Post War- 1950’s American Society

Reading Assignment

• Read Chapter 18• Section 1,2,3 pages 598-624• Quiz on Tuesday

Slang of the 1950’s

• List the terms we still use today.

Post War Economic Boom

• GI Bill– Millions go to college-white collar-

middle class– FHA makes low interest loans, spurs

growth of suburban American• Consumer Goods-Cars, T.V.,

Appliances, AC, electric everything• Wages increase by 20% during the

1950’s, dominate world manufacturing

A Moving Society• American’s love for cars is everywhere

in the 1950’s- overwhelming majority have 1 by 1960– Symbol of American freedom,

individualism, standard of living– Car registrations: 1945- 25,000,000

1960 -60,000,000– 2-family cars doubles from 1951-1958

• Interstate Highway Act of 1956- Builds freeway system in the U.S.- 43,100 miles of road

• Today’s Problems

The Culture of the Car

First McDonald’s (1955)

‘Drive in’ culture, very socially mobile society

Drive-In Movies

Howard Johnson’s

Growth of the Suburbs- American Dream and “White Flight”

• Levittown, Long Island was one of the first ‘ideal’ suburban towns created

• Houses, streets, trees, etc. are all the same

• “Little Boxes”• White Flight- 1950’s-1960’s-mass

movement of middle class whites to the suburbs

• By 1960-1/3 of the U. S. population in the suburbs.

• Sunbelt Migration

1949 -William Levitt produced 150 houses per week.$7,990 or $60/month with no down payment.

Little boxes on the hillside,Little boxes made of ticky-tacky,Little boxes, little boxes,Little boxes, all the same.There's a green one and a pink oneAnd a blue one and a yellow oneAnd they're all made out of ticky-tackyAnd they all look just the same.

And the people in the housesAll go to the university,And they all get put in boxes,Little boxes, all the same.And there's doctors and there's lawyersAnd business executives,And they're all made out of ticky-tackyAnd they all look just the same.

And they all play on the golf-course,And drink their Martini dry,And they all have pretty children,And the children go to school.And the children go to summer campAnd then to the university,And they all get put in boxesAnd they all come out the same.

And the boys go into business,And marry, and raise a family,And they all get put in boxes,Little boxes, all the same.There's a green one and a pink oneAnd a blue one and a yellow oneAnd they're all made out of ticky-tackyAnd they all look just the same.

“Little Boxes”, 1962-Malvina Reynolds: Critique of the American Dream

Suburban Living:The Typical TV Suburban Families

The Donna Reed Show1958-1966

Leave It to Beaver1957-1963

Father Knows Best

1954-1958The Ozzie & Harriet

Show1952-1966

I Love Lucy1951-1957

Present a glossy image of ideal American life and values

Gender Roles• T.V. shows, magazines,

advertisement and government propaganda promote the ‘ideal American family’

• “Traditional Gender Roles”- Reading

• The ideal modern woman married, cooked and cared for her family, and kept herself busy by joining the local PTA and leading a troop of Campfire Girls. She entertained guests in her family’s suburban house and worked out on the trampoline to keep her size 12 figure. -- Life magazine, 1956

• The ideal 1950s man was the provider, protector, and the boss of the house. -- Life magazine, 1955

• Backlash against 50’s gender role conformity.

• Betty Friedan writes the groundbreaking book, “The Feminine Mystique”.

• Sows seeds for Feminist movement of 60’s.

American Dream in the 1950s• White Middle Class America thrived in

the 1950’s• Suburban Growth create new ‘ideal’

communities with many activities• Baby Boom- 1945-1964, largest in U.S.

History, 70+ million!• Religious revival• Keeping up with ‘The Joneses’• McCarthyism and Cold War fears,

along with T.V. and government propaganda, push for social conformity

1950’s Consumerism1950 Introduction of the Diner’s

Card

Spending on credit becomes the foundation of the American economy!

Advertising drives America’s spending habits.

Television in the 1950s 1946 7,000 TV sets in the U. S.

1950 50,000,000 TV sets in the U. S.

Mass Audience TV celebrated traditionalAmerican values.

Truth, Justice, and the American way!

Television – The WesternDavy Crockett

King of the Wild Frontier

The Lone Ranger and Tonto

Sheriff Matt Dillon,

Gunsmoke

Popular Culture Changes-Birth of Rock and Roll

• Teenager culture drives pop culture• Dances, diners, drive ins• Rock and Roll is born -1951 Alan Freed• 1954-Elvis cuts ‘That’s alright Mama’,

Bill Haley ‘Rock Around the Clock’• Elvis on T.V.• Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Buddy Holly• American Bandstand and The Ed

Sullivan Show dominate T.V.

Rebellion and Dissent

• The 1950’s sees a rise in juvenile delinquency

• Rock and Roll was seen as the devil’s music by some

• Hollywood had its rebels also...• The Beat Generation: First Counter

Culture, roots of the Hippie movement

• Jack Kerouac- On The Road• Allen Ginsberg poem-“Howl”

The Other America: Poverty And Segregation in the 1950s

• Not everyone sharing in prosperity.• Jim Crow is still alive and well in the south.• In the north, de-facto segregation and discrimination.• Women are questioning traditional gender roles.• “The Feminine Mystique” is the beginning of the

Feminist Movement• Not everyone conforming (Counter-culture)• Poverty exists, but ‘mainstream America’ ignores it.• “The Other America” is written to expose poverty.• “The Invisible Man” is written to expose racism and

segregation