After the Roaring Twenties, a decade of partying, lavish living and social and cultural change, Americans thought the rising stock market and good times would last forever.
On Sept. 3, 1929 the stock market hit an all-time high, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average peaking at 381.17
But Oct. 24, 1929 — what became known as “Black Thursday” — the healthy bull market was shaken, and stock prices plummeted. The market lost 11 percent of its value. Investors tried to step in by putting money into the market, but it was no use.
By Oct. 29, ‘Black Tuesday’, stocks tanked again. People panicked. Some flooded Wall Street trying to get a straight story about what was going on. Others flocked to the banks to withdraw all their money. The market closed down 12 percent that day.
The hours leading up to, during and after the stock market crash of 1929 were documented in photos. We have some for you here.
This is a late edition of the now defunct Brooklyn Daily Eagle on October 24th
Crowds of people clustered in the streets reading news about the market’s 11% dive
Panic was in the air in front of the Stock Exchange
The next day though, headlines were rosier, people went back to normal, waiting for info
Then the market crashed and crowds flooded Wall Street. It was called ‘Black Tuesday’
…and then the Market crashed and the crowds flooded Wall Street. Black Tuesday would rule until the recovery in 1955 – 26 years!
Here, crowds wait outside the Sub Treasury Building (now Federal Hall National Memorial) opposite the Stock Exchange.
This photographer ran to the roof to show how many people were on the streets by the stock market.
Meanwhile, on the floor of the stock exchange, traders watched the fall in horror.
The crash in New York started a run on banks around the country, here’s a line of people waiting to get their cash.
From Oct. 28 to Oct. 29 the market lost $30 billion (The equivalent of over $322 billion in November 2013). So you can understand people’s panic.
The rumor was that the Smoot-Hawley Tariff making its way through Congress was to blame.
On Oct. 30th, The New York Times was still optimistic that things would turn around
But come November, newspapers started foreshadowing the gloom and doom of the next 12 years.
And once the reality hit, people had to sell their belongings in order to get by.
Written by Meredith Galante and published at Business Insider. December 6, 2011.
