1. Unit 4: Prosperity, Depression, and the New Deal
Content Statement 18 Notes

2. Harding Struggles For Peace
Former Ohio Senator
Poor judgment
Discord among major world powers and his own cabinet would test his politics and his character

3. Harding Presidency
Teapot Dome Scandal - the government’s secret leasing of oil-rich public land to private companies in return for money and land
Ohio Gang - the president’s poker-playing cronies, who would soon cause problems for Harding

4. The Ohio Gang

5. Technological innovations in communication
Commercial radio broadcasts
Talking motion pictures
Wider circulation of newspaper and magazines
All of these influenced and expanded popular culture and mass advertising

6. KDKA RADIO PITTSBURG, PA

10. Talking vs. silent films
Click pictures to watch video clips

11. Impact of the automobile
The automobile changed the American landscape
Add paved road
New towns developing along roads
Gas stations, repair shops, public garages, motels, tourist camps, and shopping centers were added along routes

16. National Road (Route 40)

17. Impact of the automobile
Automobile liberated rural families, who could now travel to the city
Gave opportunity for families to vacation
Provided a chance for young people to become more independent
Automobile became a status symbol
80% of all registered motor vehicles in the world were in the United States
The airplane was another form of transportation which grew during the 1920s

19. Negative impacts of the automobile
Traffic congestion
Challenged traditional family values
Teenagers used automobiles to exercise freedom from parental control

21. Growth of suburbs
With the mass production of the automobile many people moved to suburbs
Suburbs – an outlying part of a city or town
People could commute to jobs inside major cities

24. Improved standard of living
From Americans owned 40% of the world’s wealth
Electrical appliances made home life easier
Advertising agencies started using psychologists to study how to appeal to people’s desires
1900
1920
Wringer and Washboard: $5
Brooms and Brushes: $5
Sewing machine: $25
Washing Machine: $150
Vacuum cleaner: $50
Sewing machine: $60

25. A superficial prosperity
Installment Plan - an arrangement in which a purchaser pays over an extended time, without having to put down much money at the time of purchase
Banks provided the money at low interest rates
Economists were worried about what installment plans will bring in the future