Setting the Scene

Here's a truth about the "Roaring Twenties" that photographs of flappers and fancy cars don't show: while some Americans danced the Charleston in speakeasies, others couldn't afford bread. The 1920s boom was like a party that most Americans weren't invited to. By 1929, the richest 5% of Americans owned 33% of all wealth, while 60% of families lived below the poverty line of $2,000 per year. This wasn't just sad — it was dangerous. An economy where most people can't afford to buy things is an economy waiting to collapse. The glittering prosperity was built on foundations of desperate poverty — and when those foundations cracked, the whole thing came crashing down.