Rich: The Rise and Fall of American Wealth Culture

321 Pages·2009·1.75 MB·English

by  Larry Samuel

RICH
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R
I C H
The Rise and Fall of
American Wealth Culture
L ARRY SAMUEL
AMERICAN MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Samuel,Larry.
Rich:theriseandfallofAmericanwealthculture/LarrySamuel.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN-13:978-0-8144-1362-3
ISBN-10:0-8144-1362-5
1.Richpeople—UnitedStates. 2.Wealth—UnitedStates. I.Title.
HC110.W4S26 2009
305.5(cid:2)2340973—dc22
2008055731
(cid:2)2009LarrySamuel.
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PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica.
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‘‘Asonedigsdeeperintothenationalcharacterofthe
Americans,oneseesthattheyhavesoughtthevalue
ofeverythinginthisworldonlyintheanswertothis
singlequestion:howmuchmoneywillitbringin?’’
—ALEXISDETOCQUEVILLE,
DEMOCRACYINAMERICA,1835
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CONTENTS
Introduction | 1
Chapter 1:
This Side of Paradise, 1920-1929 | 24
Chapter 2:
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? 1930-1945 | 63
Chapter 3:
If I Were a Rich Man, 1946-1964 | 104
Chapter 4:
Lord, Won’t You Buy Me a Mercedes-Benz, 1965-1979 | 141
Chapter 5:
Lifestyles of the Rich And Famous, 1980-1994 | 180
Chapter 6:
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? 1995- | 217
Conclusion | 258
Appendix | 263
Notes | 269
Bibliography | 297
Index | 305
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
MANYTHANKSTOBOBSHUMANFORRECOGNIZINGTHISWAS
a story worth telling and to all the other fine folks at
AMACOM for bringing it to life. Much gratitude to the staffs at
theNewYorkPublicLibrary,Miami-DadePublicLibrary,andUni-
versity of Miami Richter Library for steering me in the right direc-
tion. Finally, special appreciation to Paul Groncki and Susan
Hirshman at JP Morgan for sparking my interest in the American
richandforallowingmetoaddmyowntwobitstothe story.