Moving the Product

By 1930, the genie of mass production is out of the bottle, in a big way. Manufacturers everywhere are boosting production, erecting larger factories filled with more equipment and workers. There's no real limit.

Businesses know that customers are out there. Railroads can deliver their products anywhere, from rural Maine to the Kansas prairie or the Idaho mountains. The problem is how to reach all the potential new customers.

This is the job of advertising and sales promotion. It begins with getting the customer's attention, then presenting visions of a better life, suddenly and magically available. Best of all, much of it can now be bought on credit.
Merchandizing, 1920s

  Attracting Consumers
There are three main outlets for products. First are the small downtown stores, which have barely changed over the years. Next are the big department stores, where you can buy fashionable clothing, tasteful home furnishings, and the latest appliances. But a new sales channel is also growing fast. Mail-order catalogs. They are completely dominated by Sears Roebuck.

Electric appliances, 1920s

  Appliances and More
Electricity has been around for years, but only used in households for lighting. Now, whole new markets are being opened up for electric appliances. Radios are the most exciting, but housewives are also offered a wide array of new work-saving conveniences. Electric refrigerators stay cold automatically, without the need for continual deliveries of blocks of ice. Washing machines, vacuum cleaners and steam cleaners are entirely new.


Brand image, 1920s

  Ad Agency Magic
Advertisers also begin to experiment with the widespread use of suggestive imagery, often in color. These are prominently displayed in slick new urban magazines, mostly targeting women. The magazines, of course, are funded largely through money flowing in from large corporations in the form of advertising dollars. Corporations are buying an audience for tantalizing pitches, expertly blended with fantasy. Women, in turn, are given a glimpse into the secret lives of movie stars and social elites.