Title: The American Dream in the 1920s & 30s - Cultural History of the United States
Headings: Cultural History of the United States
The American Dream in the 1920s & 30s
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Content: A time of rich cultural births and overindulgence in commodities are pieces of the modern American spirit that will never be undone. The 1920s Americans as described by Bill Bryson were not terribly different than Americans today: headstrong, resilient, and a mighty force of ambition that is not to be reckoned with. They were avid fans of gossip, hungry for thrill, and had a will to be the best in the world that could not be satisfied. Bryson states that “no other country in history had ever been this affluent, and it was getting wealthier daily at a pace that was positively dizzying”. [ 10] 1920s Americans created a world of economic prosperity that they wanted to endure forever. An increased gross national product brought rise to the standard of living for every American, producing things like chain stores, installment credit, mass produced consumer goods, electric household appliances, and the automobile. While the economic prosperity of the 20s would eventually end, the mentality that it brought to American culture, the dream that it created and realized would never be extinguished. The world that is experienced today in advertising, magazines, radio, film, and personal freedom, the world that we consider to exist within the American Dream, had its genesis in the prosperity of the Roaring Twenties. The American Dream was now something not only brought into the minds of all social classes, it was something that was attained and experienced by the majority of Americans.