1950 s american culture

8/13/2019 1950 s American Culture

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Ms. Susan M. PojerHorace Greeley HS Chappaqua NY

THE 1950s:Anxiety, Alienation, and

Social Unrest ??

Conservatism, Complacency,and Contentment

OR


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1A. Baby BoomIt seems to me that every other younghousewife I see is pregnant.

-- British visitor to America, 1958

1957 1 baby born every 7 seconds


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1B. Baby Boom

Dr. Benjamin Spock

and the AndersonQuintuplets


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2A. Suburban Living

$7,990 or $60/month with no down payment.

Levittown, L. I.: The American Dream

1949 William Levittproduced150 houses per week.


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2A. Suburban Living:The New merican Dream

k1 story high

k12x19 living room

k

2 bedroomsktiled bathroom

kgarage

k

small backyardkfront lawn

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

the suburbs.


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2B. Suburban LivingSHIFTS IN POPULATION

DISTRIBUTION,

1940-1970

1940 1950 1960 1970Central Cities 31.6% 32.3% 32.6% 32.0%Suburbs 19.5% 23.8% 30.7% 41.6%

Rural Areas/ 48.9% 43.9% 36.7% 26.4%Small Towns

U. S. Bureau of the Census.


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2c. Suburban Living:The Typical TV Suburban FamiliesThe DonnaReed Show1958-1966

Leave Itto Beaver1957-1963

Father Knows Best

1954-1958

The Ozzie & Harriet Show

1952-1966


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3a. Consumerism1950 Introduction of the Diners Card

All babies were potential consumers whospearheaded a brand-new market for food,clothing, and shelter.

-- LifeMagazine (May, 1958)


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3B. Consumerism


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4A. A Changing WorkplaceAutomation:

1947-1957 factory workers decreased by4.3%, eliminating 1.5 millionblue-collar jobs.

By 1956 more white-collar than blue-collarjobs in the U. S.

Computers Mark I(1944). First IBMmainframe computer (1951).

Corporate Consolidation:By 1960 600 corporations (1/2% of all

U. S. companies) accounted for53% of total corporate income.

WHY?? Cold War military buildup.


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4B. A Changing WorkplaceNew Corporate Culture:

The Company Man

1956 Sloan WilsonsThe Man inthe Gray Flannel Suit


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5A. The Culture of the CarCar registrations: 1945 25,000,000

1960 60,000,000

2-family cars doubles from 1951-1958

1956 Interstate Highway Act largestpublic works project in Americanhistory!

Cost $32 billion.

41,000 miles of new highways built.

1959 Chevy Corvette1958 Pink Cadillac


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5B. The Culture of the Car

First McDonalds(1955)

America became a more homogeneousnation because of the automobile.

Drive-InMovies

HowardJohnsons


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5C. The Culture of the CarThe U. S. population was on the move in the

1950s.NE & Mid-W S & SW (Sunbelt states)

1955 Disneyland opened in Southern California.

(40% of the guests came from outsideCalifornia, most by car.)

Frontier Land Main Street Tomorrow Land


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6C. Television - Family Shows

I Love Lucy The Honeymooners

Glossy view of mostly

middle-class suburban life.

But...

Social Winners?... AND Loosers?


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7A. Teen CultureIn the 1950s the word teenagerenteredthe American language.

By 1956 13 mil. teens with $7 bil. to spenda year.

1951 race music ROCK N ROLL

Elvis Presley The King


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7B. Teen CultureJuvenile Delinquency ???

Marlon BrandoinThe Wild One

(1953)

James DeaninRebel Without a

Cause(1955)

1951 J. D. SalingersA Catcher in the Rye


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7C. Teen CultureThe Beat Generation:

f Jack Kerouac On The Road

f Allen Ginsberg poem, Howl

f Neal Cassadyf William S. Burroughs

Beatnik Clean Teen


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7D. Teen CultureBehavioral Rules of the 1950s:

U Obey Authority.

U Control Your Emotions.

U Dont Make Waves Fit in

with the Group.U Dont Even Think About Sex!!!


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8A. Religious RevivalToday in the U. S., the Christian faith is back inthe center of things. -- Timemagazine, 1954

Church membership: 1940 64,000,000

1960 114,000,000

Television Preachers:

1. Catholic Bishop Fulton J. Sheen Life isWorth Living

2. Methodist Minister Norman Vincent PealeThe Power of Positive Thinking

3. Reverend Billy Graham ecumenical message;warned against the evils of Communism.


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8B. Religious RevivalHollywood: apex of the biblical epics.

Its un-American to be un-religious!

-- The Christian Century, 1954

The Robe The Ten Commandments Ben Hur1953 1956 1959


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9A. Well-Defined Gender RolesThe ideal modern womanmarried, cooked and

cared for her family, and kept herself busy byjoining the local PTA and leading a troop ofCampfire Girls. She entertained guests in herfamilys suburban house and worked out on thetrampoline to keep her size 12 figure.

-- Lifemagazine, 1956MarilynMonroe

The ideal 1950s manwas the provider, protector,and the boss of the house. -- Lifemagazine, 1955

1956 William H. Whyte, Jr. TheOrganization Man

A a middle-class, white suburbanmale is the ideal.


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9B. Well-Defined Gender RolesChanging Sexual Behavior:

Alfred Kinsey:1948 Sexual Behavior in the Human

Male1953 Sexual Behavior in the Human

Femalev Premarital sex was common.

v Extramarital affairs were frequentamong married couples.

Kinseys results are an assault on the familyas a basic unit of society, a negation of morallaw, and a celebration of licentiousness.

-- Lifemagazine, early 1950s


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10A. Progress Through Science1951 -- First IBM Mainframe Computer1952 -- Hydrogen BombTest

1953 -- DNAStructure Discovered

1954 -- Salk VaccineTested for Polio

1957 -- First Commercial U. S. NuclearPower Plant

1958 -- NASACreated

1959 -- Press Conference of the First 7American Astronauts


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10B. Progress Through Science1957 Russians launch SPUTNIK I

1958 National Defense

Education Act


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10C. Progress Through ScienceUFO Sightingsskyrocketed in the 1950s.

War of theWorlds

Hollywood used aliens as a metaphor

for whom ??


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10D. Progress Through ScienceAtomic Anxieties:

Duck-and-CoverGeneration

Atomic Testing:

1946-1962 U. S. exploded 217nuclear weapons over thePacific and in Nevada.


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The 50s Come to a Close1959 Nixon-Khrushchev

Kitchen Debate

Cold War ----->Tensions


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The postwar era witnessedtremendous economic growth and risingsocial contentment and conformity. Yet inthe midst of such increasing affluence andcomfortable domesticity, social criticsexpressed a growing sense of unease withAmerican culture in the 1950s.

Assess the validity of the abovestatement and explain how the decade ofthe 1950s laid the groundwork for thesocial and political turbulence of the1960s.

Class Discussion Topic:

1950 s american culture

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