THE C

OLD W

AR AT

HOME

I’m feeling better and am no longer contagious, but I can’t talk. I will be seeing a doctor about this again tomorrow, but in the meantime I am going to use text slides and video clips in lieu of lecturing.

THE COLD WAR

The United States and the Soviet Union (Russia) were allies during WWII, but only because they had a mutual enemy, Nazi Germany. The U.S. and the Soviet Union were based on very different and opposing principles – for the U.S., free market capitalism tempered by protections for workers, and for the Soviet Union, pure socialism, in which the government owns the means of production, i.e. business. Each saw its system as superior and hoped to spread it across the globe.

THE COLD WAR AT HOME

Back in the United States, the prospect of a nuclear war proved frightening to Americans both young and old. Some built their own bomb shelters while others participated in mass drills in preparation for attack. Nuclear weapons created a wartime atmosphere of “mutually assured destruction”---a frightening prospect.

“Duck and Cover”: https://archive.org/details/gov.ntis.ava11109vnb1

AN ERA OF “CONFORMITY”

But there were other things going on on the homefront. After fifteen years of economic depression and global war, Americans were ready for a return to normalcy. The world they created in the 1950s was one that valued conformity and a domestic contentment that was seen as a protection against the spread of Communism---after all, if American workers were happy and contented in suburban bliss, they would not be susceptible to Communism.

POSTWAR HOUSING

After WWII, there were many fears that the economy would dip back into depression. Given that this happened after WWI, and that it was only the advent of war that ended the Depression of the 1930s, this fear was very real. One problem many returning GIs faced was a severe housing shortage.

Rent Control, 1945: https://archive.org/details/Ceilingo1945

LEVITTOWN AND SUBURBANIZATION

While there had been suburbs since the early 19th century, they had been limited to the wealthy or the relatively small middle class. After WWII, the creation of massive new suburbs, combined with affordable home loans, led to a large expansion of the middle class.

These new suburbs tended to be limited to whites, leaving blacks, Hispanics, and others out of the picture. However, they did make a variety of ethnic groups---Italian-Americans, Polish-Americans, etc.---white in the American consciousness. Individuals who had previously been seen as of questionable citizenship became accepted without question.

The following slides contain pictures of Levittown, the most famous mass-produced suburb in postwar America. As you view these pictures, think about what appeal these new communities had, what they were centered around (usually shopping centers---remember that whole consumption thing we’ve talked about?), and the size and quality of the homes themselves.

THOUGHTS ON THESE IMAGES?

Would you live in Levittown?

YOUTHFUL MARRIAGE AND THE BABY BOOM

During the 1950s, the age of first marriage dropped to an unprecedented low and the number of children per family jumped. This was partly because people had put off marriage and childrearing because of depression and war, but it was also a result of postwar America’s emphasis on family and conformity.

The 1950s was not so much a return to the way things were before as the creation of something new.

What do you notice in the graphs below?

CREATING CONFORMITY

During the 1950s, there was a lot of emphasis on conformity, and a lot of fear of anything that seemed potentially subversive. Individuals suspected with being members of the Communist Party of the USA were tried as enemy spies, and a witch hunt spread through Hollywood. Conformity meant more than just prosecuting Communist sympathizers, though, as these videos from the time will show. It also meant conforming to the breadwinner-father homemaker-mother ideal which had spread with the growth of the middle class (in the 19th century, after all, only those in the relatively-small middle class could afford to live on one income).

“Are You Popular?” https://archive.org/details/AreYouPo1947

“Why Study Home Economics?” https://archive.org/details/0130_Why_Study_Home_Economics_20_47_09_00

FEARS OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY

Remember what we said about fearing anything that seems subversive? Well, during the 1950s juvenile delinquency was seem as an especially large threat because of its subversive potential. Panics over juvenile delinquency and the comic books “kids these days” were reading were common in the 1950s.

SEXUAL SUBVERSIVES

It was during this period that gay men were (falsely) portrayed as child molesters who prey on young boys. Again, this was part of viewing anything outside of the conformity of the heterosexual suburban family as potentially subversive.

“Boys Beware”: https://archive.org/details/boys_beware

THE BIRTH CONTROL PILL

The birth control pill was first released in 196O. Originally, only married women had access to the pill. The pill was promoted by the government in a Cold War context---it was believed that if couples had the ability to choose how many children they could have it would help prevent financial problems. The U.S. also promoted the pill globally, billing it as a solution to the rapidly growing world population. Once again, it was seen as a bulwark against subversion.

During this same period, unmarried women who became pregnant were often forced to either marry or to give up their baby at birth regardless of their own wishes.

CONSUMPTION

This period was also one of increased consumption. After fifteen years of depression and war, business returned to producing consumer durables with a vengeance. Their efforts took on a Cold War fervor as they sought to show the superiority of capitalism to Communism. One again Americans spoke a rhetoric of progress and improvement.

“Design for Dreaming” as produced by GM: https://archive.org/details/2306_Design_for_Dreaming_21_26_14_00

CAVEATS

The apparent calm of the 1950s masked important areas of unrest. Levittown and other housing developments benefited whites only, and the black poverty rate was almost three times the white poverty rate. Even as white women in the expanding middle class stayed at home, black women predominantly worked, because they had to. It was also during the 1950s that the civil rights movement took off in earnest. The conformity of the 1950s also helped to fuel a rebellion against conformity in the 1960s.

THE END

1. I have your midterms graded, please come get them from me before you leave.

2. Remember that your second paper is due tomorrow, both on oncourse and in hard copy.