Shift to Consumerism
Video Source:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKcMIggBbBo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKcMIggBbBo
|
The roaring 1920s was an age of invention, job creation and factory production. Capitalism began to soar during this time period with the concept of upward mobility for the average person. A hard work ethic along with creative and independent thinking produced some of the greatest entrepreneurs this country had ever seen. Unlike the Rockefellers and Carnegies with their old world money, many of the entrepreneurs of the 1920s came from humble beginnings. The entrepreneurs discussed in these blog posts not only influenced business in the United States, but helped change the world as we know it today. These entrepreneurs had common traits of strong work ethics, curiosity, creative thinking and invention, lack of fear of failure, and humble beginnings, with most of their families immigrating to the United States with the hope of being able to offer their children a better life. Immigration to the US climbed to roughly nine million people by 1910. The positive business environment in the United States afforded numerous opportunities for immigrants. Two of the entrepreneurs examined in this blog, Thomas Edison and Henry Ford, were not simply great innovators in the 1920s, but are considered to be some of the best to ever exist; Edison and Ford were both placed on Investopedia’s “The 10 Greatest Entrepreneurs” list. Sources Beattie, Andrew. "The 10 Greatest Entrepreneurs." Investopedia. Investopedia US, 02 Aug. 2010. Web. 19 Apr. 2014.<http://www.investopedia.com/articles/financial-theory/10/the-10-greatest-entrepreneurs.asp>. "Immigration in the Early 1900s." EyeWitness to History. 2000. Web. 19 Apr. 2014. <http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/snpim1.htm>. With the end of year 1919, a slow decade came to a conclusion, and the beginning of the roaring twenties arose. What really kickstarted this pro-business decade was a change in executive political ideology. The 1920 presidential election changed the political realm and brought a 'return to normalcy' as promised by Warren Harding’s campaign slogan. After eight consecutive years of having President Woodrow Wilson and his progressive agenda, the country voted into office a conservative Republican. Following his landslide election victory, President Harding went right to work on creating a better economy. This was done by passing the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921. In this piece of legislation, the Bureau of the Budget was formed. Harding appointed Charles Dawes as the Bureau’s first Director. During the same year, the Revenue Act of 1921 was passed and reduced corporate and individual taxes. Though not many Americans went from being poor to becoming rich, a great deal of upward mobility was found throughout the decade. Sources "Budget and Accounting Act of 1921." Budget and Accounting Act of 1921. Library of Congress. Web. 20 Apr. 2014. <http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amrlhtml/dtbudact.html>. Lamoreaux, Naomi R. Entrepreneurship in the United States, 1865-1920.UCLA. UCLA Department of Economics. Web. 20 Apr. 2014. <http://www.econ.ucla.edu/people/papers/Lamoreaux/Lamoreaux470.pdf>. "The Statutes at Large of the United States of America." Constitution Organization. Constitution Society. Web. 19 Apr. 2014. <http://www.constitution.org/uslaw/sal/042_itax.pdf>. Picture Source http://www.rarenewspapers.com/view/573133 In the Eyes of Society Brilliant Inventor Lived off of Cat Naps Thomas Edison was born in Milan, Ohio on February 11, 1847. Although Edison was a brilliant individual, he performed poorly in an institutionalized learning setting. His teacher was frustrated with him constantly asking questions, which the teacher viewed as being selfish. The teacher also felt that Edison had an abnormally large head which to him meant that something was wrong with his brain. Edison’s mother believed this meant her son was highly intelligent, and she pulled him out of school to educate him at home. He spent much of his adult life creating inventions and obtaining utility, and even a few design patents. Of all his inventions he may be best known for introducing electric light, heat and power. According to reports Edison only slept three to four hours at night, “regarding sleep as a waste of time” (Popova). By the time he died on October 18, 1931 at the age of eighty-three, Edison had an exorbitant amount of patents totaling 1,093. Sources Beals, Gerald. "Thomas Alva Edison." Thomas Edison. Brockton Historical Society. Web. 19 Apr. 2014. <http://www.thomasedison.com/>. Popova, Maria. "Thomas Edison, Power-Napper: The Great Inventor on Sleep & Success." Brain Pickings. Web. 19 Apr. 2014. <http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/02/11/thomas-edison-on-sleep-and-success/>. By 1925, 50% of American homes have electric power. Picture Source http://waterandpower.org/Historical_DWP_Photo_Collection_LA_Public_Library/Aliso_St_Overhead_Line_Congestion.jpg The Man Who Brought Automobile Transportation to the Average Person Surprising to many, Henry Ford was not the sole inventor of the automobile; it was actually an accumulation of many people’s work. He was the inventor of assembly-line techniques and standardized parts that led to the first mass-produced automobile and mass-producing automobile manufacturing plant. This method of assembly line production of automobiles resulted in more affordable, personal transportation for people during a time when there was a shift towards consumer goods in this country. Born into a farming family of Irish immigrants and one of six children, Ford started his career as a machinist’s apprentice in Detroit, eventually working as an engineer. Ford was a curious man interested in everything from watches to steam. He was also fascinated with gasoline engines, unlike Thomas Edison who tried many times to develop electric powered cars for the mass market, but never succeeded. In 1893, with the help of his wife, Ford was able to get a small engine to run for less than one minute, which sparked the concept of the gasoline engine. His experimentation led to the creation of the quadricycle, which was the first “horseless carriage” powered by gasoline. This further led to the creation of the Ford Motor Company, a company that treated and paid their employees well, “There is one rule for the industrialist and that is: Make the best quality of goods possible at the lowest cost possible, paying the highest wages possible” (Allen). Throughout his career Ford faced many challenges including obstacles of mass production and cost-conscious insistence on producing cars that were only black, “People can have the Model T in any colour - so long as it’s black.” His hard work ethic and perseverance led to the development of a company that still flourishes today, “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently” (Ford). In 1922 Henry Ford released his autobiography, My Life and Work. It was in this book where the ever so popular quote, “Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black,” came to first light. Ford used this book as a means to inform the world of his business philosophy. He went in depth on many of his manufacturing techniques such as the assembly line. Ford explained his reasoning for strong workers’ rights and the five dollar minimum wage as proper business management techniques. Sources Allen, Scott. "Henry Ford - Founder of Ford Motor Company and Manufacturing Assembly Line Innovator." About.com Entrepreneurs. About.com. Web. 20 Apr. 2014. <http://entrepreneurs.about.com/od/famousentrepreneurs/p/henryford.htm>. Ford, Henry. "My Life and Work." Google Books. Garden City Publishing, 20 Dec. 1938. Web. 20 Apr. 2014. <http://books.google.com/books?id=4K82efXzn10C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false>. "The Ford Story." Henry Ford Heritage Association. HFHA. Web. 20 Apr. 2014. <http://hfha.org/HenryFord.htm>. The Tire Man Firestone first met Henry Ford in 1895, at a time when neither of the two had yet achieved their later successes. At that time Firestone had only recently started his own business, where he manufactured rubber tires for buggies and carriages. Firestone’s ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit lead him to recognize the emerging market for automobile’s tires. He founded Firestone Rubber and Tire Company in 1900, and by 1904 he had developed a pneumatic tire designed to smooth the ride for the vehicle’s occupants. Firestone utilized his relationship with Henry Ford to propose an order, and in 1906 Ford ordered 2,000 sets of Firestone’s pneumatic tires. The Firestone Company and Ford continued their business relationship for many decades. Outside of his company, Harvey Firestone continued his ingenuity and innovative spirit, helping the development of the highway system, and the shipping by truck industry. Firestone’s ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit lead to him developing new and improved tires, and creating one of the world’s largest tire companies for many decades. Sources "Harvey S. Firestone (American Businessman)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, 06 Nov. 2013. Web. 19 Apr. 2014. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/207971/Harvey-S-Firestone>. "Harvey S. Firestone and Henry Ford: Joining Rubber to Rims." Firestone Centennial. Bridgestone Americas, 10 Feb. 2000. Web. 19 Apr. 2014. <http://www.firestone100.com/news/011000_3.html>. Three Best Friends Some of the most respected entrepreneurs from this time period happen to also be best friends, unlike many entrepreneurs of modern times such as Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, who many believe disliked each other, “Each one thought he was smarter than the other one, but Steve generally treated Bill as someone who was slightly inferior, especially in matters of taste and style” (Yarow). Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone, on the other hand, were close friends. Thomas Edison and Henry Ford owned vacation homes next door to each other on McGregor Boulevard in Fort Myers, Florida. These three creative men worked together to better innovate. A great example of their business collaboration as well as friendship is the fact that they took trips together into the outdoors while touring the country. While the trio of friends traveled, headlines across the country read: “Millions of Dollars worth of Brains Off on Vacation”, “Genius to Sleep Under the Stars” (HFHA). These motor camping trips, which started around 1914 in the Florida Everglades, were likely to be the first trips to the outdoors using automobiles. At first the trips were taken only by the three men and in general were very simple, cooking their own food and chopping their own wood. As time went on their wives began to join them and brought along cooks and butlers. As a result, the trio of friends began to enjoy these trips less. This style of vacationing outdoors with the use of an automobile continues today. Sources "The Ford Story." Henry Ford Heritage Association. HFHA. Web. 20 Apr. 2014. <http://hfha.org/HenryFord.htm>. Yarow, Jay. "What Steve Jobs And Bill Gates Really Thought About Each Other (AAPL, MSFT)." SFGate. San Francisco Chronicle, 26 May 2013. Web. 20 Apr. 2014. <http://www.sfgate.com/technology/businessinsider/article/What-Steve-Jobs-And-Bill-Gates-Really-Thought-4550356.php>. Zumbrun, Francis. "Famous Travelers - Edison, Ford and Firestone - Part 5: Maryland Forest Service History." Famous Travelers - Edison, Ford and Firestone - Part 5: Maryland Forest Service History. Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Web. 19 Apr. 2014. <http://www.dnr.state.md.us/feature_stories/FamousTravelersPart5.asp>. Great Adventures Picture Sources:
The 19th AmendmentThough the amendment for women’s suffrage was introduced to Congress in 1878, it was actually in the 1920s that this great change finally took place. This was after many women in the United States had been lobbying, writing letters, and marching to fight for their right to be heard. Following Congress’s decision to finally pass the 19th Amendment in 1919 and its ratification the following year, women throughout the country celebrated due to the addition of one much needed amendment to the US Constitution. Looking beyond the business environment and inside the country as a whole, a societal change sparked a wave of progression throughout the nation. This happened as a result of passing the Nineteenth Amendment, which granted women’s suffrage. As a great stepping stone for women’s rights activists, this gave women all over the country the chance to make their voices heard in elections. Source "19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Women's Right to Vote." US National Archives. National Archives and Records Administration. Web. 19 Apr. 2014. <http://www.archives.gov/historical-docs/document.html?doc=13&title.raw=19th+Amendment+to+the+U.S.+Constitution:+Women%27s+Right+to+Vote>. Picture Source http://www.archives.gov/historical-docs/document.html?doc=13&title.raw=19th+Amendment+to+the+U.S.+Constitution:+Women%27s+Right+to+Vote Elizabeth ArdenThe Makeup Queen “There’s only one Elizabeth like me and that’s the Queen” (Arden). As a United States immigrant, Florence Nightingale Graham (Elizabeth Arden) began her search for the American dream. Florence changed her name to Elizabeth after the title of a poem and Arden after her first partner. Arden was born in Canada and was raised on a family farm without a lot of money. As a result of her marrying a US citizen, Arden was able to receive citizenship. It was through Arden’s indomitable search for great success and hard work that she was able to become so wealthy. She surrounded herself with smart, hard working people, “I only want people around me who can do the impossible” (Arden). An example of this is when Arden, who became interested in various lotions used for the treatment of burns, while in nursing school, dropped out, leaving a Toronto school, to pursue her greater aspirations in the field of cosmetics. She moved to New York City and worked for a pharmaceuticals company, where she was able to gain vast experience with chemicals and products. She invested one-thousand dollars and established a salon on Fifth Avenue. With her strong work ethic she created a brand using her name and changed people’s view about makeup, which at the time was seen as something prostitutes used. She was the first woman to be on the cover of Time magazine in 1946. As a female she was not only an entrepreneur, but also a suffragette because she marched with other women to obtain rights for women. During these marches women wore Arden’s red lipstick as a sign of solidarity. Elizabeth Arden made great innovations in the cosmetics field and the business world. Sources "Elizabeth Arden." The Biography.com. Web. 20 Apr. 2014. <http://www.biography.com/people/elizabeth-arden-9187777>. "Quotations by Notable Women." About.com Women's History. About.com. Web. 19 Apr. 2014. <http://www.womenshistory.about.com/od/quotes>. The Head of the Kennedy Clan“When the going gets tough, the tough get going” (Kennedy). This was the attitude that Joe Kennedy lived by. Joseph Patrick Kennedy, senior, also known as ‘Joe’ was the father of the well known Kennedy politicians, Robert Francis, ‘RFK’, and John Fitzgerald, ‘JFK, that were both assassinated. Joe was a man of many roles. Along with being a businessman, he was also a frivolous financial investor, and even got involved in politics by becoming a successful government official. An exceptionally smart man, Joe Kennedy graduated from Harvard University and quickly worked his way to great affluence. Some of Kennedy’s success can be attributed to his wife Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald. The marriage of Joe Kennedy and Rose Fitzgerald brought together two of Boston’s most elite political families. This was due to the fact that Rose’s father was the Mayor of Boston. Rose and Joe had nine children together, and sadly Joe outlived every one of his sons but one, Ted. Source "Biography: Joe Kennedy." PBS. UNC TV. Web. 20 Apr. 2014. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/biography/kennedys-bio-joseph-patrick/>. Black TuesdayOctober 29th, 1929 was the day many concluded what many have called the Roaring Twenties. After three days of the market plummeting, the boom of the 1920s and all the gains that were made, the market value quadrupled between 1920 to 1929, had completely faded away as the economy imploded. This was the start of the Great Depression. One of the reasons for the stock market’s big crash was due to the lack of proper risk analysis in Wall Street. Investors mistakenly believed that stocks were a very safe way to place one’s capital, so they borrowed in large amounts and invested a great deal of money. Black Tuesday terminated the notorious decade known as the roaring 1920s and began the Great Depression. Sources "October 29, 1929: 'Black Tuesday'" CNN. Cable News Network, 10 Mar. 2003. Web. 20 Apr. 2014. <http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/03/10/sprj.80.1929.crash/>. "Stock Market Crashes." History.com. A&E Television Networks. Web. 19 Apr. 2014. <http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/stock-market-crashes>. "Stock Market Crash." PBS. UNC TV. Web. 20 Apr. 2014. <http://www.pbs.org/fmc/timeline/estockmktcrash.htm>. By the 1920s people began to identify themselves by the products they had, such as their clothes and cars, rather than by what they did such as their job or the family they were raising. With the help of smart and creative marketing a cultural change toward consumerism took place in this country. Marketing campaigns encouraged individuals to identify with their products such as make-up or automobiles. An important factor that contributed greatly to this swing toward consumerism was the fact that the 1920s was also an exciting time for invention. Capitalism grew and the opportunities for people with average backgrounds to move upward also grew. Immigration significantly increased the pool of talented people in this country who possessed the traits of hard work, curiosity, creative thinking and fear of failure. These were all common traits among great entrepreneurs such as Edison, Ford, Firestone, and Arden, who created the products people began to identify with. The positive business environment of this time period and the shift toward consumer goods created great opportunities for talented individuals to invent and develop products. The entrepreneurs discussed in these blog posts contributed greatly to business in the United States as well as to American consumers, who continue to use and enjoy these products and inventions.
|