1920s Consumer Society

The prosperity of the United States in the mid-1920s resulted in part from

• increased demand for new consumer goods

• high-wage contracts negotiated by labor unions

• record-high farm prices

• increased government regulation of the economy

Henry Ford’s use of the assembly line in the production of automobiles led directly to

• a decrease in the number of automobiles available

• a decrease in the cost of automobiles

• an increase in the unemployment rate

• an increase in the time needed to produce a single automobile

Improved mass-production techniques affected the American economy of the 1920s by

• lowering the quality of most products

• reducing prices of consumer goods

• decreasing the quantity of manufactured products

• causing higher unemployment

Henry Ford produced a more affordable car primarily because his company

• paid workers lower wages than its competitors paid

• offered a variety of options to buyers

• developed a less expensive method of production

• used foreign-made parts

"The business of America is business."

— President Calvin Coolidge

By making this statement, President Coolidge was expressing his support for

• higher taxes on corporations

• banking regulations

• democratic socialism

• the free-enterprise system

A major reason for the emergence of a “consumer culture” in the 1920s was that

• the Federal Government encouraged labor to unionize

• advertising and installment payments encouraged buying

• minimum-wage laws expanded buying power

• enforcement of antitrust laws resulted in higher prices

The growth of the automobile industry after World War I changed the United States economy by

• stimulating the development of other new industries

• decreasing employment opportunities for assembly-line workers

• increasing the number of railroad passengers

• encouraging government operation of major industries

In the United States, the decade of the 1920s was characterized by

• a willingness to encourage immigration to the United States

• increased consumer borrowing and spending

• the active involvement of the United States in European affairs

• major reforms in national labor legislation

Which development led to the other three?

• growth of suburban housing

• expansion of roads and highways

• decline in the availability of mass transit

• rise of the automobile industry