Crash! The Roaring Twenties came to a roaring halt on October 29, 1929. The Roaring Twenties is one of the most prosperous periods in American history. Everyone was dancing to jazz music, purchasing the same products and believing these good times would never end. This is not until Black Tuesday, also known as the Wall Street Crash of 1929, brought the Roaring Twenties to a sudden halt. This golden age of the Roaring Twenties is a time worth remembering, influenced by economy, irrational exuberance and debts from the Roaring Twenties; Black Tuesday marked the beginning of the new worldwide economic downfall known as the Great Depression.
The economic boom increased the wages, productivity and sales, leading to a rise in consumerism, easy credit, and an unprecedented increase in the stock market investments (Alchin). As US industry boomed, so did company shares on the Wall Street stock markets (Trader). Prices of shares went up year after year, and investors made large amounts of profits. This led to the system of ‘Buying on Margin’, which essentially is to buy stocks with loaned money. “The once "thrifty and prudent" American adopted the modern philosophy of "Live now, pay later"”(Alchin).
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The stock exchange volume reached its peak in August 1929. However, like a house without a base, as the exchange reached a height, it started to collapse. The stock prices soon greatly surpassed their real value and began to decline in September and early October 1929. On October 18, 2019 the fall began (Lange), the drop was feeble at the beginning, but accelerates overtime. The investors’ money soon turned to ashes. The psychological effects of the crash led to the end of the feelings of invincibility and exuberance experienced in the Roaring Twenties and was replaced by feelings of vulnerability, uncertainty and helplessness