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 * Installment Buying of the 1920s**

__The Changing Economy__ Previous to the 1920s, the majority of Americans were frugal with their money, only purchasing the necessities. Families were more worried about providing food and shelter. For years, Americans had sacrificed during war by planting victory gardens, rationing food, having meatless days, and recycling. Since most technology had been too expensive until this time, Americans were used to making their own clothes and food. With our men returning from the trenches and global demand high for goods as the world was rebounding from the destruction that devastated the European landscape, American industries were booming in the 1920s. Now, with Americans working in factories, earning better wages, and with the cost of “luxuries” decreasing because of the assembly line, Americans lived more frivolously. Like no other time in American history, the 1920s was a decade of spending- a “consumer culture” with society buying not only their needs, but shopping for fun and spending money on items and venues that they wanted.



__Buying on credit__

The desire to own all of the latest status symbols like cars, radios, and attending sporting venues led to the growth of individual American debt. Prior to the Great War, there had been a stigma about having debt and it had been looked down upon. Usually if a family wanted to purchase something like a car, they would have to save up their income and wait to buy it. “Buy now, pay later" became the credo of many middle class Americans of the Roaring Twenties . For the single-income family, all these new conveniences were impossible to afford at once. But retailers wanted the consumer to have it all. Banks and companies started to offer the ability to buy a product in installments. Buyers would pay some money right away and then pay a little bit every month (sort of like how credit cards work today).



__Impact of Advertisers__

Fueling consumer demand were new techniques in advertising. This was not a new business, but as competition increased, companies looked to more and more aggressive advertising campaigns. One major trend of the decade was to use methods to convince Americans that the product was needed (make a want seem like a need). The classic example was the campaign for Listerine. Using a seldom heard term for bad breath — halitosis — Listerine convinced thousands of Americans to buy their product. Consumers might not have known what halitosis was, but they surely knew they did not want it.



Advertisers were no longer simply responding to demand; they were creating demand. Radio became an important new means of communicating a business message. Testimonials from Hollywood film stars sold products in record numbers. Advertisers used campaigns promising the American Dream to convince the public that “they would hardly miss the money” by making payments by installments trying to influence Americans to buy these wants.

__Activities__

Outside of just buying material goods, more Americans were spending money on frivolous activities and fads as well. One of the most popular trends of the decade was the dance marathon. New dance steps such as the Charleston swept the nation's dance halls, and young Americans were eager to prove their agility. In a typical dance marathon, contestants would dance for forty-five minutes and rest for fifteen. The longest marathons lasted thirty-six hours or more. Beauty pageants came into vogue. The first Miss America Pageant was staged in Atlantic City in 1921. One of the most bizarre fads was flagpole sitting. The object was simple: be the person who could sit atop the local flagpole for the longest period of time. Fifteen-year-old Avon Foreman of Baltimore set the amateur standard — ten days, ten hours, ten minutes, and ten seconds.



Other fads included crossword puzzles, book of the month clubs and investing in new magazines like //Time// and //Reader’s Digest.// However, the most popular craze of the 1920s was the growth of movies. Initially movies were silent action films, but as the decade continued, so did the technology. The 1920s produced the first movie with sound- //The Jazz Singer// and by 1928, Walt Disney introduced Mickey Mouse in //Steamboat Willie//.



Spectator sports also were a luxury Americans enjoyed earning the 1920s another nickname- the “Golden Age of Sports”. While boxing was popular with stars like Jack Dempsey, golf with Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen, team sports really flourished. Professional football began in the 1920s, and baseball became Americans pastime with superstars like Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb. Not only did Americans spend their time and money going to these events, they also gathered around the radio to listen if they could not attend. Americans also tuned in to hear other exciting news in 1927 when Charles Lindbergh completed a solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean in his plane the Spirit of St. Louis placing him as an American idol.



__Results__ The nation's families spent a declining proportion of their income on necessities--food, clothing, and utilities--and an increasing share on appliances, recreation, and a host of new consumer products. Because of this desire for Americans to start enjoying their life, a trend started where a larger portion of the public started to work to live instead of living to work. With the increase of families spending money, led to the decrease in families savings accounts. This downward trend which started in the 1920s would mold our nation and make buying goods without the money acceptable. Many times families assumed that they would have money in the future to pay off bills, so they kept buying goods that they could not afford. They believed the economy would keep roaring and that they would always have their jobs and be earning money. Americans were buying recklessly and did not worry or even consider that this growth could stop. Too often, this reckless buying would precede families as they spiraled into debt, and not only families, but the nation as a whole as the 1920s came to a close.



Works Cited:

http://ushistory.org/us/46h.asp

http://etext.virginia.edu/journals/EH/EH37/Murphy.html

http://www.gilderlehrman.org/teachers/module17/intro_pop18.html

http://www.adclassix.com/sitemap.htm