blog




  • Essay / A Look at the Roaring Twenties - 722

    The 1920s was a period once called "the Roaring Twenties" because of the people of that period. There were many types of people, rich, poor (in small numbers until around 1929) and even gangsters. Much of this period was heavily segregated, primarily by the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). This group was primarily made up of white supremacists determined to keep the United States ruled predominantly by whites. In the Roaring Twenties, the value of gross national product rose from $74 billion to $104 billion! This made everyone happy for the most part, having a little money now equaled a lot of money; people bought vehicles, movies, toys, houses and other things. People were generally happy in those days until about 1929 when the Great Depression hit and all the banks lost their stock prices after a massive sell-off. Meanwhile, the banks took all the money they had in reserve, gave it to the big guys and closed their doors. Millions of people lost everything they had. Additionally, women gained the right to vote in the 1920s, which greatly increased their morale and led many women to want to become activists; this inspired many people, both men and women, to answer the call of duty and gain rights for women who were unwilling or unable to fight for themselves. This is why the 1920s were seen as a giant roar; There was so much going on, people had ups, they had downs, and women were getting what they wanted all along, rights, everyone was pretty happy except the segregated areas and the people who segregated these areas. In 1924, murder was a rage, it happened at an accelerated rate for whatever reason, whether it was a hate crime, self-defense, or just anger; murder was considered fun, people enjoyed it. These... middle of paper ... are big-ticket items that people would put into weekly installment plans, they would earn $100 or spend about $40 only, leaving themselves with cool stuff in their house and enough of the money for leisure and entertainment outside the home (i.e. movies, dinners, babysitters, etc.). The payouts were heavily pushed by some of the "Mad Men" of the 1920s (a term later coined for advertisers in the early to mid-1900s). They mainly preyed on housewives and the lowest paid part of the United States. They said better appliances can cut down on time for arduous household chores and reduce preparation time for processed foods. Much of this advertising has forced people to want to buy almost all of these items; that's what they did. Installments have made life much easier at little cost to the ordinary customer; better devices and products enable a better life in general.