Rise of Mass Culture in America: Between WWI and WWII
Several factors facilitated the emergence of mass culture between World War I and World War II. These factors include everything from technology booms spurred by the war to the urbanization of cities.
New Products and Technologies
Automobiles
Before WWI and 1920, cars were seen as a luxury, and old-fashioned means of transportation (horse and carriage) were still common in urban areas. Due to the ingenious business plans of Ford Motor Company and General Motors, with their release of more affordable cars thanks to their use of the assembly line, people who were not in the elite of society were now able to own cars. This led to a new psychology about mobility and travel, making Americans feel less isolated.
Radio
Though radios were an expensive good during this time, as they were just becoming more relevant in households, they were able to transmit information to the public in a way no other means of communication had been able to previously. Radio’s economic importance led to part of the mass culture we see today in the world of entertainment and news, as it spawned one of the first “Golden Ages” in entertainment history.
Aviation
Aviation also played a huge role in the rise of this mass culture in the US, as it proved to the American public and to the world that the boundaries of travel and the previous definition of “distance” when it came to traveling to other continents like Europe could be broken with the development of airplanes that could make such a journey. Example: Charles Lindbergh’s crossing of the Atlantic in 1927.
Medical Advances
Another huge development was the rise of medical advances like penicillin, which was created in 1929, stopping many infections and diseases that previously crippled society.
Entertainment
The rise of entertainment in the movie, music, and art industries added to the feel-good persona that many Americans felt during that time following a massive war and really added to the recovery of some losses and the recession that briefly but immediately followed WWI.
Infrastructure
Development of new infrastructure in cities and towns: Indoor plumbing and the development of sewer systems, as well as telephone lines, started to pop up in cities across America as a means of communication, much like the development of the radio, really started to expand. America’s electricity production also almost quadrupled during this time.
Social Classes
Women’s Suffrage
Ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920 gave women the right to vote and have a say on issues that were really a concern to women, including peace, public health, education, and the status of children.
Women in the Workplace
Women were now seen more in the workplace, especially automobile factories, and began to achieve a goal of supporting themselves.
Immigration
Immigration also started to play a key role in society.
How Did Mass Culture Affect Attitudes About the US’s Role in the World?
This new culture, composed of art and music but also the boom of consumerism and materialism, would shape the attitude people had regarding the US role in the world for decades to come.
Some Americans and policymakers started to question their purpose after the war during this age of mass culture, as they really didn’t know the reason as to why the US had gotten involved in the first place without being directly attacked.
During this time, we also begin to see a mass anti-immigration hysteria due to a variety of factors, like the post-WWI anti-communist Red Scare.
This, among the factors listed above, led to the eventual passage of the National Origins Act of 1924, which set immigration quotas that excluded some people (Eastern Europeans and Asians) in favor of others (Northern Europeans and people from Great Britain, for example).
The US, for at least some point of the time from 1920-1940, started to “turn in” and become more concerned about their own issues rather than ones around the world affecting other countries.
Became more isolated in a way.