One of the themes present in Bernice Bobs her hair is that of Materialism.

Materialism is the concern for the possessions or material wealth and physical
comfort which constitutes the highest value in life.
Throughout the story there are descriptions of peoples wealth and their social
position.
The following quote is a clear example of this.
Every young man with a large income leads the life of a hunted partridge. It
never really appreciates the drama of the shifting, semi-cruel world of
adolescence
This quote is from the very beginning of the story when there is a description of
the young men present at a Saturday night ballroom dancing. Just to clarify, a
partridge is a game bird. That is to say, a bird that is hunted for sport. So what
this quote actually means is that wealthy young men were hunted by girls,
searched for because of their position, their wealth. They were considered as
good candidates because of this. There is a mention in the story of a couple
that has been privately engaged for three years and the woman will only marry
the man once he can hold a job for more than two months.
There are also allusions to prestigious universities such as Harvard and Yale.
Harvard is even used as an adjective to describe the manner of one the young
men who studied there. Warren McIntyre considers himself superior for
attending Yale.
Later in the story it is also explained how Bernice was actually popular in her
home Town (Eau Claire) unlike there at her cousins town, because she
belonged to the wealthiest family of Eau Claire. Her mother was a great
entertainer, she organized dinners for her daughter and had even bought her a
car. So her social success was inextricably linked to her social position, her

wealth. Mrs. Harvey (Marjories mother) even implies that girls who belonged to
nice families had glorious times when she was young.
In the novel there was also present the fact that women, in order to be popular,
had to be constantly well-groomed and dressed in the latest fashion. Marjorie is
constantly telling Bernice what to wear and how to loook. In order to do this, of
course, you needed the money to lead this kind of lifestyle. This can be seen
as shallow and superficial and related also to the times the story was set in. It
was a time of economic boom and prosperity before the Wall Street Crash of
1929. That's why they were called the "Golden Years" the "Roaring twenties".