1920s American Economy: Ford, Cars, Radio, and Consumer Culture

Ford Motor Company

Founded by Henry Ford in 1903.

Model T

Nickname was the 'Tin Lizzie', introduced in 1908.

Limitations of the original Model T

No windshield or heater, required hand crank starter, only available in black.

Moving assembly line

Production method introduced at the Highland Park plant by Ford.

Scientific management

Ideas that influenced Ford's production methods, associated with Frederick W. Taylor.

Time to build a Model T

12 hours before the assembly line; 93 minutes after.

Cost of a no-option Model T in 1925

$290.

Five-dollar, eight-hour workday

Innovation introduced by Ford in 1914 to attract and keep workers.

Fordism

A system combining mass production, high wages, and welfare capitalism to create loyal, productive workers.

Welfare capitalism

Employer programs offering benefits (insurance, profit-sharing, recreation) to improve worker loyalty and prevent unionization.

Sociological Department

Monitored workers' homes and enforced moral standards like sobriety and thrift.

Assimilation for immigrant workers

Ford required English and civics classes; encouraged U.S. citizenship.

Union membership decline in the 1920s

Contributed to its decline, from 3.5 million in 1921 to 2.7 million in 1929.

Car ownership by 1930

4 out of 5 U.S. households owned a car.

Lincoln Highway

The first coast-to-coast road in the U.S.

New businesses due to automobiles

Gas stations, motels, drive-ins, repair shops, billboards.

Car ownership in the 1920s

Farmers were the group most likely to own a car.

Judge's quote on cars

A municipal judge in Muncie, Indiana, called cars 'houses of prostitution on wheels.'

Electricity in U.S. homes by 1920

34.7% of U.S. homes had electricity.

Industries benefitting from electrification

Manufacturing and consumer appliance industries.

Fastest growing household appliance in the 1920s

The electric refrigerator.

Ruth Cowan's paradox about appliances

Appliances often increased women's workload despite being marketed as time-savers.

Electric irons in electrified homes by 1930

97.8% of electrified homes had electric irons.

Advertising spending in 1929

Nearly $3 billion.

Planned obsolescence

Strategy involving designing products to wear out or become outdated.

Famous advertising mascots

Betty Crocker and the Jolly Green Giant.

Halitosis marketing

Listerine mouthwash introduced the term 'halitosis' to promote sales.

Model A

Automobile introduced by Ford in 1927 to replace the Model T.

Installment buying pioneer

General Motors pioneered installment buying in 1919.

Fraction of automobile purchases using installment plans by 1926

Three-fourths.

Slogan for installment buying

'Buy Now, Pay Later.'

Radio Music Box

Envisioned by David Sarnoff in 1916.

First radio station

KDKA in Pittsburgh; broadcast Harding-Cox election results in 1920.

Corporation that created NBC

Dominated U.S. radio.

RCA

Radio Corporation of America, which dominated U.S. radio and created NBC.

The Federal Radio Act of 1927

The law that established federal oversight of radio.

Father Charles Coughlin

The famous 'Radio Priest'.

Movie palaces

The type of theaters that replaced nickelodeons in the 1920s.

Mary Pickford

Nicknamed 'America's Sweetheart'.

Clara Bow

The actress known as the 'It Girl'.

The Jazz Singer

The 1927 movie that marked the rise of 'talkies'.

100 million

The number of Americans who went to the movies weekly by 1930.

Babe Ruth

The most famous baseball player of the 1920s.

Gertrude Ederle

The first woman to swim the English Channel in 1926.

Red Grange

Known as the 'flashing red-haired' football star of Illinois.

Bobby Jones

The golfer who dominated the 1920s with 13 major championships.

Flagpole sitting

The bizarre fad that swept youth culture in 1929.

What strategy did Henry Ford master?

Vertical integration

The 'Tin Lizzie'

The nickname for the Model T.

1908

The year the Model T was introduced.

The moving assembly line

The innovation used by Ford at the Highland Park plant.

93 minutes

The time it took to build a Model T after assembly lines were introduced.

$290

The 1925 price of a Model T.

$5, 8-hour workday

The policy Ford introduced in 1914 to attract workers.

The Sociological Department

The Ford department that monitored workers' homes and morals.

English and civics

The classes immigrant workers had to take at Ford.

2.7 million

The number of union members by 1929, indicating a decline in union membership.

4 in 5

The fraction of U.S. households that owned a car by 1930.

The Lincoln Highway

The first coast-to-coast U.S. highway.

Gas stations, motels, drive-ins, billboards

The new businesses that came with car culture.

Farmers

The group most likely to own cars.

'Houses of prostitution on wheels'

What one judge called automobiles.

34.7%

The percentage of homes that had electricity by 1920.

Refrigerators

The fastest-growing appliance of the 1920s.

Historian Ruth Cowan

Noted that appliances often increased women's workload.

97.8%

The percentage of electrified homes that had an iron by 1930.

Nearly $3 billion

The amount spent on ads in 1929.

A22

Nearly $3 billion.

Betty Crocker

What fictional housewife mascot was created in this era?

Halitosis

What health term did Listerine popularize?

The Model A

What car replaced the Model T in 1927?

General Motors

What company pioneered installment credit in 1919?

¾ of all cars

By 1926, what fraction of cars were bought on credit?

"Buy Now, Pay Later."

What slogan summed up consumer credit?

David Sarnoff

Who wrote the 1916 "Radio Music Box" memo?

KDKA (Pittsburgh)

What station broadcast the 1920 Harding-Cox election?

RCA (Radio Corporation of America)

What corporation formed NBC?

The Federal Radio Act

What 1927 law created the Federal Radio Commission?

Franklin D. Roosevelt

What president used radio "fireside chats"?

Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks

Who co-founded United Artists with Chaplin and Griffith?

Playing passionate exotic leads (The Sheik)

What was Rudolph Valentino famous for?

95%

By 1930, what % of U.S. film production was controlled by 8 studios?

Cultural imperialism / Americanization

What global criticism did Hollywood face?

William Tilden

Who was the top-ranked tennis player of the 1920s?

Mah Jong

What game created a fad in 1924?

Crossword puzzles

What word game craze hit in 1925?

$21.5 million

How much revenue did college football generate by 1930?

Baseball

Which sport was called America's "pastime"?

Jewish and Polish neighborhoods

What communities supported immigrant basketball teams?

30,000

About how many miniature golf courses existed by late 1920s?

The "perfect liberal democratic medium."

What did President Wilson call radio?

Its use for propaganda

What concern did Hoover express about radio?

Television and the internet

What two technologies were shaped by radio's regulatory precedent?

1927

What year did Warner Brothers release The Jazz Singer?

Kodak

What company produced 75% of global film stock?

1926

What year did NBC launch?

The "Radio Priest."

What did fans call Father Coughlin?

Lou Gehrig

Who was Babe Ruth's famous teammate?

Swashbuckling adventure roles (The Thief of Bagdad)

What was Douglas Fairbanks known for?

80%

What % of South American films were American by 1925?