1950’S NEW CULTURE

Mass Media, Youth Culture, Beat Movement & African American

Entertainers

RISE OF TELEVISION: A new era of mass

media led by television emerged in the 1950s

In 1948, only 9% of homes had T.V

In 1950, ____% of homes had T.V.

By 1960, ____% of American homes had T.V.

TELEVISION: A VEHICLE FOR INFORMATION

Variety of shows: news reporting, interviews, westerns, and sporting events

Kids’ shows like The Howdy Doody Show and The Mickey Mouse Club In the 1990s : JT, Britney

Spears, Christina Aguilera & Ryan Gosling

I’m Howdy Doody!!

THE GOLDEN AGE OF TELEVISION “Golden Age of

Television”

Variety Shows:Ed Sullivan Show

Mix of comedy, opera, popular songs, dance, acrobatics, and juggling

Comedies were the main attractionI love Lucy Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball

starred in I Love Lucy

TYPICAL I LOVE LUCY CLIP…

I LOVE LUCY Lucy appears as a scatter-

brained homemaker Turns ordinary household

chores into a complete disaster

People set up their work schedule around the show

Even Marshall Fields (Macy’s) switched its sales to a different night“We love Lucy too, so we’re

closing on Monday nights”

TV VERSUS FILMS Due to the growth in the TV

industry, the film business suffered after

the war 1946: 82 million move-goers; 1950: 36

million

Creation of 3-D films & the “Big Screens” Panoramic, wide screens

Racism in the film industry: African Americans often played

stereotypical roles: Maids, servants, & sidekicks

THE ADVERTISING AGE

Capitalized on runaway consumerismEncouraged more

spending

Spending$170 million in 1950 $2 billion in 1960

Ad agencies increased their spending 50%

Advertising is everywhere today in America

MAD MEN: THE ADVERTISING

INDUSTRY

Willing to do anything to generate sales

MAD MEN & LUCKY STRIKE…

QUESTIONABLE TACTICS???

PREJUDICE ADVERTISING

1953: You don't need a knife, a bottle opener or even your husband to unscrew the cap of this bottle — just a little twist and that ketchup is ready to pour!

PREJUDICE ADVERTISING

MUSIC IN THE 1950S Musicians in the 1950s

added electronic instruments to traditional blues music

DJ Alan Freed was the first to play this music in 1951He called it “rock and

roll” FREED

ROCK N’ ROLL

Chuck Berry, Bill Haley and the Comets, and especially Elvis Presley brought rock and roll to the forefront

The dance rhythm and lyrics feat. love, cars, and problems of being young — captivated teenagers across the country

THE KING OF ROCK AND ROLL

Presley’s rebellious style captured young audiences Girls screamed / fainted Boys tried to imitate him

Parents condemned Presley’s dance & music as “loud, mindless, and dangerous for teenagers”

ELVIS PRESLEY – HOUND DOG (1957)

A SUBCULTURE EMERGES

Dissenting voices emerged

“Beat Movement” clashed with the 1950s tidy suburban views of life

Criticized conformity, meaningless politics, and the emptiness of popular culture

BEATNIKS FOLLOW THEIR OWN PATH

Centered in San Fran, L.A. and NY, the Beat Movement expressed social nonconformity

Followers, called “beatniks,” tended to shun work and materialism

They sought understanding through Zen Buddhism, music, and the experimentation of drugs

Beatniks often performed poetry or music in coffeehouses or bars

AFRICAN AMERICANS ENTERTAINERS

As the Beatniks rejected American culture, African Americans struggled to find acceptance among it…

TV tended to shut out African Americans

In 1956, NBC gave Nat King Cole his own 15-minute musical variety show Ended 2 years later because of the

failure to find a national sponsor

Rock & Roll singers had more luck Chuck Berry, Ray Charles, and Little

Richard Many were inspirational for the Beatles