The exuberance America felt while celebrating Lindbergh's accomplishment was probably the highest moment of the 1920s. But the party did not come crashing to a halt until Black Thursday—October 24, 1929, when the stock market began its long slide into the Great Depression. By Tuesday, October 29, American investors had seen over $14 billion evaporate—comparable to half the total amount spent fighting World War I.

The Great Crash took almost everyone by surprise. Throughout the twenties all major business indicators had been positive. Industrial production increased dramatically as consumers snapped up goods such as radios, refrigerators, and cars. Corporate profits had skyrocketed as new mass production techniques allowed companies to churn out goods cheaply and efficiently. And driven by the policies of Henry Ford, who believed that a well-paid employee could better afford a new Model T, workers were receiving better pay and working fewer hours.

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