) • The new machines could be operated by unskilled or semiskilled workers • The average worker produced 3/4ths by 1929 than they had in 1919 • New consumer goods of the time included: • Radios, washers, telephones, automobiles • Canning, chemicals, synthetics, plastics also became a part of everyday life

5. PostWar Prosperity and its Price • The construction industry also saw a boom • Residential housing in the suburban areas became desirable due to the auto • Credit expanded to allow for such development • National mortgage debt jumped from $8B in 1919 to $27B in 1929 • Corporations underwent change in the 1920s • Prior to the 20s people like Rockefeller and Carnegie maintained both corporate control (ownership) and business leadership (management) of their businesses • The new business model would be demonstrated by Alfred P. Sloan (GM) and Owen D. Young (Radio Corporation of America)

6. PostWar Prosperity and its Price • The new business model had salaried executives, plant managers, and engineers who made decisions but did not have a controlling interest in the company they worked for (didn’t own 51%+ of the stock) • They stressed scientific management and behavioral psychology to make the workplace more productive, stable, and profitable • Companies such as Du Pont had specialized in things like gunpowder before 1920 but moved into consumer goods such as fabrics, paints, and dyes • GE and Westinghouse moved into radios, washers, and refridgerators

7. PostWar Prosperity and its Price • By 1929 200 companies controlled half of the corporate wealth • The top 100 companies controlled 50% of the revenues made per year • Oligopolies were common • Four companies packed 3/4ths of the countries meat • National grocery chain stores, clothing shops, and pharmacies began squeezing out local business • The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company (the A&P) had 15,000 stores across the country

8. PostWar Prosperity and its Price • To combat government favoritism toward labor unions, corporations created a system known as welfare capitalism • Incentives offered under welfare capitalism included insurance policies, stock purchase programs, improved work conditions, and sports and recreation programs • This system did not solve seasonal unemployment, low wages, long hours, and unhealthy factory conditions • The corporations used the “American Plan,” which involved creating open shops • Open shop meant that non-union employees received the same benefits as union members

9. PostWar Prosperity and its Price • In company union systems, corporations created company unions • These unions were used as substitutes for collective bargaining, and were largely symbolic and created for appearance’s sake • These strategies led to a sharp decline in union membership • Other things that caused a decline in union power were the timid leadership of William Green over the AFL, the government moved back to a pro-business stance, and the Supreme Court was unsympathetic toward labor

10. PostWar Prosperity and its Price • The automobile changed the American way of life more than any other development or invention • Henry Ford’s revolutionary new assembly system made it possible to produce a car every 10 seconds by 1925 (it took 13 hours in 1913) • Ford doubled the average industrial worker wage to $5/hr for an 8-hour day • Note: this was more pay for less hours • He did this for two reasons: he knew that his producers were consumers, and it reduced his high turnover rate • By making the cars more affordable, millions more would drive the $300 Model T car that he produced

11. PostWar Prosperity and its Price • By 1927, Ford had produced 15,000,000 Model T’s • By this time, General Motors had become a stiff competitor • GM developed a new marketing strategy by dividing the company into separate divisions that each targeted a particular audience • Cadillac = Wealthy • Chevrolet = Working and middle class • GM also developed market research and sale forecasting, which has since become a model for large American corporations

12. PostWar Prosperity and its Price • The auto industry helped steel, rubber, glass, and petroleum markets • It stimulated spending for roads, and is credited for the boom in suburban communities • It led to the development of showrooms, repair shops, gas stations, motels, billboard advertising, and roadside diners • It is credited with the rapid development of California and Florida • Autos changed the experience of American people by allowing them to travel to far-off places, visit other cities for shopping or to see family • It changed the way young people dated

13. PostWar Prosperity and its Price • Cities grew a significant amount by 1930 • Cities promised business opportunities, good jobs, cultural opportunities, and personal freedom • Most people moving into cities were black or immigrant • Cities grew horizontally and vertically • Skyscrapers began to appear, including the Empire State Building • Completed 1931, tallest in the world at 102 stories

14. Cities grow up and out New York City, 2006 Above: Cityscape from 80th floor of the Empire state building Right: Skyline pictures from Statue of Liberty and ferry

15. Quiz • For the following question provide ONE of the body paragraphs you would use in writing this essay • How did TWO of the following help shape American national culture in the 1920s? • Advertising • Entertainment • Mass Production

16. PostWar Prosperity and its Price • The automobile allowed the suburbs to have lower residential density, as well as workplaces and shopping centers outside of the interior of the city • Despite advancements in industrial workers’ lives and urban living, parts of the country lagged behind in prosperity • One-third of American workers in the 1920s were employed in agriculture • Due to record high prices of crops during World War I and a massive surplus left over from the war, prices began to drop in 1920 • Prices also declined on property, wiping out billions in capital investment

17. PostWar Prosperity and its Price • Due to expanded debt coupled with lower prices for crops, farmers were in need of bailout (which was unsuccessful) • Wheat was one of the few exceptions to this trend • While a handful of agricultural products were at least breaking even, the income gap between farmers and non-farmers increased ($223 : $870)

18. PostWar Prosperity and its Price • The main relief act, passed by Congress but vetoed by President Coolidge (McNary-Haugen Bill) proposed that the government purchase the farmers’ surplus and then sell it on world markets or when domestic prices rose • Farmers would not see any government relief until the New Deal programs of the 1930s

19. PostWar Prosperity and its Price • Coal, railroad, and textile industries lost significance as oil, cars, and cost-cutting measures rose in prominence • Areas such as Appalachia became significantly poorer than more urban areas of the country

20. The new mass culture • The rise of mass media (communication to a large audience) led to a standard of habit, dress, language, and social behavior • The Roaring 20s was so named because of the explosion of image and sound machinery • While most people had limited access to this up-and-coming way of life, those who did found the new definition of “the good life” • Initially, Americans saw movies in nickelodeons at a rate of about 7,000,000 daily admissions • As the movie industry shifted to Hollywood, large studios such as Paramount, Fox, MGM, and Warner Brothers dominated the business

21. The new mass culture • These studios were founded by European immigrants who came to America and started in menial jobs • With the invention of “talkies” (the first being The Jazz Singer in 1927), Hollywood came to rely heavily on Wall Street for funding • Just like today, Hollywood emphasized liberal social themes and used celebrity fanaticism to “teach” people, particularly the youth, how to live their lives • As Hollywood became more permissive in its themes, people began to push for censorship • Studio moguls brought in Will Hayes to develop their own form of censorship to avoid governmental involvement

22. The new mass culture • Radio was launched by Harry P. Davis • The first thing aired on public radio was the 1920 election results • After that KDKA offered regular nightly broadcasts heard by a few hundred people • By 1923 600K radios had been sold and programs included music, talks by college professors, church services, as well as news and weather • Radio provided a link to a larger national community • Soon, advertisers began footing the bill for radio broadcasting • Amos ‘n’ Andy was the nation’s first hit show

23. The new mass culture • A new form of journalism emerged called tabloids • Know for scandalous, racy headlines about public figures • Most often bought by poor, uneducated people • Was criticized for being in bad taste and vulgar • Advertising emerged as a profession • Many techniques were used to persuade consumers to buy certain products

24. A Classic Icon in Advertising

25. The new mass culture • Sports grew increasingly popular in the 1920s • Athletes were ideally rich, famous, glamorous, and a rebel (Babe Ruth and A-Rod have similar traits) • Ruth is the most well known name in baseball, America’s national pastime • When a reporter commented on Ruth’s $80,000 salary being more than Pres. Hoover’s Ruth replied “Well, I had a better year than he did.” • College football also saw a growth in popularity • Focus on Ivy league teams decreased while schools like Notre Dame gained in importance

26. National Pastimes

27. The new mass culture • Celebrities became the model of achievement in the new age • The “new morality” of more liberal behaviors began to emerge in common culture • The flapper is one of the most iconic images of new morality, but were flappers new? • No…they were just new to the middle-class white people • Black ghettos, bohemian enclaves, and working-class dance halls had seen these “rebels” long before they became mainstream • The new morality promoted sex as a positive, health impulse, that if repressed would result in psychological issues

28. The flapper image • Flappers were known for: • Sexual experimentation • Jazz dancers • Heavy makeup • Cigarette smoking • Bobbed hair • Short/revealing skirts

29. The State, the economy, and business • The 1920s ushered in a era of confident Republicans controlling the White House: • Warren Harding • Calvin Coolidge • Herbert Hoover • The Republicans boosted the government-business partnership as the reason for economic prosperity • Harding did little active campaigning during his election due to fear of being discovered • He was somewhat shallow and intellectually weak

30. The State, the economy, and business • Upon taking office, Harding surrounded himself with “the Ohio gang” (his friends) • By 1923, he caught wind of scandals produced by his cronies • He commented, “This is a hell of a job! I have no trouble with my enemies…But my damned friends…they’re the ones that keep me walking the floor nights.” • Scandal one: Attorney General Harry Daugherty took bribes • Scandal two: Teapot Dome scandal—Interior Sec. Albert Fall pocketed money in exchange for secretly leasing oil reserves to two private investors • He was the first cabinet member to be imprisoned

31. The State, the economy, and business • Harding administration wasn’t all bad • Andrew Mellon, who served as Sec. of the Treasury under all three Republicans lead America through its prosperous period • Mellon’s economic plan included tax cuts for the wealthy, corporations, and on inheritance • He also sought to cut spending • Under his plan, America’s economy grew significantly • Harding died in office (heart attack, 1923) • “Silent Cal” Coolidge was different from Harding • He wanted as little government as possible, he only spent 4 hours per day at the office • Believed people like Mellon were best suited to be making the money decisions • “The business of America, is business.”

32. The State, the economy, and business • After Coolidge’s second term, Herbert Hoover got a crack at the White House • His ideology is summed up in: • “Reactionaries and radicals would assume that all reform and human advance must come through government. They have forgotten that progress must come from the steady lift of the individual and that the measure of national idealism and progress is the quality of idealism in the individual.” • Hoover sought to create an “associative state” between the government and businesses

33. The State, the economy, and business • The Bureau of Standards developed standardized engineering and consumer goods • The Commerce Dept. spoke about the significance of cooperation between government and business • The Antitrust Division of the Justice Dept. relaxed their responsibilities due to the partnership • By the end of the 1920s much of the wealth was consolidated/owned by only a few companies

34. The State, the economy, and business • America emerged from WWI as the strongest economic power in the world • By 1929 America had an $8B (yes, billion) surplus • Clinton had a public deficit of $5,727,776,738,304.64 • The current public deficit is $6,434,552,796,939.87 (an additional $4T in intergovernmental debt also exists now) • Debts undertaken by Britain and France from the US during WWI would not be reclaimed • The US brokered a deal to cut the amount of debt they owed • The Europeans viewed Americans as loan sharks and insistence on repaying at least some of the money fueled anti-American campaigns

35. The State, the economy, and business • Germany felt the reparations under the Treaty of Versailles was too much and unfair • Hoover and Charles Dawes created a plan (the Dawes Plan) to stretch out Germany’s payments, reduced the overall debt, and finance the debt through American banks • This in turn helped Britain and France better pay back their debts to the US • Military restraint was negotiated in the Five-Power Treaty • US, Britain, France, Japan, Italy, and China agreed to reduce navies and build less ships, etc. • Italy and Japan bailed leading to the demise of the treaty

36. The State, the economy, and business • Despite not joining the League of Nations, the US played a role in world affairs • In 1928 the Kellogg-Briand Pact was signed denouncing war • Many peace loving groups celebrated its passing • Critics claimed it had no power, and therefore was essentially meaningless • The pact proved meaningless within weeks • The US Congress approved $250 M for new battleships

37. The State, the economy, and business • Sec. of State Charles Hughes sought to establish a Pax Americana meaning have a relationship of respect with other nations based on economic, not military or political power • Capitalism would have to play an outstanding role in this • Economic threats against European and Asian governments kept them in line with US capitalistic prosperity • In Latin America, military presence was required to maintain a level of democracy that would encourage “fair trade” with the US • This intervention is why our relations with Latin American countries is still rocky today

38. Resistance to Modernity • Prohibition • 18th Amendment took effect on Jan. 1, 1920 • It was a “noble experiment” • The Volstead Act of 1919 was passed to establish a federal Prohibition Bureau to enforce it • Illegal stills and breweries, smuggling, and “speakeasies” were common (bribes to overlook were often accepted) • Organized crime grew due to the profitableness of illegal alcohol • Al Capone saw himself as a businessman • The 21st Amendment passed in 1933

39. Quiz • Was the governmental assistance to farmers effective at stabilizing the agricultural industry? • How did the auto industry change American lives? • What was welfare capitalism? • What were some of the inventions of the Second Industrial Revolution? • Did urban populations increase or decrease during the 1920s?

40. Quiz • What characteristics were flappers known for? • What new form of journalism was introduced in the 1920s? • Who were the three Republicans of the 1920s? • What did bootlegging lead to during prohibition? • What was the Scopes Trial?