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The Twenties And Thirties

The twenties and the thirties were very unusual time periods

in American History. In

some ways they are alike, but in most ways they are

very different. The twenties were a time of

fun and partying. This is probably

the reason it is called the Roaring Twenties. All of the thirties

were known

as The Great Depression. It was probably called that because of the stock

market

collapse and the millions of people without jobs.

In the twenties,

industry took a very big step. The automotive industry was the largest

industry

there was. The assembly line made mass production possible, and the industry

boomed.

Henry Ford's assembly line, located in Detroit, Michigan, was the

largest one in the country and

possibly in the world. When Ford first started

making cars, the only car he made was a black

Model-T. Almost everybody in

the United States had a car. Three-out-of-four families owned

one or more

cars. With the assembly line they made a lot more cars in one day than they

did

before. Instead of paying for the cars with cash, people could now use

credit to purchase items.

Since most families didn't have the money, they

would buy the car with credit and pay off the

debt later.

The thirties was

a bad time for the automotive industry. By now Ford had made a

Model-A and

had three new colors: tan, purple and black. All of the companies were making

more

cars than they could sell. Nobody had enough money to buy a car because of

all of the

banks going under. Millions of people lost whole fortunes. Since

no one had the money for a car,

the cars were not being sold. This caused

a big problem. The dealers were very optimistic. They

continued to make cars

hoping that sales would go up.

The new credit law was a wonderful idea.

It allowed people to purchase items like a

television or radio. The invention

of the radio united the nation. The news that was heard on the

radio was

heard by everyone that had a radio. It was...