The Way We Were…. 1940s and 1950s

Life in the 1940s and ’50sNicole, Annie, Carrie

Art• Pop art was a popular style of art that started

in the late 1950s.Pop art used common every day objects to illustrate popular culture. Abstract expressionism was also prominent in art prior to pop art, in the 1940s and the early 1950s.

• “ Girl with mask” was created by a Mexican artist named Juan Soriano in 1945. It was an oil on canvas.

• Frida Kahlo painted “Still Life With Watermelons” in 1953; that same year Georgia O’Keefe, the artist well-known for flower paintings, produced “Abiquiu Trees VII.”

Books• I, Robot was a famous

work by Issac Asimov was published by Gnome press in 1950. Two other books include The Power of Positive Thinking, Norman Peale, 1952, and The Wanderer, 1951, by Mika Waltari.

MusicRock ’n’ Roll was a newly

emerging kind of popular music in the 1950s. “The King of Rock ’n’ Roll” was no other than Elvis Presley, whose fame skyrocketed in 1956. He dominated the U.S. top ten record charts. Previous to Elvis, Dean Collins was a famous dancer in the 1940s with his “Lindy Hop,” “Jitterbug,” and “Lindy Swing.” Elvis Presley sang “Hound Dog” in 1957.

BARBIE!The international event that changed the world…the creation of a fabulous blonde with a passion for fashion…BARBIE! Barbie stole the runway in 1959, her face plastered throughout toy stores worldwide, the same stores whose windows then had little girls’ faces eagerly smushed up against the glass.

Medical and Scientific Advancements

THE POLIO VACCINE:

Jonas Salk developed the first successful polio vaccine in 1952. After worldwide testing of the vaccine proved it to decrease the amount of polio cases dramatically, the government approved the vaccine for children in 1955. Also, penicillin was discovered in 1945.

Influential Women

Girl power was spreading swiftly with Bella Abzug. Abzug is a well-known American political figure and led the women’s movement. She also succeeded in becoming an attorney in the 1940s. This was huge because not many women were able to become attorneys at that time. Bella Abzug also “took on civil rights cases in the South.”

Fashion

For guys, trends included hairstyles such as the Grease duck butt. Girls found it stylish to wear ponytails, cashmere sweaters, poodle skirts, rolled up t-shirt sleeves, pedal pushers, black leather jackets, scarves, gym wear, and swing dresses. When looking for more formal attire, girls adorned dresses like the spring/summer evening gown at left from 1947.

Marilyn Monroe

• Marilyn Monroe was born as Norma Jeane, but she adopted ‘Marilyn Monroe’ as her name in 1946 as she pursued her dreams as a star. Marilyn Monroe, a legendary actress, made twenty-nine films.

SCANDAL!According to scientists,

people in Japan who drank powdered milk “laced with arsenic” in the 1950s are subject to damaged hearing and vision, resulting in higher rates of deaths such as car accidents. Babies who had drank the milk in the 1950s also are showing the damage as they’ve matured.

Bibliography“20th Century Fashion: Women Fashions: 1940s.” The Costume Gallery, 2003.

http://www.costumegallery.com/1940.htm, June 1st, 2008.

“Works of Art: Dress, Evening.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2008. http://www.metmuseum.org/works_of_art/collection_database/the_costume_institute/Dress_Evening/viewObject.aspx?&OID=80002246&PgSz=1, June 1st, 2008

“1950's Fashion, hair, style, clothing and grease in the 50's” Boomers Fifties Teen Idol Magazine, http://home.att.net/~boomers.fifties.teenmag/1950s_fashion.html, June 1st, 2008

Bradley, Becky “American Cultural History.” Kingwood College Library, June 5th BB. http://kclibrary.nhmccd.edu/decade50.html and http://kclibrary.nhmccd.edu/decade40.html, June 1st, 2008

“Biographies of Famous Women.” Villanova University, 2007. http://www.villanova.edu/artsci/womensstudies/resources/famouswomen.htm, June 1st, 2008

“Art History: Pop Art: (1958-1975).” Worldwide Arts Resources, February 5th, 2006. http://wwar.com/masters/movements/pop_art.html, June 1st, 2008

Bibliography Continued!!Drutt, Matthew “The Building.” Guggenheim

Museum http://www.guggenheim.org/the_building.html, June 1st, 2008

United Press International “1950s Scandal Haunts Japan.” Physorg.com, June 18th, 2007 http://www.physorg.com/news101408860.html, June 1st, 2008

“The Cold War.” Historylearningsite.co.uk, 2008 http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/coldwar.htm, June 1st, 2008