Plymouth: The First Decade
Consumer Price Index (CPI) information is from [BLS 2000].
1928
Consumer Price Index: 17.1
Herbert Hoover elected President.
Plymouth Model Q rolled off the Highland Park assembly line on June 11, 1928 and was formally announced to the public on July 7th as a 1929 model [Butler 1978 18].
1929
Consumer Price Index: 17.1
In January Hoover takes office. In October the Great Crash on Wall Street occurred leading to the Great Depression.
Plymouth Model U introduced.
1930
Consumer Price Index: 16.7
Thousands of WW1 veterans form the “Bonus Army” and march on Washington to demand benefits promised during the war but never delivered. In the west, construction starts on Boulder Dam (now called Hoover Dam).
Elsewhere in the world, Mohandas Gandhi starts his salt march to the sea.
Plymouth Model 30-U introduced.
1931
Consumer Price Index: 15.2
Thomas Edison submits his last patent application in January, he dies in October. The Star-Spangled Banner is adopted as the United States National anthem. The Empire State Building is finished.
Plymouth Model PA introduced.
1932
Consumer Price Index: 13.6
The Lindberg baby is kidnapped and murdered. Amelia Earhart flies across the Atlantic Ocean. The first Federal gas tax in America is passed (1 cent/gallon). President Hoover uses the Army to forcibly evict the “Bonus Army” from Washington. Franklin Roosevelt elected President.
Plymouth Model PB introduced. In the fall the Model PC was introduced as a 1933 model.
1933
Consumer Price Index: 13.0
Franklin Roosevelt takes office. By many economic indicators, this is the worst year of the Depression. In May, John Dillinger is released from prison and, shortly thereafter, starts the crime spree that makes him famous.
On January 5th construction starts on the Golden Gate Bridge
Elsewhere in the world, Adolf Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany.
The PCXX and PD models replace the PC model.
Photograph copyright Jim
Benjaminson, used with permission.
Here you can see the differences between a 1933 Ford and a 1933 Plymouth PD (in the background).
1934
Consumer Price Index: 13.4
In May Bonnie and Clyde are killed. In July John Dillinger is killed.
The PE, PF, and PG models are built. In the fall the PJ is introduced as a 1935 model.
Photographs copyright Jim Benjaminson, used
with permission.
Here you can see the differences between the best selling 1934 cars. From left to right (front view Plymouth, Chevrolet, Ford. The rear view is in reverse order.
1935
Consumer Price Index: 13.7
Babe Ruth hits the last of his 714 home runs. Amelia Earhart becomes the first person to fly solo from Hawaii to California. FBI kills Barker gang, including Ma Barker, in a shootout. Nylon is invented. Boulder Dam (now called Hoover Dam) is completed. And the China Clipper takes off from Alameda, California delivering the first airmail cargo across the Pacific Ocean.
Elsewhere in the world, Hitler announces that Germany, in violation of international treaties, is rearming. Also in Germany, the Nuremberg Laws were passed.
In the fall of 1935 the P1 and P2 Plymouths are introduced as 1936 models.
1936
Consumer Price Index: 13.9
Roosevelt is elected for a second term as President. San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge opens to traffic. The United Auto Workers union stages its first sit-down strike.
Elsewhere in the world, Germany reoccupies the Rhineland and the Spanish Civil War starts.
In the fall of 1936 the P3 and P4 Plymouths are introduced as 1937 models.
1937
Consumer Price Index: 14.4
In April then Golden Gate bridge opens for traffic.
Elsewhere in the world, the Sino-Japanese War starts. Japanese troops slaughter over 250,000 civilians and prisoners over three months during the “Nanjing Massacre”.
In the fall of 1937 the P5 and P6 Plymouths are introduced as 1938 models.