The Automobile Age

The Automobile Age

The Automobile Age

During the 1920's, automobile ownership jumped from 8 million to 23 million.This was possible with the installment plans.

America quickly became a "car culture" where the lives of people revolved around the automobile.

The nations economy also revolved around the automobile.

Almost 4 million Americans worked for auto companies or in related jobs.

Multiple Choice

What did the nation's economy revolve around in the 1920's?

• The War

• The Automobile

• Farming

Henry Ford

• Pioneer in the manufacture of affordable automobiles

• Designed the Model T which was built using assembly line methods.

• 1914 - stunned the auto industry by paying his workers a high wage of $5 per day. Making his workers happy.

Multiple Select

What was henry for known for? (select all that apply)

• Created the Ford Motor Company

• Sold Apples

• Created the Model T automobile

• Built Railroads

• Invented the Assembly line for making cars.

The Assembly Line

• Allowed cars to be produced quickly.

• Parts moved on a conveyor belt.

• Workers attached the parts as the car moved past them at a steady speed of 6 feet per minute.

• The assembly line revolutionized the Auto making industry.

Multiple Choice

______ allowed cars to be produced quickly.

• Gas Engine

• Assembly Line

• Henry Ford

The Model T

• It was sturdy, inexpensive, reliable and only came in black.

• By 1924, the car sold for less than $300, which most families making $1300 a year could afford.

Competition

• By the mid 1920's other automobile models challenged the Model T.

• General Motors cut into ford's sales with a line of cars that had a range of colors, and features to improve passenger comfort.

• This forced ford to create the Model A which had the same features.

• This created the practice that exists today of introducing new car models every year.

Multiple Choice

What practice exists today in the auto industry that was created out of the competition between automobile makers?

• The introduction of new Models every year

• Cheaper cars

• More options

Auto industry had Effect on other industries.

More Roads and Businesses

• Americans loved to drive so new roads and highways were needed.

• Highways, in turn, needed gas stations and rest stops.

• Businesses along major roads profited from the millions of people now traveling around the country by car.

• Tourism grew dramatically.

Multiple Choice

True or False: Tourism grew due to the invention of the automobile.

• True

• false

Industries that made materials for cars

• The car boom affected the industries that made products used in cars.

• Steel, rubber, and glass industries grew

• During the 1920's the oil industry shifted from producing lubricants to refining gasoline for automobiles.

American Life Changed

• The automobile made travel for pleasure become a regular part of american life.

• People could now go where they wished.

• Cars contributed to the spread of suburbs - allowing people to drive to work and still hold a job in the city.

Multiple Choice

Cars contributed to the spread of what away from the cities?

• Suburbs

• Parks

• Restaurants

The not so fortunate of the 1920's

• Despite all the prosperity of the 1920's there were a few groups that suffered during this time.

• The farmers prospered during the war selling to the government. Once that ended they had to compete with european agriculture again.

• Income plummeted and farmers were unable to pay debts and many lost their farms.

The not so fortunate of the 1920's

• Railroad and coal miners also faced a difficult time as trucks to business from railroads and electricity replaced coal as a power source.

• Americans were buying clothes made of synthetic fibers so need for cotton went down and textile mills closed.

• Even though wages increased, the cost of living did.

• By 1929, 3/4 of families has incomes less than $2,500, which was the accepted level neccessary for a comforatable life.

Multiple Select

Who suffered during the 1920's? (select all that apply)

• Farmers

• Automakers

• Coal workers

• Railroad workers