AN INCREASED STANDARD OF LIVING?

Many history textbooks place great emphasis on the growth of a consumer society in America during this period. These textbooks would note that Americans could now afford things that previously had been luxuries of the upper classes, such as tea and silk stockings. The texts would discuss the fact that average life expectancy increased by over six years between 1900 and 1920, and that things like flush toilets were now present in many houses. The growth of the department store would be emphasized to demonstrate all of the goods that the new consumer could buy.

It should be carefully noted, however, that large segments of American society did not share the newly created wealth found in the pockets and bank accounts of many upper middle-class and upper-class Americans. Many Americans, especially newly arrived immigrants, experienced crushing poverty. Conveniences such as flush toilets were not available in most working-class housing until the late 1920s or 1930s. Wages may have gone up, yet in many parts of the country, increases in living costs were even more profound. Clothing made out of new fabrics and fresh fruits were now available, but with the wages that workers were being paid, actually purchasing any of these goods was absolutely out of the question for the vast majority of workers. For many in the growing middle class, however, families could now not just buy the goods and services that they needed; they could begin to buy merchandise and services that they wanted as well.