AP®HistoryCollege BoardUS HistoryExam QuestionsPeriod 7: 1890-19451920s: Innovations in Communication & Technology

1920s: Innovations in Communication & Technology (College Board AP® US History): Exam Questions

2 mins2 questions
11 mark
Vintage advert for RCA Radiola featuring a group listening to a wooden radio. The scene is set in an elegant room with red curtains.
A 1920s advertisement for the RCA Radiola, reprinted in the Saturday Evening Post, May/June 2017. The advertisement promotes the RCA Radiola Super-Heterodyne, offering a convenient time-payment plan

The advertisement suggests, in 1920s American households, radios were

  • Marketed as essential devices for entertainment and information

  • Considered exclusive luxury items affordable only to the wealthy

  • Primarily used for military communications during the war

  • Replacing newspapers as the main source of news for rural families

Choose your answer

21 mark
Vintage advert for RCA Radiola featuring a group listening to a wooden radio. The scene is set in an elegant room with red curtains.
A 1920s advertisement for the RCA Radiola, reprinted in the Saturday Evening Post, May/June 2017. The advertisement promotes the RCA Radiola Super-Heterodyne, offering a convenient time-payment plan

The advertisement reflects the consumer culture of the 1920s as it

  • Emphasizes frugality and economic restraint

  • Highlights the simplicity and minimalism of the era

  • Showcases the desire for modernity and technological advancement

  • Discourages the purchase of new household technologies

Choose your answer