With the help of Andrew Mellon (bottom [he's staring into your soul]), tax policies favored the rapid expansion of capital investment. Furthermore, it led to the support of new machines powered by cheap energy from new oil fields. These new machines increased the productivity of the laborer. A prime example of this would be the Assembly line made by Henry Ford in his Detriot plant.
The industry that became the most popular was the automobile industry because not only was it not taking the energy on an animal but it was cheaply made so it was more accessible to the people and not considered a rich man's car. Now, American manufacturers turned their focus away from production and turned it to consumtion.
Advertising became the focal pojnt of buying these industrial products with persuasion, ploy, and seduction. People became discontented with their original possessions and always clamored for more. In 1925, Bruce Barton published a best seller called
The Man Nobody Knows which set forth a provocative thesis that Jesus was the greatest advertiser of all time and said that advertisers must study Jesus's parables and that he had twelve assistance that he picked up from the bottom of business and forged them to head a conquering organization, Christianity. Personally, I think this was teetering on the line of BLASPHEMY!!!
Sports began to become a large part of the consumer economy as two famous new sports emerged: baseball and boxing. In baseball, one man arguably brought baseball to where it is today and his name is Babe Ruth who is known for building the New York Yankees into a baseball powerhouse (unfortunately) and was famous for all the home runs he hit. He is still know for hitting home runs as he currently is second on the all time list of home run hitters behind Hank Aaron (this list excludes cheaters). In boxing, Jack Dempsey is known for bringing that sport to the states when he took the heavyweight title from Georges Carpentier of France. Events started to amass up to over $1 million.
Buying on credit was considered smart during the roaring twenties because they believed that they should possess now and pay tomorrow. The frugality of Puritan descendants went away as new appliances came out such as refrigerators (below), vacuum cleaners, cars, and radios. However, the economy was put at risk to a stock market crash.
The industry that became the most popular was the automobile industry because not only was it not taking the energy on an animal but it was cheaply made so it was more accessible to the people and not considered a rich man's car. Now, American manufacturers turned their focus away from production and turned it to consumtion.
Advertising became the focal pojnt of buying these industrial products with persuasion, ploy, and seduction. People became discontented with their original possessions and always clamored for more. In 1925, Bruce Barton published a best seller called The Man Nobody Knows which set forth a provocative thesis that Jesus was the greatest advertiser of all time and said that advertisers must study Jesus's parables and that he had twelve assistance that he picked up from the bottom of business and forged them to head a conquering organization, Christianity. Personally, I think this was teetering on the line of BLASPHEMY!!!
Sports began to become a large part of the consumer economy as two famous new sports emerged: baseball and boxing. In baseball, one man arguably brought baseball to where it is today and his name is Babe Ruth who is known for building the New York Yankees into a baseball powerhouse (unfortunately) and was famous for all the home runs he hit. He is still know for hitting home runs as he currently is second on the all time list of home run hitters behind Hank Aaron (this list excludes cheaters). In boxing, Jack Dempsey is known for bringing that sport to the states when he took the heavyweight title from Georges Carpentier of France. Events started to amass up to over $1 million.
Buying on credit was considered smart during the roaring twenties because they believed that they should possess now and pay tomorrow. The frugality of Puritan descendants went away as new appliances came out such as refrigerators (below), vacuum cleaners, cars, and radios. However, the economy was put at risk to a stock market crash. 
I find your lack of faith (in mass consumerism) disturbing... However, your information regarding the rise of sports as a legitimate market is interesting. I never really was sure how that phenomenon occurred..
ReplyDeleteVery inspiring. I now see how such a thing such as ommunication can unite a nation in so many ways like sports. The division between the North and the South is removed to a degree as the nation becomes more united.
ReplyDeleteI think that Bruce Barton's idea about Jesus in an extremely interesting one. After all, Jesus's parables were familiar subjects to his audience and they were easy to remember, two things that successful advertisement needs to be.
ReplyDeleteIt would indeed be easier to construct a vehicle than to breed a horse. It would take less time too.
ReplyDeleteIts too bad that consumerism took over and companies are into advertising and cheap products than actually useful products
This part of the chapter creeped me out a bit. American consumerism today is shaped from this era, and if it weren't for the efforts of these big businessmen to make a buck at this particular moment in time, America today might be a very different place.
ReplyDeleteExcellent! :D
I agree with Maria, I don't think Barton was trying to be blasphemous, I think he was actually praising Jesus for the effectiveness of his parables. Anyway, I found this post to be rather helpful, and a nice overview of some of the more specific topics covered on other blogs.
ReplyDeleteAndrew, this post was done well. I think that if it was for Mellon then many of problems like a lack of mcdonalds would have never been rectified. Also, I liked the sports section. Babe Ruth is a legend.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Joe, agreeing with his insight about the way "ommunication" unites our great nation.
ReplyDeleteAndrew, great job! You covered everything in the sectioin with nice deatil, and I enjoyed your snarky commentary.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! And I like the Babe Ruth and the Yankees comment :) And it was the want for more, more, more (come back to Jack's for it) that eventually led to the Depression
ReplyDelete*detail. Anyway! Thank you for this post! I didn't like this section since it talked about things I really had no interest in. Ya...so...THANKS!
ReplyDeleteI must say American consumerism is actually quite interesting! The stuff we do to get stuff sold. Awesome, isn't it. I liked this section. And personally, I think Jesus being the greatest entreprenuer is quite awesome.
ReplyDeleteAh, mass consumption! An aspect of American life that still exists today, and to a much greater extent, I might say! And the line about Jesus wasn't necessarily blasphemy... I mean, the mass-producers werent' exactly modeling themselves after him, now were they?
ReplyDeleteAwesome post Andrew!!! And unlike everyone else, I agree that what Barton said was quite blasphemous because Jesus's primary purpose was not to advertise but to represent and just calling him a salesman is quite silly.
ReplyDelete*Thanks for the comments everyone*
Its hard to believe that mass consumerism began in the 20's and is still such a large part of the world economy to this day. I thought that the idea of Jesus as the best entreprenuer and advertiser was pretty cool and his argument made sense.
ReplyDelete