Compare And Contrast The Automobile And The Radio In The 1920's

The 1920’s, otherwise known as the “roaring 2o’s” was a time full of technological advancements. Some people may only associate the 1920’s with The Great Depression. They may forget or do not realize the great things that have come from that time. Two of these amazing things were the automobile and the radio. They were and still are absolutely wonderful developments in many ways, however, in other ways not so good. The Ford Model A was the first car created by Henry Ford in the early 1900’s. However, Henry Ford created the first car in the 1920’s on an assembly line, the Model T. The Ford Model T became one of the most popular vehicles by 1927. Ford’s major competition was The General Motor Company, otherwise known as, GM. William Durant founded GM in 1902. His company saw many ups and downs, but the 1920’s was great time for GM. Popular GM car models were the 1926 Pontiac and the 1924 Buick.
The way people traveled changed with the introduction of automobile.
People were able to do many things in their lives much differently now. They could drive to work, visit family members who live far away and even take family vacations by car. The quality of people’s lives improved greatly with the introduction of the automobile into their lives. By the end the 20’s, 1 in 5 American families had owned a car Positive changes occurred in the economy after the automobile was introduced. Factories were expanded and new jobs were created. Gas fuel was needed to run these vehicles. Service stations were needed to repair these cars. Better roads were needed to drive on. Automobiles meant economic
prosperity. Negative effects of the automobile have been air pollution, auto accidents, excessive traffic, and the ability for criminals to get away from a crime much more quickly. Overall, the benefits seem to outweigh these negative effects most of the time. Radio was a remarkable communication invention of the 1920’s. The 20’s became known as the “golden age of radio”. This new technology enabled one voice to reach so many people at one time and have such a major impact, amazing! Many families have good and bad memories associated with the radio; living during the 20’s, the radio brought the world to them, good or bad. Some families scheduled their daily routines around radio programming. The radio was a living reality for many. The radio became a prized possession for a lot people. Radios were affordable and became a cheap form of entertainment. Radio became a major source of news, music, religion, humor, advertising, and more. Some specific shows and genres that were popular on the radio in the 1920’s were soap operas, jazz music, Amos and Andy. It was also great for politics in some ways. Elections were heard and political campaigns run through the airwaves. The first commercial radio station was KDKA in Pittsburg, Pa. It went on the airwaves for first time in 1920. Radio was great for the economy, advertisements. The first commercial was put on the air in 1922. The first commercial radio station was KDKA in Pittsburg, Pa. It went on the airwaves for first time in 1920. This became the early origins of mass marketing. They used one voice over the airwaves to promote a place or an item to a large amount of people. It was a very effect technique and still is today. In 1926, The National Broadcasting Company, otherwise known as, NBC, became the first radio network.
As mentioned above the radio was used for different uses, news and weather, entertainment, sports, religion, and advertising. There were so many people using the airwaves, that their needed to be some kind of control over it. The national broadcasting company was then formed. They were responsible for issuing licenses to people to use the airwave and to assign a frequency and call sign to them. Both, the automobile and radio were introduced in the 1920’s, made a major impact and is still here today. The technology of yesterday is regularly changing and growing to meet the demands of people in the rapidly changing world. It would be hard to imagine a world without cars and radios; the world would be a much different place. It is amazing how just one item can impact so many lives in so many ways, the domino effect.