The Roaring Twenties: Economic Boom & Consumerism

Active learning works especially well for this topic because students need to see how economic systems interact over time. Role-playing the stock market or analyzing warning signs helps them grasp abstract ideas like overproduction and margin buying in a concrete way.

• 11th Grade
• US History
• 3 activities
• 30 min–60 min

Learning Objectives

1. Analyze the key factors, including industrial growth and new technologies, that fueled the economic boom of the 1920s.
2. Explain the societal impact of mass production and the rise of consumer culture, citing specific examples like the automobile and radio.
3. Evaluate the influence of mass advertising and installment plans on changing American purchasing habits and the growth of consumer debt.
4. Compare and contrast the economic conditions of the 1920s with the preceding and succeeding decades.

Simulation Game

⏱ 60 min·Small Groups

Simulation Game: The Stock Market Game

Students 'invest' in stocks using a simulated market. The teacher introduces 'margin buying' and then triggers a 'crash,' allowing students to experience the panic and the immediate impact of debt on their simulated lives.

Prepare & details

Analyze the factors that contributed to the economic boom and widespread consumerism of the 1920s.

Facilitation Tip: During The Stock Market Game, circulate and challenge groups to explain why their stock prices changed, prompting them to use terms like 'margin buying' or 'speculation.'

Setup: Flexible space for group stations

Materials: Role cards with goals/resources, Game currency or tokens, Round tracker

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Social Awareness
• Decision-Making

Inquiry Circle

⏱ 50 min·Small Groups

Inquiry Circle: The Warning Signs

Small groups are assigned a specific economic indicator from the 1920s (e.g., farm prices, housing starts, or consumer debt). They must create a 'fever chart' showing how these areas were struggling long before the crash.

Prepare & details

Explain the impact of new technologies like the automobile and radio on American society.

Facilitation Tip: For The Warning Signs, assign each group one sector (e.g., agriculture, banking, manufacturing) to ensure all areas are covered before the full-class discussion.

Setup: Groups at tables with access to source materials

Materials: Source material collection, Inquiry cycle worksheet, Question generation protocol, Findings presentation template

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Self-Management
• Self-Awareness

Think-Pair-Share

⏱ 30 min·Pairs

Think-Pair-Share: The Hawley-Smoot Tariff

Students read about the 1930 tariff designed to protect American farmers. They work in pairs to predict how other countries would react and discuss how this led to a collapse in international trade.

Prepare & details

Evaluate how mass advertising and credit changed American purchasing habits.

Facilitation Tip: In The Hawley-Smoot Tariff Think-Pair-Share, assign roles: one student argues for the tariff’s benefits, another against, to push students beyond surface-level opinions.

Setup: Standard classroom seating; students turn to a neighbor

Materials: Discussion prompt (projected or printed), Optional: recording sheet for pairs

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Awareness
• Relationship Skills

Teaching This Topic

Teachers should avoid presenting the Great Depression as a single-cause event. Instead, use simulations to show how interconnected issues (e.g., bank runs, overproduction) worsened the crisis. Research shows that students retain complex economic ideas better when they experience the pressures of decision-making in a safe, structured environment.

What to Expect

Students will demonstrate understanding by connecting cause-and-effect relationships between 1920s policies and the Great Depression. They will explain how structural problems like unequal wealth distribution and weak banking practices contributed to the crisis, not just the 1929 crash.

Watch Out for These Misconceptions

Common Misconception

During The Stock Market Game, watch for students who assume the crash alone caused the Depression.

What to Teach Instead

Use the game’s debrief to ask, 'Was the crash the only problem? What other factors made the system fragile?' Direct students to compare their stock prices to real-world bank failures and agricultural surpluses.

Common Misconception

During The Warning Signs investigation, watch for students who believe only stockholders were affected by the Depression.

What to Teach Instead

Have students examine bank failure data during the activity and highlight cases where people with no stocks lost savings. Ask, 'How did this ripple beyond the stock market?'

Assessment Ideas

Quick Check

After The Stock Market Game, present students with a list of 1920s products (e.g., vacuum cleaner, phonograph, automobile). Ask them to identify which were most significantly impacted by mass production and explain why. Then, have them choose one product and write a short advertisement from the era, highlighting its benefits to consumers.

Discussion Prompt

During The Hawley-Smoot Tariff Think-Pair-Share, facilitate a class discussion using the prompt, 'How did the widespread availability of credit and persuasive advertising in the 1920s create a new kind of American dream, and what were the potential downsides of this consumer-driven economy?' Encourage students to support their points with specific examples from the era.

Exit Ticket

After The Warning Signs activity, on an index card, have students answer the following: 1. Name one technological innovation of the 1920s and explain its impact on consumerism. 2. Describe one way advertising changed how Americans shopped.

Extensions & Scaffolding

• Challenge: Ask students to research how the stock market crash of 1929 compares to the 2008 financial crisis, focusing on similarities in banking practices and government response.
• Scaffolding: Provide a graphic organizer with sentence stems (e.g., 'Overproduction in agriculture led to...') for students to complete during The Warning Signs activity.
• Deeper: Have students analyze primary source advertisements from the 1920s and create a modern parody ad that critiques consumerism, tying it to the era’s economic practices.

Key Vocabulary

Mass Production	A method of manufacturing large quantities of standardized products, often using assembly lines, significantly reducing costs and increasing availability.
Consumerism	A social and economic order that encourages the acquisition of goods and services, often driven by advertising and the availability of credit.
Installment Plan	A payment method where a consumer buys a product by making a series of small, regular payments over a period of time, rather than paying the full amount upfront.
Assembly Line	A manufacturing process in which parts are added to a product in a sequential manner as the partially finished product moves along a conveyor belt, increasing efficiency.
Advertising	The activity or profession of producing advertisements for commercial products or services, which became a major industry in the 1920s.