What made the “Roaring Twenties” Roar?
The term “Roaring” means many different things. The 20s were a time of rapid economic growth and the rise of the modern consumer culture. Wages rose rapidly and people spent most of their money on acquiring “things”. There was a huge increase in consumer goods that were presented as making one’s life easier and better while also elevating one’s social status . Also, it is the early stage of the middle class buying into the expanding stock market. The twenties was a decade of optimism too. People truly wanted everything to improve and believed it would. The Great War had absolutely demolished confidence in many countries, especially in Europe and Canada. Remember, the U.S. did not enter the war until 1917 and it ended in ’18. People looked forward to better times, many believed that economic progress would rid the world of poverty and war. As several have mentioned, the driving underground of the liquor industry also has a bearing on why the twenties “roared”. Prohibition helped consoli
