Library of Congress American Memory New Collection Announcement Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era and the Consumer Economy, 1921-1929, an online compilation made possible with the generous support of Laurance S. and Mary French Rockefeller, assembles a broad array of Library of Congress source materials documenting the prosperity of the Coolidge years, the nation's transition to a mass consumer economy, and the role of government in this transition. The collection materials draw attention on the one hand to business concerns, such as advertising, marketing, merchandising, and industrialization, and on the other to popular notions about responsible consumerism, thriftiness, and efficiency in the home. The collection also focuses on President Coolidge�s idea of government, and on Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover's standardization initiatives. Other materials document groups that could not participate fully in the emergent consumer economy, notably farmers and immigrants. Collection materials suggest connections among some of the key technological developments, government structures, social organizations, and cultural assumptions that worked together to reinforce the mass consumer economy. Among items of special interest are research studies and manuscript materials that document the spending habits of African Americans, the activities of African American businesses, and the northward migration in search of better opportunities. Other notable materials include information on consumer activism; studies of urban and rural women as consumers; selections from the papers of Edward L Bernays, a founding father of public relations; and the diaries of White House physician Joel T. Boone, giving his private view of the Coolidge family. The collection is in a variety of formats and includes nearly 200 selections from twelve collections of personal papers and two collections of institutional papers from the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress; 74 books, pamphlets, and legislative documents from the General Collections, along with selections from 34 consumer and trade journals; over 60 speeches by Coolidge, 8 of which are published here for the first time; 181 photographs from the National Photo Company Collection held by the Prints and Photographs Division; and 5 short films and 7 audio selections of Coolidge speeches from the Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division. The collection is accompanied by an alphabetically arranged guide providing information about prominent individuals, organizations, concepts, and publications of the Coolidge era replete with hyperlink pointers to collection materials. Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era and the Consumer Economy1921-1929 can be found at the following URL: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/coolhtml/ Please send any questions about this collection to [log in to unmask]