Advertising in 1920's America

History Essay:
Advertising contributed to the boom because it created demand for products which was required with the vast increase in the quantity of items available on the market. It developed a culture of consumerism among the American people. With the help of radio; a new industry, advertisers developed a new way to increase demand for products. Baseball stars became national figures as many people listened to sporting events on the radio and advertisers used this by getting these people to endorse the products of a company. The American people saw these national figures using or wearing those products and bought them themselves. People were informed by advertising of the products on the market which increased the profits of the companies which in turn contributed to growth in the economy.

New industries contributed to the boom as they expanded the market with goods which were cheaper and better which made the lives of the American people easier and better. These came as a result of developments in technology. Products like radios were sold and in 1920 the USA’s first radio station ‘KDKA’ was created and by 1930 40% of all homes in the USA had a radio set. This highlights how important products like the radio were to the American people and with such a large amount of people buying the products the economy would grow significantly.

Hire Purchase contributed to the boom because it allowed people to buy things which they couldn’t afford before by paying in instalments. This, like advertising increased the demand for products.

Mass Production was the most important factor in the boom because it allowed large quantities of products to be made cheaply and efficiently. Henry Ford was the first to use mass production. He used it to mass produce cars. It allowed him to sell the Model T at a very low price, making it affordable for all of the American people. When the Model T first came out its cost was $1200, by 1928 it was $295. Many other companies started using the same system of mass production for other products.

Although Mass Production provided the goods cheaply and in large numbers, without Advertising people wouldn’t have been informed about these goods and without Hire Purchase the amount of people who would be able to buy the products would be greatly limited. So all of these factors contributed to one another as well as individually to cause the economic boom in the USA during the 1920’s.