The twenties and the thirties were very unusual time periodsin American History. Insome ways they are alike, but in most ways they arevery different. The twenties were a time offun and partying. This is probablythe reason it is called the Roaring Twenties. All of the thirtieswere knownas The Great Depression.
It was probably called that because of the stockmarketcollapse and the millions of people without jobs. In the twenties,industry took a very big step. The automotive industry was the largestindustrythere was. The assembly line made mass production possible, and the industryboomed. Henry Ford’s assembly line, located in Detroit, Michigan, was thelargest one in the country andpossibly in the world. When Ford first startedmaking cars, the only car he made was a blackModel-T.
Almost everybody inthe United States had a car. Three-out-of-four families ownedone or morecars. With the assembly line they made a lot more cars in one day than theydidbefore. Instead of paying for the cars with cash, people could now usecredit to purchase items.
Since most families didn’t have the money, theywould buy the car with credit and pay off thedebt later. The thirties wasa bad time for the automotive industry. By now Ford had made aModel-A andhad three new colors: tan, purple and black. All of the companies were makingmorecars than they could sell. Nobody had enough money to buy a car because ofall of thebanks going under. Millions of people lost whole fortunes.
Sinceno one had the money for a car,the cars were not being sold. This causeda big problem. The dealers were very optimistic. Theycontinued to make carshoping that sales would go up. The new credit law was a wonderful idea.
It allowed people to purchase items like atelevision or radio. The inventionof the radio united the nation. The news that was heard on theradio washeard by everyone that had a radio. It was the best form of entertainmentof its time.
Soon thereafter, the television was invented. Once again peopletook advantage of the credit andpurchased televisions. The television stilldid not take place of the radio. The radio was still usedfor listening tomusic.
Many people were spending more money than they had. Even in the thirtiesthe radio and television were top forms of entertainment. Although,somepeople did not have these accessories, they could still go the movies if theyhad the money. In the thirties, everyone watched a lot of television andlistened to the radio. In contrast to thetwenties, the thirties were verydepressing.
Evidentially, it lived up to its name. In the twenties, peoplehad parties all of the time. Everybody in America was keepingthemselvesbusy. Hunting and camping were very popular, but there were also many otheroutsideevents to do. Movies and horse races were the best forms of entertainmentfor some.
This was all altered in the thirties. During the thirties, theparties and the outside events became less and less common. Horse races andmovies were still very popular in spite all of the depressing times. Baseballandfootball became drastically popular and attracted large crowds. BabeRuth was a great baseballstar.
In this, it appears that the depressingthirties and the Roaring Twenties are very different. Though they have somesimilarities it is still hard to compare the Great Depression and theRoaringTwenties. These time periods are very important. We can learn from the mistakesmadethen to promise a healthy future.
