chapter22

= The Roaring 20s: A Fun Ride to the Poorhouse =

The economy prospered in the 1920s. In 1928 wages were a third higher than they had been in 1914. The gross national product climbed from $70 billion in 1922 to $100 billion just seven years later. Prosperity was accompanied by changes in the workplace and a new automobile age. Salespeople sold cars and a host of other products through aggressive campaigns that aimed to turn the U.S. into a nation of consumers. media type="youtube" key="S4KrIMZpwCY" height="385" width="640" || The decade of the 1920s has been called the gateway to modern America. For the first time a truly national mass culture emerged in the U.S. Commercial radio linked Americans from coast to coast. Instant communications not only entertained people but informed them about serious developments. The emerging mass culture also brought changes in women’s roles and caused conflicts over traditional values. media type="custom" key="6638507" || The decade of the 1920s was a period of great creative energy. African American musicians transformed popular music by introducing the nation to jazz. A new generation of writers explored the problems of postwar American life and the experience of being black. Mexican muralists brought their paintings of social protest to the U.S. And new currents in art and architecture swept the nation.
 * === Boom Times ===
 * People:** Henry Ford, Frederick W. Taylor, Robert Lynd, Helen Lynd ||
 * === Life in the 20s ===
 * People:** Babe Ruth, Helen Willis, Gertrude Ederle, Jim Thorpe, Charles Lindberg, Amelia Earhart, Aimee Semple McPherson, John Scopes, Clarence Darrow ||
 * === A Creative Era ===
 * People:** Joseph “King” Oliver, Langston Hughes, Marian Anderson, Paul Robeson, Rose McClendon, Ernest Hemingway, Diego Rivera, Alfred Stieglitz ||  ||