Was Henry Ford responsible for
the rise of the consumer culture
in the 1920s?
Consumer Economy
• Individuals who purchase items or products
- in other words they consume
• What contributed to this taking place in the
1920s?
Rise of the Consumer Economy
• Electrical Power Distribution
• Power customers quadrupled between 1913
and 1927
• Mainly in urban areas - why?
• Farms were too remote for the economical
infrastructure
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Rise of the Consumer Economy
• General Electric Company
– Formed from Thomas Edison’s Electric
Company
– Began developing and selling items such as
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Washing machines
Vacuum cleaners
Sewing machines
Coffee pots
Etc.
Rise of the Consumer Economy
• Americans purchased these items on credit
– New way to pay for things - installment plan
– High interest rates 11-40%
• Purchased items such as:
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Cars - 60%
Furniture - 70%
Radios, Refrigerators, Vacuums - 80%
Sewing and Washing Machines - 90%
Henry Ford
The Man and His Vision
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The Nation (1909)
• “As soon as a standard cheap car can be
produced of a simple type that does not
require mechanical aptitude in the operator
and that may be run inexpensively there will
be no limit to the automobile market”
Fords Goals
• Design a car for:
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Doctors
Lawyers
Businessmen
Prosperous farmers
Ford’s Criteria
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High Quality
Simplicity - masses not mechanics
Absolute reliability
Easy to control and operate
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Cheap to Buy
Expensive to Build
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Large number productions
Slow rate of production
Expensive production machines
Demand for high quality by Ford
Ford’s Dilemma
• He had to change the way parts were
produced
• Example
– Magneto Assembly - 29 separate parts
– Old way - One worker given all parts to build it
– Took 20 minutes
Fords Idea
• New Way - 29 workers in a line
– First try 29 units in 13 minutes
– 1914 - seven minutes
– 1915 - five minutes
• Ford improved the assembly line, did not
invent it
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Fords Line
• Assembly line ran at 44 inches per minute
• All employees were required to assemble
their portion of the vehicle as the line
moved
Ford’s Assembly Line
Chassis Assembly
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Chassis Assembly
Chassis Assembly
Chassis Assembly
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Chassis Assembly
Chassis Assembly
Start-Up
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Body Attachment
One Day’s Work
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Ford’s Success and Problems
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In 1914 Ford’s profit was $27 Million
300% employee turnover
Raised worker pay from $2.40 to $5.00/day
But
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You had to do things his way
Wife had to stop working
Kids must be in school
Had to have a bank account
Ford’s Sociology Department
• Kids arrested - Ford lawyer helped
• Wife sick - Ford doctor helped
• Worker drunk - Wife received paycheck
• Ford felt that if he was going to pay $5.00
per day he didn’t want to have problems
Life at Ford
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Immigrants were hired in their native language
Company notices printed in multiple languages
Held English classes
Held naturalization classes
Company award for naturalized citizens
Hired handicapped - Leader
Hired African Americans - Leader
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Ford’s Marketing
• Advertisement in the
1920s
Ford’s Marketing
• Advertisement in the
1920s
Ford’s Marketing
• Advertisement in the
1920s
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Ford’s Marketing
• Advertisement in 2005
Related Industries
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Garages
Car dealerships
Motels
Campgrounds
Gas stations
Restaurants
Truck lines
In 1929 US spent $2 billion dollars to build roads
New Industrial Growth
• Laissez-Faire policies contributed to rapid
expansion of business
• Publishing
• Movies
• Machine making
• Petroleum
• Steel
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Ford’s Contribution to the
Economy in the 1920s
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15% of Steel Production
80% of Rubber Production
50% of Glass
65% of Leather and Upholstery
7 Billion Gallons of Gasoline
Other Industries
• Manufacturers copied the Ford assembly
line of production
• Increased the amount of products made
• Created more products faster and cheaper
• Increased the amount of products available
to consumers
Henry Ford
• Responsible for change in American
Industry
• Responsible for a change in American
Culture
• Responsible for a change in the American
nation
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Was Henry Ford responsible for
the rise of the consumer culture
in the 1920s?
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