Automobiles,  furs,  jewelry,  radios,  and  the  electrical
contrivances  and  conveniences  that  soon  flooded  the
market  were  in  heavy  demand  and  there  was  a  noticeable
expansion  of  business  in  these  lines.  Gradually  this  built
up  a  concept  of  increasing  prosperity,  which,  however,
was  not  attributed  to  the  excesses  of  speculators  but  to
improvement  in  the  technique  of  business.  Increasing
sales  were  laid  to  the  achievements  of  advertising  and
a  new  order  of  salesmanship,  rather  than  to  the  extrava-
gances of  those  who  had  made  money  in  stock  specula-
tion, and  the  mounting  volume  of  production,  in  turn,
called  for  the  application  of  constantly  increasing  pres-
sure on  selling,  so  that  we  ran  into  a  vicious  circle  to
which  there  was  no  end.  On  this  basis  largely  rested  the
so-called  prosperity  of  the  Twenties,  which  had  its  be-


148  YEARS  OF  PLUNDER

ginning  back  in  the  first  stage  of  the  bull  market  but  did
not  reach  its  climax  until  late  in  1929,  when  prosperity
disappeared  through  one  door  as  stock  losses  entered
through  another.
