Riding for a fall – Wall Street crash: October 1929

1920s' New York is booming. The rollercoaster on Coney Island symbolises what happens in October 1929: the boom busts, the Wall Street stock market crashes, thousands are ruined, a worldwide depression begins.

Americans had been optimistic that economic prosperity would continue. The boom was built on high and quick profits, overproduction and risky speculation. Then limited buying power due to low wages and fewer exports due to tariffs slowed the economy. In October, panic sets in, 16.4 million shares are traded in one day, investors lose $74 billion and thousands their jobs.

Reuters: news footage from a number of sources; sound was either not produced or is no longer available to use.

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