1950sAmericanCulture

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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 Boom It seems to me that every other young housewife 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 Anderson Quintuplets

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2A. Suburban Living $7,990 or $60/month with no down payment. Levittown, L. I.: “The American Dream” 1949 ? William Levitt produced 150 houses per week.

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2A. Suburban Living:The New “American Dream” 1 story high 12’x19’ living room 2 bedrooms tiled bathroom garage small backyard front lawn By 1960 ? 1/3 of the U. S. population in the suburbs.

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2B. Suburban Living SHIFTS IN POPULATION DISTRIBUTION, 1940-1970 1940 1950 1960 1970 Central 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 Families The Donna Reed Show1958-1966 Leave It to Beaver1957-1963 Father Knows Best1954-1958 The Ozzie & Harriet Show1952-1966

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3a. Consumerism 1950 ? Introduction of the Diner’s Card All babies were potential consumers who spearheaded a brand-new market for food, clothing, and shelter. -- Life Magazine (May, 1958)

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3B. Consumerism

4A. A Changing Workplace : 

4A. A Changing Workplace Automation: 1947-1957 ? factory workers decreased by 4.3%, eliminating 1.5 million blue-collar jobs. By 1956 ? more white-collar than blue-collar jobs in the U. S. Computers ? Mark I (1944). First IBM mainframe computer (1951). Corporate Consolidation: By 1960 ? 600 corporations (1/2% of all U. S. companies) accounted for 53% of total corporate income. WHY?? Cold War military buildup.

4B. A Changing Workplace : 

4B. A Changing Workplace New Corporate Culture: “The Company Man” 1956 ? Sloan Wilson’s The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit

5A. The Culture of the Car : 

5A. The Culture of the Car Car registrations: 1945 ? 25,000,000 1960 ? 60,000,000 2-family cars doubles from 1951-1958 1956 ? Interstate Highway Act ? largest public works project in American history! Cost $32 billion. 41,000 miles of new highways built. 1959 Chevy Corvette 1958 Pink Cadillac

5B. The Culture of the Car : 

5B. The Culture of the Car First McDonald’s (1955) America became a more homogeneous nation because of the automobile. Drive-In Movies Howard Johnson’s

5C. The Culture of the Car : 

5C. The Culture of the Car The 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 outside California, most by car.) Frontier Land Main Street Tomorrow Land

6A. Television : 

6A. Television 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. Television is a vast wasteland. ? Newton Minnow, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, 1961 Truth, Justice, and the American way!

6B. Television – The Western : 

6B. Television – The Western Davy CrockettKing of the Wild Frontier The Lone Ranger(and his faithfulsidekick, Tonto): Who is that masked man?? Sheriff Matt Dillon, Gunsmoke

6C. Television - Family Shows : 

6C. Television - Family Shows I Love Lucy The Honeymooners Glossy view of mostly middle-class suburban life. But... Social Winners?... AND… Loosers?

7A. Teen Culture : 

7A. Teen Culture In the 1950s ? the word “teenager” entered the American language. By 1956 ? 13 mil. teens with $7 bil. to spend a year. 1951 ? “race music” ? “ROCK ‘N ROLL” Elvis Presley ? “The King”

7B. Teen Culture : 

7B. Teen Culture “Juvenile Delinquency” ??? Marlon Brando inThe Wild One (1953) James Dean inRebel Without a Cause (1955) 1951 ? J. D. Salinger’s A Catcher in the Rye

7C. Teen Culture : 

7C. Teen Culture The “Beat” Generation: Jack Kerouac ? On The Road Allen Ginsberg ? poem, “Howl” Neal Cassady William S. Burroughs “Beatnik” “Clean” Teen

7D. Teen Culture : 

7D. Teen Culture Behavioral Rules of the 1950s: Obey Authority. Control Your Emotions. Don’t Make Waves ? Fit in with the Group. Don’t Even Think About Sex!!!

8A. Religious Revival : 

8A. Religious Revival Today in the U. S., the Christian faith is back in the center of things. -- Time magazine, 1954 Church membership: 1940 ? 64,000,000 1960 ? 114,000,000 Television Preachers: 1. Catholic Bishop Fulton J. Sheen ? “Life is Worth Living” 2. Methodist Minister Norman Vincent Peale ? The Power of Positive Thinking 3. Reverend Billy Graham ? ecumenical message; warned against the evils of Communism.

8B. Religious Revival : 

8B. Religious Revival Hollywood: apex of the biblical epics. It’s un-American to be un-religious! -- The Christian Century, 1954 The Robe The Ten Commandments Ben Hur 1953 1956 1959

9A. Well-Defined Gender Roles : 

9A. Well-Defined Gender Roles 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 MarilynMonroe The ideal 1950s man was the provider, protector, and the boss of the house. -- Life magazine, 1955 1956 ? William H. Whyte, Jr. ? The Organization Man a middle-class, white suburban male is the ideal.

9B. Well-Defined Gender Roles : 

9B. Well-Defined Gender Roles Changing Sexual Behavior: Alfred Kinsey: 1948 ? Sexual Behavior in the Human Male 1953 ? Sexual Behavior in the Human Female Premarital sex was common. Extramarital affairs were frequent among married couples. Kinsey’s results are an assault on the family as a basic unit of society, a negation of moral law, and a celebration of licentiousness. -- Life magazine, early 1950s

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10A. Progress Through Science 1951 -- First IBM Mainframe Computer 1952 -- Hydrogen Bomb Test 1953 -- DNA Structure Discovered 1954 -- Salk Vaccine Tested for Polio 1957 -- First Commercial U. S. Nuclear Power Plant 1958 -- NASA Created 1959 -- Press Conference of the First 7 American Astronauts

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10B. Progress Through Science 1957 ? Russians launch SPUTNIK I 1958 ? National Defense Education Act

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10C. Progress Through Science UFO Sightings skyrocketed in the 1950s. War of the Worlds Hollywood used aliens as a metaphor for whom ??

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10D. Progress Through Science Atomic Anxieties: “Duck-and-Cover Generation” Atomic Testing: 1946-1962 ? U. S. exploded 217 nuclear weapons over the Pacific and in Nevada.

Slide 30: 

The 50s Come to a Close 1959 ? Nixon-Khrushchev “Kitchen Debate” Cold War -----> Tensions <----- Technology & Affluence

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The postwar era witnessed tremendous economic growth and rising social contentment and conformity. Yet in the midst of such increasing affluence and comfortable domesticity, social critics expressed a growing sense of unease with American culture in the 1950s. Assess the validity of the above statement and explain how the decade of the 1950s laid the groundwork for the social and political turbulence of the 1960s. Class Discussion Topic: