In the 1920's, trains and ocean liners were the dominant mass transportation methods, providing comfortable, reliable transport to millions of American vacationers. Trains had opened up the continent and ships the world, but newer methods of transport captured the imagination of the public and reduced travel times.

In 1920, transportation was in a state of rapid transition from animal power to the internal combustion engine. The Ford Model T was the dominant automobile, making car ownership accessible to the middle class for the first time. However, Railroads were still the backbone of long-distance travel, with passenger rail reaching its historical peak in the early 1920s. In cities, Electric Streetcars (Trams) were the primary mode of public transit, though they began to face competition from early "motor buses." For international travel, Ocean Liners like the RMS Mauretania were the only way to cross the Atlantic. Commercial aviation was in its infancy; 1920 marked the first international passenger flight (Florida to Cuba), but planes were loud, cold, and carried only a handful of people. Most rural areas still relied heavily on horse-drawn wagons for local agricultural transport and short trips.