history

In chapter 22 you learned about the tremendous financial, material, and cultural growth in the United States during the decade of the 1920s. Arguably, the greatest symbol of that material growth in the U.S. was the automobile. The mass-produced automobile literally transformed the U.S. perhaps like no other consumer product before.

The primary source The Automobile Comes to Middletown provides us a glimpse of the transformative impact that the automobile had on the United States. 

• How common had the automobile become in the 1920s in the town of Muncie, Indiana? What do you suppose accounts for this?
• For the residents of Muncie, Indiana, what impact did the automobile have on their:
  • work
  • leisure time
  • family time
  • finances
• Finally, based on the study of the automobile's impact on Muncie, Indiana, do you think that the automobile continues to have the same impact on U.S. towns and their residents today? Please explain.