Explain The Growth Of Suburbs In The 50's

On the heels of war, new technology caused a decrease in prices of goods in the 1920’s and in the 1950’s the GI Bill increased

Frederick Lewis Allen published The Big Change in 1952, and in it there was a table of the U.S. Family Income Distribution of 1929. 32% of American families earned an annual income of $2,000-$5,000. In an advertisement for Gar Wood speedboats, released the February of 1930, it said their stock model speed boat would cost $10,000. A majority of Americans could not afford this boat at this time, but expensive purchases like this were made using installment buying. William E. Leuchtenburg said in The Perils of Prosperity, 1914-1932, published 1958, “...consumers bought goods on installment at a rate faster than their income was expanding, but it was inevitable that a time would come when they would have to reduce purchases…” People not being able to pay for goods due to their income led to less purchases, which caused surplus in

There was a great boom in consumer goods. Ordinary people were encouraged through advertising and could now afford to buy goods like cars, refrigerators, radios, and among other luxuries that became necessities. These new inventions made home life easier for women and more enjoyable for men. Also, there was this “mass production” method to produce many consumer goods. Assembly lines like, Henry Ford’s factory. Production costs fell quickly, wages rose slowly, and prices remained constant. For example, in 1908 the average cost of the car was $850, but by 1925 that cost had dropped to $290. Many people invested their money into businesses. Some, bought stocks sold on the stock market, when companies did well, so did

The new era economy reflected the industrialization that the country had just undergone. Although there was a recession from 1921-1922, after 1922 we enter a period of uninterrupted prosperity, and growth. As Americans incomes increase, and prices decrease, this allowed for more of a disposable income. Middle class families are now able to buy cosmetics, fridges, vacuums, and automobiles. Technology also greatly influenced the major economic growth that occurred. The automobile industry became the most important industry in the nation. It was very similar to a domino effect, once auto manufacturing increased and was successful, other industries such as, steel, rubber, glass, and oil companies also increased their production due to the purchases made by the auto manufacturers. Automobile manufacturing created jobs, and as the radius of cities was extended, the demand for more automobiles increased. Unfortunately, farming became a double-edged sword. In the 1920’s tractor usage quadrupled, but the problem was that the demand for agricultural goods was not increasing with increasing production. This created

“The United States economy prospered during the war, factories became very efficient. They made weapons and turned out supplies for the war. After the fighting ended, the same factories began making peace time products.” (Corrigan 6) Before the war, many jobs were confined to either farms or handyman jobs. With the demand of wartime products such as guns, ammunition, and uniforms, factories provided americans with millions of jobs. Young, old, skilled, and unskilled, were working long hours in these factories; and they were working for little or no pay. As well as these factories providing jobs for Americans, they also provided jobs to the millions of immigrants, who also worked for little to no pay. Also due to the improvement of technology, came the invention of the assembly line which brought mass production and jobs. Washing machines, microwaves, radios, and automobiles were some of many of the new modern conveniences. “The rich became much richer during this decade, but many poor people did not benefit at all from the country's growth.” (Corrigan 6) The social classes stayed the same, this was a result of the new “American Dream”. The wealthy began to be driven by wealth and money. The two upper classes split into two: ones with new money, and those with old. Those with old money usually inherited it in the form of land, investments, or money. Ones with new money, were often very young and spent their money

This historical study will define the increased economy prosperity of the Gilded Age and the development of suburban planning in the American middle classes. During the late 19th century, the massive growth of the American economy was dominantly formed in urban industrial centers, yet the wealth generated from the upper and middle classes allowed them to move out into rural areas near major cities. More so, the development of public transportation, such a trolleys and trains, helped the middle classes to plan suburban housing to escape the overpopulation and poverty of urban areas. Economic growth inspired the idea of the “suburbs” as a convenient residential area for the middle classes that sought greater individualism, which separated them from the masses of working-class urbanites. The expansion of American suburbs defines the growth of the administrative/managerial classes that was able to utilize public transportation to shift urban residential quarters to semi-rural neighborhoods at the fringes of American cities. Also, the issue of urban pollution was major incentive for the middle classes to seek out semi-rural residencies to escape the city. In essence, a historical analysis of the increased economic prosperity of the Gilded Age and the development of suburbs for the American middle classes will be defined in this study.

Americans were eager to spend their money on goods that had been scarce during World War II. As Stephanie Coontz put it, “the emphasis lay on producing a whole world of satisfaction, amusement, and inventiveness within the nuclear family had no precedents:” Consumerism was also evident in a pursuit of pleasure Americans spend more money on necessities and luxuries. Credit and credit cards were easier to obtain and by that expensive things were also easier to obtain. Debt rose from $5.7 million in 1945 to $56.1 billion in 1960. No other consumer good characterized the era as much as the automobile. The cars were big and powered with accessories lots of chrome and color was marketed. A General Motors designer called the strategies of that time "dynamic obsolescence" to encouraged Americans to see their old car as out of fashion. The number of registered cars in 1945 was 25.8 million. In 1960 it was 61.7 million. This is important for us today because consumerism is ever-present today, advertisement suggesting us what we need in order to live according to certain lifestyles we wish to adept to.

During the 1960s baby boomers were dropping $20 billion every year in to the U.S. economy. In the 1950s and 1960s all the people in the U.S. caused the construction industry to grow as all new houses were being built.(AP Study Notes) With the economy making more money the G.I. Bill helped returning soldiers get a suburban house cheaper than they could get a house in the city. These houses were perfect for the young families and by 2000 half of America was living in the suburbs. Since the

The 1920’s marked a new era of post war economic growth in the U. S. Business was booming and new ways of producing and selling goods were introduced. New industries flourished especially in the areas of electric power, automobiles, and highway and housing construction. These changes did not benefit but made their future look bright. New expansionist interest in this time was defensively motivated by Mass Production, The Stock Market Crash, The Great Depression and The New Deal.

time of economic growth in the United States. Income rates were increasing while consumer credit was also growing. There were technological advances being developed and change was occurring within the Suburbs which led to an increase of automobile sales. A man named William J. Levitt changed the image of housing. Instead of building houses that would take months he found a way to shorten that time frame to a couple of weeks by buying pre assembled materials. Levittown’s began springing up which were large pieces of land filled to the brim with houses that all looked alike. This helped make it easier to buy homes, but some complained the houses were all too

During the Gilded Age, America opened its doors to many immigrants. They flocked from Europe, Mexico, Asia, China, and Japan. Just like blacks, they were discriminated against by the Americans already here because the immigrants and blacks were willing to work in factories for hardly any money. Because of this, most women in the lower class and children worked in the factories to help to support the family. The immigrants and blacks usually lived in small crowded apartments in the cities because they could not afford to live far away from their job. Each immigrant group tried to recreate their neighborhood from their old country in America which caused the cities to become segregated ghettos with ethnic backgrounds. Poor farmers were also apart of the lower class because they were dependent to one crop, and there was only one harvest per year.

Even though there was still a good amount of people living in rural areas, it was beginning to transform, attracting people more towards urban places

As the economy grew due to technology and new ideas, most Americans earned more money than they ever had. Most jobs of the time paid well, compared to the past, and were centralized in major cities. More money called for some way to spend it, consequently, the mass production of luxury goods and nationwide

After World War II, the United States of America became a much wealthier nation. As America gained wealth and the populations in urban cities and transportation technology increased, many Americans spread out, away from the urban cities, to fulfill the common dream of having a piece of land to call their own. The landscape constructed became known as the suburbs, exclusive residential areas within commuting distance of a city. The popularity and success of the suburban landscape caused suburbs to sprawl across the United States, from the east coast to the west coast and along the borders between Canada and Mexico. By the 1990s, many suburbs surrounding major urban cities developed into being more than merely exclusive residential areas.

Following the end of World War II, the American economy found its way out of depression. Wartime production aided the economy and spiked the country’s spending power. From the late 1940s, people have been accustomed to spending the money they have on everything they want and need. People then started to figure out and believe that this type of spending, consumerism, improved the economy. The items that were being bought were also different than they were before. “At war's end, the items people most desired included televisions, cars, washing machines, refrigerators, toasters, and vacuum cleaners: the machines that would help