The 1920s Business and the Economy: Chronology

1920:     January 16 Prohibition begins. The manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors in the United States is now illegal.

1920:     February 28 The Esch-Cummins Act restores railroads to private ownership and sets up the Railroad Labor Board.

1921:      Following the actions of administrators at the University of Pennsylvania, faculty and staff members establish business schools at Dartmouth College, the University of Chicago, Harvard University, and other major colleges.

1921:      The Women's Bureau, a division of the Labor Department, reports that eight million women are in the labor force, 80 percent of them performing clerical work.

1921:     May 10 The Ford Motor Company announces assets of more than $345 million.

1922:      Standard Oil announces an eight-hour day for oil field workers.

1922:     July 1 The Railroad Labor Board announces a 13 percent cut in wages, affecting four hundred thousand workers.

1922:     September 19 Congress passes the Fordney-McCumber Tariff Act which lowers tariffs (taxes on imported and exported goods) to the levels of the 1909 Payne-Aldrich Act.

1923:      Zenith Radio is founded in Chicago, Illinois.

1923:      In order to make Chevrolet cars more competitive with Ford models, General Motors puts its Chevrolet Division under the direction of a former Ford executive.

1923:      The Ethyl Corporation introduces a fuel additive to eliminate "knock" and reduce lead deposits in automobile engines.

1924:      A&P operates 11,913 grocery stores throughout the United States.

1924:      Wall Street booms as 2.2 million shares are traded on the stock exchange.

1924:      Union Carbide and Carbon Company introduces Prestone, an automobile antifreeze that sells for $5 per gallon.

1924:      Ford announces that it has ten thousand dealerships across the nation.

1924:     June Chrysler Corporation is founded; the automaker's new car sells for approximately $1,500.

1924:     November 30 A wireless transmitter made by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) sends photos from London to New York City.

1925:     January 17 Addressing the Society of American Newspaper Editors, President Calvin Coolidge states, "The business of America is business."

1925:     February 28 Congress enacts the Corrupt Practices Act which makes it "unlawful for any national bank, or any corporation…to make a contribution or expenditure in connection with any election to any political office." Individual donors are allowed contributions of up to $5,000.

1926:      Sears Roebuck distributes fifteen million catalogs and twenty-three million special announcements per year to its customers.

1926:      Greyhound Corporation begins bus service on American roads. General Motors is its major stockholder.

1927:      RCA splits into two networks, the Red and the Blue, to bring greater efficiency to management.

1927:      Chrysler introduces the Plymouth car line, and soon afterward the new division introduces the mid-priced DeSoto sedan.

1927:     May 27 Aviator Charles A. Lindbergh arrives in Paris, France after his 331/2 hour solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean. This feat earns more attention than almost any other event of the decade.

1927:     November The Model A automobile is introduced by the Ford Motor Company.

1928:      A. P. Giannini founds the TransAmerica Corporation.

1928:      David Gerber begins selling his improved baby foods in grocery stores.

1928:     January 7 Optimism about the power of American business, called "Coolidge optimism," spurs a stock market boom on Wall Street.

1929:     February 23 The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, headed by A. Philip Randolph, is the first African-American union to be chartered by the American Federation of Labor (AFL).

1929:     March 17 General Motors announces plans to buy the German automobile firm Opel.

1929:     July 7 Transcontinental Air Transport announces a plan to offer coast-to-coast air and rail service, using airplanes over flatlands and railroad cars in the mountains.

1929:     September 11 The Fokker F32, the world's largest passenger plane, is unveiled.