the 1950’s. cars golden age of big cars the demand for faster more stylish cars increased. cars...
TRANSCRIPT
The demand for faster more stylish cars increased.
Cars were big with chrome bumpers and tail fins that mimicked the aviation look.
Style was king in the 50's and gas mileage wasn't a concern with gasoline at about 10 cents a gallon.
Ford Thunderbird, Plymouth Fury, American Motors Rambler, Chevy Corvette, Ford Edsel, Cadillac, ‘57 Chevrolet Bel Air Sport Coupe V-8, and VW Beetle
Cars New highways were built Teenagers began using cars for
recreation Drive-throughs and drive-ins became
more popular for food and entertainment
More people took trips New pollution problems
Corvette Harley Earl: father of the Corvette Was concerned about European
sportscars Wanted an American sportscar Showed Chevrolet Corvette “Dream
Car” in January 1953
Route 66 Finished in 1938, was a
“super highway” until the late 1950’s
Called “The Mother Road” Replaced by the
Interstate system 2,448 miles long Ran from Chicago to Los
Angeles
TELEVISION In 1950 there are about 10 million
sets in the U.S. black and white. No Remote Control! Received your TV shows via an antenna It brought the everyday world into
people’s houses
Television Broadcasters began to see they could
control certain events. In 1953, Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation
was broadcast to the world. Advertisers realized TV’s potential
TV Variety Shows Variety was popular in early
50’s—Westerns in later 50’s Golden Age of Television Milton Berle Ted Mack’s Amatuer Hour Your Hit Parade
Howdy Doody
1947-1960 Star was a marionette The audience of kids was called the
Peanut Gallery and there was a huge waiting list for tickets to the show.
Howdy Doody was the first regular network series in color
Captain Kangaroo Captain (Bob Keeshan)
taught us good manners, respect and fair play
Mr. Green Jeans taught us to be nice to animals.
Keeshan stood fast against any ads which he felt were inappropriate for children.
No cast members ever delivered commercials
The Mickey Mouse Club 1955 Annette Funnicello was
the most popular Mouseketeers opened
Disneyland in July 17, 1955
Walt Disney’s Dream in Anaheim
I LOVE LUCY1951-57
Lucille Ball was a pathfinder who paved the way for all the women in TV to follow.
40,000,000 viewers a week tune in
GUNSMOKE 1955-1975
Longest running dramatic series in TV history
Started as ½ hour show, then became an hour long
Dealt with real—not fantasy characters
BONANZA1959-73
First 2 seasons only reason NBC kept it on the air was because it was in color
Moved to Sunday night and became a hit
Show dealt with then controversial issues
Music LP’s were records Popular songs were from Broadway, Big
bands, and crooners Top singers: Kay Starr, Doris Day,
Frankie Lane, Perry Como, Mega Stars: Bing Crosby and Frank
Sinatra
Music—the change The feel-good innocence of a lot of the
Fifties music reflects on the post World War II optimism in America.
In 1955, Chuck Berry introduced “Maybelline”
Began the start of the singer/guitarist
MUSIC Birth of Rock and Roll Bill Haley's “Rock Around The Clock”
became popular in 1955; the nation learned to swing to a whole new sound.
Rock ‘n Roll was banned in respectable places
Alan Freed—a DJ with a mission
Alan Freed
Came up with term “rock and roll”
Caught in a “payola” scandal (illegal payment for having a song played a lot in order to make it a hit)
American Bandstand
Bandstand began as a local program on in Philadelphia on October 7, 1952.
American Bandstand, airing it's first national show on August 5, 1957.
Host: Dick Clark Dancing was a major feature
of Bandstand. Rate-A-Record
"It has a good beat and you can dance to it."
The Day the Music Died
plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Bopper
Feb. 3, 1959
Buddy Holly “That’ll Be the Day” “Peggy Sue” Rhythm and Blue (previously only blacks
played this style of music)
Elvis Presley
Charted more songs on Billboard's Hot 100 than any other artist. (149)
Had the greatest number of consecutive #1 hits. (10)
Elvis has the second most Multi-Platinum records (19)
Elvis has more Gold records than any other artist (81)
Elvis has more Platinum records than any other artist (43)
ELVIS “Hound Dog” “Love Me Tender” “All Shook Up” “Jailhouse Rock” Most photographed
celebrity of the 50’s.
Other musical landmarks Harry Belafonte became one of the
most respected black entertainers as a singer, songwriter, and actor
Harold Jenkins changed his name and made a string of hits as Conway Twitty
Stereo records first went on sale in 1958
THE BOMB America was the only
nuclear power until 1950.
US exploded the first hydrogen bomb at Eniwetok Atoll in the Pacific in 1952.
Korean War
1950-53 North Korea had Communist government
under Soviet influence South Korea was non-Communist and backed
by the US 1950, North invaded the South and the “cold
war” between US and Soviet Union was fanned into flame
Korean War First jet dogfights between US Sabres
and Chinese MiGs Neither side was able to force a victory Panmunjon treaty in 1953 brought a
truce The two Koreas are still hostile
The Space Age
October 4, 1957, the world’s first artificial satellite, Sputnik I, was launched by Soviets
American space scientists scrambled to launch their own satellite
The space race began America began to think of putting a
man in space
Mercury 7 Astronauts October 7, 1958 Project Mercury Put a human in space, orbit globe,
return safely 1961: Alan Shepard in Freedom 7, first
American human suborbital flight
The British Empire ends 1957: Gold Coast in West Africa became
the first British colony in Africa to get independence—as Ghana
Britain’s once-vast empire was shrinking The territories of the old Empire gained
their independence during the late 50’s and early 60’s
The world map was redrawn
Cuba! 1959, corrupt dictatorship
of Batista was overthrown by Marxist revolution
Fidel Castro led the revolution
Castro became the ultimate Communist opponent for Americans
Mt. Everest
June 2, 1953 After 7 unsuccessful attempts, Mt.
Everest the world’s highest mountain, had been climbed
Edmund Hillary (New Zealand) and Tenzing Norgay (Nepal Sherpa)
Polio
In early 50’s, fear of polio epidemic Polio is a viral infection that affects the
brain and nervous system, left victims paralyzed
Outbreaks worse in warm weather Dr. Jonas Salk invented a vaccine 1958 an oral vaccine available
The Red Scare The hunt for communists Senator Joseph McCarthy No one was safe from his probing.
Government workers, College Professors, playwrights and Hollywood Screenwriters, actors, artists, musicians, gays, Jews and anyone with a goatee was suspect.
House of Un-American Activities Committee
The Hollywood Ten
Herbert Biberman, Lester Cole, Albert Maltz, Adrian Scott, Samuel Omitz, Dalton Trumbo, Edward Dmytryk, Ring Lardner Jr., John Lawson, and Alvah Bessie
Refused to answer any questions House Un-American Committee
disagreed They were sentenced to 6 to 12 months
in prison 320 people were put on the list and
couldn’t get work
Hollywood was especially under scrutiny Writers and actors were blackballed "Are you now, or have you ever been, a
member of the communist party?” Dalton Trumbo, Ruth Gordon, Zero
Mostel, Dashiell Hammett, Lillian Hellman, Jose Ferrer and Orson Welles were blacklisted.
To be suspected of being a communist was worse than being a murderer or rapist.
Just being suspected meant one was a traitor, cutting the throats of American babies.
Anyone who refused to take the pledge was blacklisted and found it impossible to get work, and was harassed constantly by 'agents' for names of other sympathizers.
The Rosenbergs Klaus Fuchs worked with the
Manhattan Project He confessed he passed
information about it to the Soviets during WWII
Ethyl and Julius Rosenberg were identified as couriers
They were found guilty and sentenced to death
They remained on death-row for 26 months
They were executed June 19, 1953
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg died in twin electric chairs for being spies.
They never did confess or name names.
Edward R. Murrow Most renowned newscaster
in history CBS “See It Now” Murrow's most-celebrated piece was March 9,
1954, telecast, in which he engaged Senator Joseph R. McCarthy in a program "told mainly in [McCarthy's] own words and pictures." Started McCathy’s downfall.
Brown Vs. Topeka Board of Education—Landmark case 1954 Oliver Brown filed the suit because his
daughter Linda (7) had to travel 1 ½ hrs. to school, while white children went just a few blocks
Supreme Court unanimously declared it unconstitutional to create separate schools for children because of race
Overturned Plessy vs. Ferguson
Fashion Circular, full skirts Can-Cans (stiff crinoline
petticoat) Bobby Socks Flat shoes Tight-waisted full skirts with belt
and button up shirt Poodle skirts
Inventions 1951: UNIVAC Computer, Super
Glue 1952: Mr. Potato Head 1953: Radial tires, Contact paper 1954: Kidney Transplant, colored
appliances 1955: Home microwave ($1500)
Inventions
1956: Computer hard disk, Liquid paper; videotape recorder
1957: Velcro, AA batteries 1958: Laser, hula hoop 1959: Pacemaker, snowmobile
Barbie Ruth Handler created the
teenage doll Barbie is named for Ruth’s
daughter Barbara Unveiled Barbie at the Toy Fair in
1959 Remains one of the hottest
selling toys in the world
Movies Most popular after WWII Became more reliant on “teen-and-
twenty” crowd Family film became less commercially
lucrative Science fiction was really popular Television hurt movies
Movies
The Wild One On the Waterfront Rebel Without a Cause The Incredible Shrinking
Man Invaders from Mars
Movies turned to technology to draw audience back—Vistavision, Cinerama, 3 D glasses, special effects
Creature from Black Lagoon (3D) Ben Hur (blockbuster epic)