Causes Of 1920s Consumerism

This paper is mainly about the consumption behavior of America’s majority population during the 1920s, namely its white majority citizens of European ancestry. Of course, it’s necessary to acknowledge that the country’s minority African-Americans, Latinos, Asians and people of various other backgrounds developed their own versions of consumerism during the 1920s as well. As for the European-Americans, they were targeted as consumers by producers of consumer goods. Women were targeted mainly by companies that made cosmetics, beauty, and personal hygiene items (many in number); clothes; kitchen appliances (a huge category of items, most of them being electrical); furniture; electric vacuum cleaners, home cleaning materials (also large in number),

The 1920’s are known as the “Roaring Twenties”, a decade of wealth, cultural progression, and overall a party decade. The stock market was turning average men into millionaires, people strived to embrace cultural, and gender differences, and jazz, dancing, and the iconic Jay Gatsby were centerpieces of the time. Many notable artists thrived during this period: Georgia O’keeffe being one of the most famous artists of her time.

The 1920’s, or “The Roaring 20’s”, was a decade that witnessed exciting social changes. It was a time of prosperity and dissipation, bootleggers and jazz dancers, and most importantly, it was a decade of The Prohibition Era. The Prohibition Era is basically an era which banned the manufacture, transportation, import and export, and the sale of alcoholic beverages. It was meant to reduce crime, corruption, and social problems and increase the overall hygiene of America. However, this social and political experiment failed.

The Roaring Twenties, known as the decade of the 1920s in the Western World, consists of dramatic changes in social values. The cultural differences between the 1920s and the Victorian era changes people's behavior, where they become more free-will, youthful and carefree, despite of being more conservative before. People are more open-minded and found satisfaction through the “open pursuit of sex, money, and booze” (Berman 53) as they suggest their wealth and status in the society. New York City had become one of the cities where materialistic wealth has become the key of happiness and the standard to judge people's success, further leading Americans to pursue each other in a negative, acquisitive way. Through the different scenes and characters of the famous novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald explores how the society twisted the original idea of

The 1920s represented the post-suffrage era when women made drastic social and cultural changes that affected the American women way of life. Women began to seek more rightsand equal representation through changes in social values. However, women still observed their primary responsibility for caring for the household; and also depended on men for monetary support (Martin, 1926). The essay brings into perspective, various transformations that took place in the 1920s, resulting in the diversion of the traditional norms.

Progress is defined as fast and onward movement towards a destination. Today’s society revolves around the concept; constantly innovating and upgrading every aspect of itself, in the quest for a better, more efficient world. Although at its core, progress is a pure, unblemished search for more. In practice, however, progress often becomes polluted by the goals of those who aim for it. The world in which we reside has been shaped and remade over and over by the different advances of the time.

The 1920s were an age of dramatic social and political change. For the first time, more Americans lived in cities than on farms. The nation’s total wealth more than doubled between 1920 and 1929, and this economic growth swept many Americans into an affluent but unfamiliar “consumer society.” People from coast to coast bought the same goods, listened to the same music, did the same dances and even used the same slang. Many Americans were uncomfortable with this new, urban, sometimes racy “mass culture”; in fact, for many people in the United States, the 1920s brought more conflict than celebration.

The 1950s is often referred to as the Post-War era as well as the era of the Baby Boomers. After the end of World War Two tensions, both politically and militarily, were high. Cold War tensions were building and with the first telecast of an atomic explosion in the February of 1951, Cold War paranoia was inflated. As a response to this society alerted their focus from militaristic activities to the rise of the common household and person. This was notable due to the rise of advertisements in this era.

The 1920’s in America is often considered as “The Roaring Twenties. World War I was over, women got suffrage, fashion changed immensely, prohibition was put into place, and jazz filled the air. The Roaring ‘20s was a decade of play and prosperity. Unemployment was low and Americans were better off financially. After World War I, America wanted to return to normal.

The 1920s were known to many as the Roaring Twenties, or the Jazz Age, for its cultural and technological “boom”; products like Listerine, electric vacuums, and electric washers were just a few of the many innovations that made, or claimed to make, many people 's lives easier. But, for as prosperous as the era was, many people took advantage of the fresh idea of credit and quickly found themselves deep in debt, while others were enjoying the new, shiny materials incorporated in their lives with little or no debt whatsoever. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, represents these ideas through a colorful story taking place in this era of time. The reader travels with Nick Carraway, a young war veteran who moves out to New York City. Along the way, he meets Jay Gatsby, his wealthy, next-door neighbor, whom will change Nick’s life forever.