Memory Aids: Lock In the Key Facts
Part of The Economic Boom — GCSE History
This memory aid covers Memory Aids: Lock In the Key Facts within The Economic Boom for GCSE History. Revise The Economic Boom in America 1920-1973 for GCSE History with 10 exam-style questions and 9 flashcards. This topic shows up very often in GCSE exams, so students should be able to explain it clearly, not just recognise the term. It is section 9 of 12 in this topic. Use it for quick recall, then test yourself straight afterwards so the memory aid becomes usable in an answer.
Topic position
Section 9 of 12
Practice
10 questions
Recall
9 flashcards
🧠 Memory Aids: Lock In the Key Facts
The WCRAM mnemonic (already in your deepdive — this is your main cause-recall tool):
- W — World War One gave America industrial capacity
- C — Credit (hire purchase) let people buy on borrowed money
- R — Republican policies: low taxes, high tariffs, no regulation
- A — Advertising created demand and a consumer culture
- M — Mass production made goods cheap enough to buy
The "60-80 rule" for credit statistics: Remember that 60% of cars and 80% of radios were bought on credit by 1929. Both numbers are higher than you'd expect — which is exactly why examiners love them. If you can remember 60 and 80, you'll always have a strong statistic ready.
The Model T price journey: 850 → 290 — Think of it as nearly cutting the price by two-thirds. In 1908, only the wealthy could afford a car at $850. By 1925, a Ford worker earning $5 a day could save up for a Model T at $290. That's the story of mass production in two numbers.
The Dow Jones: 63 → 381 — The stock market grew sixfold in eight years (1921–1929). An easy way to remember this is "six times bigger, all built on speculation." When confidence cracked in October 1929, those same investors tried to sell all at once — and the whole thing collapsed.
Key dates to know cold:
- 1908 — Ford launches the Model T (first mass-market car)
- 1913 — Ford introduces the moving assembly line at Highland Park
- 1921 — Republican boom begins (Harding presidency, Mellon as Treasury)
- 1922 — Fordney-McCumber Tariff (high tariff protectionism)
- 1925 — Model T costs $290 (from $850 in 1908)
- 1929 — 27 million cars on US roads; Dow Jones peaks at 381; Wall Street Crash
Visual association — "The Factory and the Credit Card": Picture a huge gleaming factory (mass production) connected by a long chain to a credit card (hire purchase). The factory makes goods cheaply; the credit card lets ordinary people buy them. That chain of connection is the heart of the boom. When the credit card maxed out in 1929, the whole chain snapped.