The cross-Atlantic flight of Charles "Lucky Lindy" Lindbergh in 1927 made him an instant global hero, but even lesser daredevils earned brief fame. A Texan won a $500 bet by pushing, in 22 days, a peanut with his nose up the 14,400 feet-high Pikes Peak. A Louisville housewife won a $200 prize for listening to a radio station for 106 hours without falling asleep (She had to be hospitalized for a combination of delirium and exhaustion).
In no mood to worry whether the good times would last, Americans were happily spending money they had had to save because of wartime shortages, and there was a plethora of new marvelous products to buy. Automobiles, an expensive prestige symbol before the start of WWI, became mass-produced, cheaper and a necessity for taking the new roads to America's thriving cities. By 1927, Ford discontinued the Model T after selling 15 million of them.
Industries switched from coal power to electricity, the production of which almost quadrupled; telephone lines began spanning the continent; and modern waterworks, sewer systems, bridges and other new infrastructure were improving the quality of life even in out-of-the-way communities and regions.

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