The Twenties: Boom

The Twenties: Boom

Overview • The Roaring Twenties saw boom times in Canada. • Unemployment was low; earnings for individuals and companies were high. • Greater disposable income meant a consumer society was being born.

Economic Boom • In Canada, this growth was centered around natural resources • What are some of Canada’s natural resources? • Energy, pulp, paper, oil, gold, silver, copper, zinc • Roughly ¼ of the worlds newspapers were printed on Canadian paper • 80% of the world nickel came from Sudbury

How would Canada’s natural resources help grow the economy? • Create jobs, profit when sold or traded • Demand for Canadas natural resources grew as cars and appliances become more common

Boom in farming and Mining • By 1923-24 the economic slump that followed the First World War was over. • World economies had improved and countries were buying Canadian goods. • Demand for Canadian wheat reached record levels in the 1920s. • Domestic and foreign industrial demand for iron ore, nickel, zinc and copper caused a mining boom.

Growth in Industry • The Canadian pulp and paper industry expanded rapidly during the 1920s. • Demand was huge in the American market. • During the 1920s Canada exported more pulpwood and newsprint than the rest of the world combined.

Automobiles • Automobile production grew from a small industry to become the fourth largest manufacturing industry in Canada. • The number of cars in Canada tripled during the decade from 407,064 in 1920 to 1,239,889 by 1930

Automobiles • Cities began paving streets • Traffic Jams, Collisions, and air pollution became problems • People could now live farther from their work because they could drive there. This is the beginnings of suburbia • Parking lots, gas stations and road signs began to apear

Who would Canada sell and trade their goods with? • The US and Britain • Why these two countries? • Could there be any problems with trading with these countries?

However close trade with a country isn’t always good. • The US has a much bigger population, which means that they can produce and sell products more cheaply than in Canada. • Why? • So what do you do? • In the world of international economics you create a Tarrif • A Tarrif is a tax on an imported product that makes it more expensive so that Canadian companies can compete to sell their products

In the 1920’s Canada had a 35% Tarrif on vehicles imported into Canada from the US • This means that for every $100 in the price of a US made car, Canadian’s would have to pay $135 • So you’re a US car company and you want to sell your cars in Canada, but the Tarrif is so high, you’re worried you won’t be able to make any money. What do you do?

You build a car plant in Canada. • That way you don’t have to import your vehicles, because they’re made in Canada • And you still get to keep the profits. • This is called a Branch Plant and began to become very common in the 1920’s

What would be the advantages and disadvantages for Canadians in US companies building branch plants in Canada?

At one time, as many as 70 Canadian companies were making or selling their own cars. • But as the “Big Three” automakers – Ford, GM, and Chrysler – set up branch plants in Ontario, they drove these smaller Canadian firms out of business. • The last to fold was the Brooks Steam Motor Company of Stratford, Ontario, which closed in 1926

Urbanization • Economic prosperity and new technological developments brought about enormous change. • Many people moved into the cities to work in factories or in service industries like transportation, finance, public administration, and hospitality.

Changes…. • Wages were rising for many people and for the first time people could buy stuff on an installment plan. • Beginning of a debt society. • Workers had more income, therefore more DISPOSABLE INCOME.

Canada becomes a Consumer Society • Along with the 1920s came with a number of consumer products that many Canadian families ‘had’ to have. • Mass Media was introduced in the 1920s, in fact, by 1929 there were 300,000 radios in Canada, up from fewer then 10,000 radios in 1924 (beginning of boom) • Mass media = Mass Advertising

Don’t Worry - Shop • Mass advertising along with job security and higher incomes meant that they could spend money on things other then the basic necessities. • There was more ‘disposable’ income. • Production of new household products also increased. • Radios, record players as well as other labour saving electrical appliances.

Advertising • Advertisers made luxury items seem like necessities to hundreds of thousands of Canadians. • There was an astounding range of household goods made available by places like EATONS.

Advertising • EATONS catalogue was a central feature in every Canadian household.

Miracles • Electricity to the home provided opportunities for small in home appliances • Automatic washing machines, hand operated washing machines, electric irons, electric toaster, electric stoves, vacuum cleaners and sewing machines. • These products gave people more free time.

The Twenties: Bust

The Twenties: Bust • Times were good for many people in the 1920’s. • Unemployment was low, and half of all Canadians owned a car. • Do you think everyone benefitted from the economic boom of the 1920’s? • No • What groups of people would not have seen the same benefit? • Maritimers and Newfoundlanders • Workers • Minorities • Aboriginals

Maritimers and Newfoundlanders • During the 1920’s the Maritimes and Newfoundland were struggling economically • There are a number of reasons for this. • Large debt because of WWI (Newfoundland) • As Canada got bigger (westward expansion) the distance to Canada’s midpoint got very far from the Maritimes (from Ottawa to Manitoba) • Couldn’t attract large manufacturers • Demand for coal from Nova Scotia fell because of competition from Alberta’s oil producers. • Britain is no longer Canada’s dominant trade partner.

What impression of life in a coal-mining town do you get from this painting?

Workers • Business owners and investors made large profits during the 1920’s • The regular worker, however, worked long hours at low wages • There was no unemployment insurance, or free medical care • No pension plan until 1927 • Paid $20 per month • Had to be 70 years old and have lived in Canada for at least 20 years • Have almost no income • Money had to be repaid, with interest, after the person died.

Visible Minorities • Minorities faced widespread discrimination • Many companies wouldn’t hire Asians, or if they did it was for very low wages • If you can’t get hired for a job, what do you do? Remember there’s no welfare programs to support you. • Although Blacks had the right to vote, there was still not treated as equals • In Nova Scotia and Ontario, Black students were sent to separate schools than white students. • Often these Black schools were under funded, resulting in a poorer education and fewer job opportunities

Aboriginals • Aboriginal people had been living under strict rules since 1876 and the creation of the Indian Act • The goal of this act was to assimilate (absorb) aboriginals into Canadian society • The Deputy Superintendent of the Indian Act once said the object of his department was “to continue until there is not a single Indian in Canada that has not been absorbed into [mainstream society]” • Starting in 1920, all First Nations children aged 7-15 were required to live most of the year at a Residential School

Residential Schools • In 1920 there were 80 government funded residential schools in Canada • The aim was to remove children from their home and culture • Use the education system to assimilate them into Canadian society • Traditional languages, clothing and religious practices were strictly forbidden • Children were required to speak English or French, wear uniforms and become Christian • There have been many proven cases of physical and sexual abuse that took place at residential schools

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_V4d7sXoqU • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_tcCpKtoU0 • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbZDUvvy258 • What went wrong?

The Twenties: Boom