1920's Ad Analysis

Over the course of this class we have discussed several things from the end of the Civil War to the wars against the Indians and now we are into the 1920s and the depression that soon followed. During the 1920s there was a surge of a new type of economy, and with that economy, a new way to fuel it. This saw the emergence of ads, a new way of making money in a changing economy. The ad that I decided to look at specifically pertains to the automobile. In analyzing this ad, you see the life of the 1920s, the spirit of modernization, of industrial growth, and the movement toward a consumer based economy that we now know today. First, we will look at how the ad uses several visual aspects to entice the viewer and draw them into the idea of the

At the turn of the century, most of the citizens in the United States could not afford an automobile. However, Henry Ford utilized a new form of production that decreased the cost of the automobile, allowing the common man to be able to afford this new innovation. With this advancement, the landscape of the United States, both economically and physically, was forever changed. This was due to several factors. One way the United States was changed by this innovation, was the use of new roads, specifically roads that stretched from the East to the West. The most infamous of which would be the Lincoln Highway. Due to this nearly 2,000 mile long road, there was need of places to refuel, namely gas stations. These stores, which were once scarcely seen, started to dot the landscape. Additionally, just as with the railroads, many new road projects were started as a result because before the 1920s many roads were just trodden dirt, making travel difficult in these automobiles. Another aspect that the automobile changed was industry. In one case, River Rouge, 50,000 people were employed under one roof, and an automobile was produced every 13 seconds. This production was required as the automobile became more and more popular. For instance, in 1921, only 8 million cars were registered, however by 1929 there were over 23 million. In addition to this growth of the car industry, the industry itself employed over 3.7 million people either directly or indirectly. The workforce alone shows how the car affected the United States in the early 20th century and specifically the 1920s. With this increase in industry, the country continued to urbanize as evidenced by the 1920 census that showed over 50% of people living in urban areas. However, what relates most to this ad specifically, is the increased use of ads in the 1920s because of an increasingly consumer-based economy.