Journalist Ida Tarbell was one of the “muckrakers” that led to modern day investigative business journalism. Americans were in giddy mood after World War I and went on spending spree. PR campaigns helped stock brokers gain more customers, including women who had previously bought war bonds, but were new to Wall Street investing. An analysis of biggest US companies’ stocks, based on market capitalization, showed that stock returns were 17 percent during the war, according to Certified Financial Analysts Institute. To be sure, it was picture of middle-class white family, not reflecting the ongoing struggles of African American families or rural poor who didn’t have the access to higher education or steady wages. In 1959, about 55 percent of African American families were poor. The “C-suite” in those days consisted of the chief executive officer, chief operating officer and chief financial officer. And it was a very insular club at the very top of Corporate America.