Mass Production Mass production is the manufacturing of products of uniform quality in large quantities using a standardized mechanical process or assembly line. After a brief postwar depression, the American economy grew rapidly in the early 1920s. In 1926, the standard of living in the United States was the highest ever recorded in the country's history, and America was officially the richest nation in the world. Natural resources such as oil were abundant and this gave the United States an advantage that no other country enjoyed at the time. level. This profusion of natural resources led to large-scale industrial development. New techniques meant that goods could be produced much cheaper on a large scale, which led to the production of masses of cheap goods that could be accessible to thousands of ordinary Americans. Mass production was introduced by Henry Ford in 1913. He couldn't produce cars fast enough to keep up with demand and so introduced the concept of the assembly line. As a result, one Model T can be produced every three minutes. Components were added as the car progressed and each worker performed a specific job. By 1920, one car was being produced every ten seconds, and Ford realized that if cars could be produced cheaper, more people could buy them, and as demand increased and the company sold more cars, it could have made them even cheaper. Between 1908 and 1925, over 15 million Model Ts were produced, and by the mid-1920s, one in two cars sold was a Model T. The cost of cars dropped from $1,200 to £295 in 1928, which it meant that even normal people could afford them. Henry Ford's mass production techniques were adopted by other industries in America, and the United States quickly became the most efficient producer in the world. The drop in costs of each input offset the smaller profit margin because demand was stimulated. Employment prospects also improved with many people moving to live in industrial cities and American industries saw huge profits and expanded greatly. However, mass production also meant that as the rich got richer, the poor got poorer. Mass production forever changed the fabric of American society. Social freedom was achieved and mass production gained an immense sense of freedom in rural areas. Making cars affordable changed the face of America and led to large-scale urbanization and suburban development. It encouraged the building of roads, and the growing popularity of owning a car made travel easier so that people didn't have to be within walking distance to get to work. The car helped stimulate the industrial boom of the 1920s