1920's Car Industry Analysis

In the 1920’s, the car industry was evolving rapidly due to changes in mass production techniques, and societal acceptance. The car industry at the time was still growing and evolving, and with the assistance from Ford’s ingenious assembly line and Model T. The Assembly line enabled car manufacturers to mass produce cars without the cost of time and labor. The Model T was a true example of the assembly line’s success. For example, the Ford Model T was known for the first car to be mass produced by Ford with less cost and time. Sean McCollum, former scholastic writer, stated that the Model T, “was the McDonald’s hamburger of automobiles.” [IV] This meant that Fords’ car production increased by a thousands of cars per year leading to a decreased

The assembly line used a system unlike other car manufactures used. For example, the assembly line used already constructed parts and used pulleys to lift and drop the parts onto the conveyer belt where the workers attach each piece creating a car as the end product as described in Sean McCollum’s illustrations. Not only did the assembly line alter how car manufactures mass produced cars but it also gave way for Americans positive attitude towards cars. There was a large increase in the amount of Americans who obtained a driver’s license and capital investment which other historians have observed from the 1920’s such as Blaine Brownell and John H. Lorant. Blaine Brownwell studied this attitude in the south, and came to the conclusion that “Even after six years of economic depression, motor vehicle registrations had actually increased proportionate to the town’s population since the 1920s” [V]. He found concrete positive attitudes towards cars among the south. By stating that those who received motor vehicle registrations ties with McCollum’s findings in the increase of car

It caused admiration from those who did not own a car to those who did own one. If owning a car is more important than owning a home, then there is an overwhelmingly good notion that Americans had about cars. This good mood is true for most the 1920’s but overlooks the facts about the negative implications, explored by Rosner and Markowitz, that occurred in this time period related to cars All three intellects (McCollum, Lorant h., and Brownell) agree on how the car industry shaped a positive attitude towards cars and molded an innovating decade of strides in automobile and manufacturing technologies. However, two professors contradict this joint positive attitude by studying the negative affects cars and car products had on the American public. Professor Rosner and Markowitz discuss (in depth) the effects of gas on the American public. The gas used in cars in the 1920’s was manufactured by DuPont Chemicals and General Motors. Both companies as stated by Rosner and Markowitz overlooked the chemicals used in their gas that lead to thousands of Americans becoming ill and ultimately