Installment & Credit
What "buy now, pay later" payment system spread rapidly in the 1920s?
Installment buying / credit
What types of large retail stores (like Macy's and Sears) turned shopping into entertainment?
Department stores
Which new household technology connected families directly to a shared national culture?
The radio
What major product saw over half of its total sales paid for using credit in the 1920s?
Automobiles (cars)
What condition was Listerine mouthwash marketed to cure to ensure social success?
"Halitosis" (bad breath)
Name one household appliance that revolutionized domestic chores and freed up leisure time.
Refrigerator, washing machine, or vacuum cleaner
What traditional value (saving, repairing, reusing) was replaced by a "culture of desire"?
Thrift
Instead of just listing product features, what two things did 1920s advertisers sell?
Dreams and emotions
What electric company (formed by a merger involving Thomas Edison) aggressively promoted credit?
General Electric
Advertisers taught Americans to view credit as a sign of what, rather than debt?
Confidence and modernity
Which group of people found independence and public participation through department stores?
Women
Which product gave 1920s American families unprecedented physical mobility?
The automobile (car)
What 1920s economic habit gave way to disaster when what major event occurred in 1929?
The Stock Market Crash
What non-shopping features did department stores add to make shopping a leisure activity?
Cafés, beauty counters, and live music
Which two home appliances completely transformed food storage and laundry care?
Refrigerators and washing machines