An overview of whether the USA was suffering from partial prosperity or whether it was an affluent country

1. {
Partial Prosperity?
Affluence vs. Partial Prosperity

2.  In 1833, Chicago only had 350 residents, but in the
1920s, there were over 2 million
 The 1920 Census showed that more people were
living in urban USA rather than rural areas for the
first time ever, showing the popularity of cities
 Skyscrapers were getting taller:
 40 Wall St/Trump Building 282m
 Chrysler Building 319m
 Empire State Building 382m
 In 1910, the Black population of New York City was
91,709, and in 1930 it reached 327,706
 In the 1920s in Harlem, 118,000 Whites left the area
while 87,000 Blacks arrived
AFFLUENCE

3.  Urban workers benefitted from business when the
marginal income tax rate decreased from 73% to
25% for the wealthiest Americans, and so urban
workers were given a 20% rise in wages
 Henry Ford invented the Model T Ford in 1909, with
9,000 being produced each day, and 14 million sold
by 1927
 People could now use their cars to live and work in
different cities, increasing job opportunities for
citizens
 Road trips and vacations also became very popular
with the introduction of cars
AFFLUENCE

4.  Between 1920 and 1930, the percentage of families to
own certain household luxuries increased:
 Indoor toilets that flushed: 20% - 51%
 Central heating: 1% - 42%
 Electric lighting: 35% - 68%
 In 1930, 85% of homes had access to electricity
 In 1930, the percentage of families to own certain
household objects was:
 Vacuum cleaners: 30%
 Electric washing machines: 24%
 Electric refrigerators: 8%
AFFLUENCE

5.  People were spending more money on
leisure/entertainment activities e.g. radios,
cinema, magazines
 First radio station in 1920
 In 1922, there were 556 radio stations
broadcasting across the US to 3 million radio
sets
 In 1922, WEAF (NYC station) was
commercially sponsored, and advertising on
American radio became the norm
AFFLUENCE

6.  In 1920, there were 20,000 cinemas, continually rising until every US
town had its own
 Roxy Theatre in NYC was the largest cinema and opened in 1927 with
a capacity of 6,200
 Late 1920s “Big Five” film studios:
 Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer
 Paramount Pictures
 Fox Film Corporation
 Warner Brothers
 RKO
 These made up 90% of the USA’s film industry
 First ‘talkie’ in 1927
 Between 1920 and 1930, there were 800-1,000 films made per year,
compared to 500 per year today
 In 1930, 100 million cinema tickets were sold every week
AFFLUENCE

7.  Certain minority groups did not benefit:
 Farmers
 Immigrants
 Industrial workers
 Black Americans
PARTIAL PROSPERITY

8.  The Prohibition Act meant that farmers could
not benefit so much from the demand of
growing barley, and other crops that were
needed to make alcohol
 There was also a lesser demand for crops after
WWI because no food needed to be shipped
out to battlefields, meaning that farmers could
only make small profits off of the few crops
they were actually selling
PARTIAL PROSPERITY

9.  The introduction of new machinery put many
industrial workers out of work
 Big businessmen saw an 80% increase in
profits, but workers only received an 8% rise in
wages
 Fashion trends of the time were short skirts
worn by “flappers”, so there was a lesser
demand for fabric to make clothes, causing a
smaller potential profit for workers
PARTIAL PROSPERITY

10.  Southern America was possibly the most racist
area of the USA, and unfortunately where the
majority of Black Americans lived
 The KKK favoured “white supremacy” of
WASPS, and exploited and discriminated Black
Americans
 Foreign immigrants were also exploited greatly,
and businessmen took advantage of their
vulnerability and desperation for money, and
made them work for poor and unfair wages
PARTIAL PROSPERITY

11.  50% of American families earned under $2,000
per year, meaning that they could not afford all
of the luxuries that many other Americans were
enjoying
 60% of families were living under the poverty
line
PARTIAL PROSPERITY