<P> The new automobile dominance led to a new psychology celebrating mobility . Cars and trucks needed road construction, new bridges and regular highway maintenance, largely funded by local and state government through taxes on gasoline . Farmers were early adopters as they used their pickups to haul people, supplies and animals . New industries were spun off--to make tires and glass and refine fuel, and to service and repair cars and trucks by the millions . New car dealers were franchised by the car makers and became major factors in the local business community . Tourism gained an enormous boost, with hotels, restaurants and curio shops proliferating . </P> <P> Electrification, having slowed during the war, progressed greatly as more of the U.S. and Canada was added to the electric grid . Most industries switched from coal power to electricity . At the same time, new power plants were constructed . In America, electricity production almost quadrupled . </P> <P> Telephone lines also were being strung across the continent . Indoor plumbing and modern sewer systems were installed for the first time in many houses . </P> <P> Urbanization reached a milestone in the 1920 census, that showed slightly more Americans lived in urban areas towns and cities of 2,500 or more people) than in small towns or rural areas . However, the nation was fascinated with its great metropolitan centers that contained about 15% of the population . New York and Chicago vied in building skyscrapers, and New York pulled ahead with the Empire State Building . The basic pattern of the modern white - collar job was set during the late 19th century, but it now became the norm for life in large and medium cities . Typewriters, filing cabinets, and telephones brought unmarried women into clerical jobs . In Canada by the end of the decade, one in five workers was a woman . Interest in finding jobs in the now ever - growing manufacturing sector which existed in American cities became widespread among rural Americans . </P>

How did his experiences in world war i change the direction of his life