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Consumerism and Advertising in the 1920s.

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Nearing the end of World War 1, the United States became more involved in this great war. With this greater involvement, the US needed a lot more production. As the war ended and everyone came home, there was still a need for consumption after all this mass production. This led to a mass consumerism movement that paved the way for what is called the "roaring twenties." With a large increase of people buying goods, there was a new market for innovative and efficient technology in society. This led to many new inventions including irons and refrigerators that completely changed the house lives of many Americans. No longer were products like these made only for the rich. The mass production and high selling market allowed for middle-class families to enjoy some of the new commodities that society was dishing out. With all these new products, companies needed a new or improved way of getting people to buy their goods. This led to a huge advertising shift that can still be seen in today's society. Companies began to spend a lot more money on advertising than they ever had before. This resulted in heavy competition between companies on who could rake in the most sales and the least amount of spending on advertising. Companies even came up with slogans to make it easier to remember their products over the competitors'. Because of all this new innovation and change in the goods market, there was a period of great prosperity for the American people.
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The new technological advances changed the ways of the American household.  Before, housewives had very tedious work. Replacing the ice in the fridge, beating out dirt from the carpet, scrubbing dirty clothes by hand, etc.. But by the end of the decade, these chores were not necessary. Irons, electric fridges, washing machines, and vacuums were introduced and made these jobs a lot easier. Advertising also played a role. Many businesses and companies used the method of convincing buyers that their product was not wanted, but needed. These methods of advertising are even still used today. Now, big businesses advertise on the television, on the internet, and on billboards. The 1920's was a decade of creating demand. Advertising and Consumerism in the 1920's had a huge impact on America. Its influence on America is alive, both consumerism and advertising is continuing to grow.

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This document gives a loaded amount of information about consumerism. It had very descriptive examples and facts about this topic in the 1920's. It gives example documents, and advertisement pictures. The document also includes a section with different opinions on the issue during that time. Also, it lists out the "New Standard Of Living" in the 1920's. This is really good primary source if you want very detailed information on the topic. The primary source is very wordy, but also very helpful and easy to understand.

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With many people coming home from the Great War there was a large base for consumption and a need for production. This caused an even greater need of advertising by innovative companies. Slogans were used to help the average American be able to easily understand a product or topic. This document gives many different examples of slogans used in the twenties including ones about politics and milk. Slogans were made to be catchy so a person would remember them and increase the likelihood to buy or support something. This article also talks about how some slogans even helped presidents get elected. By having a simple phase that resonated with a lot of people, politicians were able to use this new form of advertising heavily in their favor.

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This Website talks about the rise of advertising in the 1920's;Giving facts, and statistics. It is a very good website to get in-depth information on advertising in this time period.

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During the 1920s, while marketing was emerging as a conscious business strategy, advertising matured as an important industry. The maturation of advertising in the 1920s and the creation of marketing departments and marketing strategies by major firms both promoted consumer values in American society and reflected the rise of the consumer society.

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Advertising - the activity or profession of producing advertisements for commercial products or services

Consumerism - the protection or promotion of the interests of consumers

Slogan- a short and striking or memorable phrase used in advertising.

Over-consumption- the action or fact of consuming something to excess.

Mass Production- the manufacture of large quantities of standardized products, frequently utilizing assembly line technology. Mass production refers to the process of creating large numbers of similar products efficiently.

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This document explains how a salesman may appeal to the customer. The sales man states the traits and methods they use to in order to get the customer to buy the product. This source also mentions the different types of customers. It is a very interesting document. This source also mentions how it was important  for the salesman to dress nice to impress the customer. The "charm" of the salesman was born in this era because it was a time of mass goods production. This is how the "sly salesman" persona became known.

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This website talks about how the affects from consumption during the roaring twenties has led to over consumption. It also mentions how there are resource and energy problems because of over consumption.

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You know what's happened to the economy and our country since then) There are growing forces making this way of life almost impossible to attain or maintain, even for the wealthy. If you are among the lucky few who still have the kind of life outlined above, these same forces threaten you.

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History Brief: Mass Production and Advertising in the 1920s

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This website talks about how life was changing for people in the early 1920's. With new inventions and commodities, it made housework both different and easier. This site also mentions the new form of "buying on credit" that was introduced during this time. It came up with the "buy now pay later" slogan. This showed how there was a greater importance towards advertising in this time. This website does a good job of of briefly explaining the changes of society while not flooding the viewer with detail.

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This website talks about how advertising began in America. It also talks about how advertising improved and changed throughout the 1920's. The website  gives good information, and provides examples.

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Advertising as it is known today finds its roots in the industrial expansion of the 1880s. The mass production and the lowering of prices on consumer goods meant that more items were available to more people than ever before. The construction of the transcontinental railroads provided a national market for a company's goods.

Advertising a product changed from simply announcing the existence of a product in a dull, dry fashion to persuading the public they needed and deserved to own the product. By developing repeat customers, advertising also helped build brand loyalty for the company. Brand loyalty helps sell other existing and new products to these same customers.
Prior to World War One, muckraking journals like McClure's achieved widespread circulation by exposing corruption and greed in business and politics. Changes in print technology in the 1890s and a heavy dependence upon advertisers allowed publishers to drop their prices from thirty-five cents to a nickel. Readership for profitable magazines soared from 10,000 readers prior to 1890 to a circulation of around a half-million. But by 1914, readers grew weary and bored with the magazines' campaigns for reform. More importantly, advertisers objected strongly to the investigative articles, which reflected badly on their own kind.

After the war, general circulation magazines dropped the theme of reform and picked up on the culture of consumerism. Ladies' Home Journal and The Saturday Evening Post, featuring Norman Rockwell's paintings on its cover, became fixtures in middle-class homes around the country. Hoping to attract serious newsreaders, Henry Luce began publishing Time in 1923. New tabloid newspapers launched after the war, like the New York Daily News,

achieved large circulation by covering crime, sports and scandals. Advertisers, now reaching millions of consumers on a daily or weekly basis, hired movie stars and sports figures to persuade Americans to buy all types of products, from coffee to tobacco products. Business had become America's secular religion, thanks to advertising. Bruce Barton's 1925 book comparing religion and business, The Man Nobody Knows, declared Jesus Christ's parables as "the most powerful advertisements of all time.... He would be a national advertiser today."
Coca-Cola serves as a good example of how product advertising changed over this forty-year period. When first introduced in the 1880s, the product was marketed as a medicine, with claims that it cured headaches, and that it "revived and sustained" a person. Seeking to build repeat business and brand loyalty, by the 1920s the company emphasized it as a refreshment and a "fun food". Consumers demanding the cola at soda fountains could pressure storeowners to stock it, or risk losing their business. Today Coca-Cola is one of the largest and most visible companies in the world thanks to its successful advertisement campaigns.

References:
Pope, Daniel A, The Making of Modern Advertising (1983); Tedlow, Richard, New and Improves: The Story of Mass Marketing in America (1990).

How To Cite This Article:
"Advertising in the 1920s," EyeWitness to History, www.eyewitnesstohistory.com (2000).

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Advertising as it is known today finds its roots in the industrial expansion of the 1880s. The mass production and the lowering of prices on consumer goods meant that more items were available to more people than ever before. The construction of the transcontinental railroads provided a national market for a company's goods.