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Life in America

Life in America. 1950s Culture. Soldiers Return!. $35 million cancelled war contracts 1 million factory workers laid off Inflation of consumer products BUT…AMERICA WAS READY TO SPEND!!!!!!! Americans were thrifty –The Great Depression and WWII America would see 25 years of prosperity.

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Life in America

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  1. Life in America 1950s Culture

  2. Soldiers Return! • $35 million cancelled war contracts • 1 million factory workers laid off • Inflation of consumer products BUT…AMERICA WAS READY TO SPEND!!!!!!! Americans were thrifty –The Great Depression and WWII America would see 25 years of prosperity

  3. CAR---America goes as GM goes!! Little public transportation to suburbs! Prosperity and mobility provided by the automobile during the 1950s led middle-class and wealthy Americans to move to suburbs around the nation’s great cities.

  4. The Culture of the Car Car registrations: 1945  25,000,000 1960  60,000,000 2-family cars doubles from 1951-1958 1959 Chevy Corvette 1958 Pink Cadillac • 1956 Interstate Highway Act  largest public works project in American history! • Cost $32 billion. • 42,000 miles of new highways built.

  5. “Automania” Auto boom helped other industries like, restaurants, shopping malls, highway motels, and gas stations Living in suburbia made having a car essential – distance between urban and rural areas continued to grow and the poor were left in the cities

  6. The Culture of the Car The U. S. population was on the move in the 1950s. NE & Midwest  S & SW (“Sunbelt” states) 1955  Disneyland opened in Southern California. (40% of the guests came from outside California, most by car.) Tomorrow Land Frontier Land Main Street

  7. CAR- HIGHWAYS “HOMOGENIZE” AMERICA • America began to look the same! • The nation had become “homogenized” Anytown, USA

  8. 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

  9. The Baby Boom 1946-1964 3,548,000 babies born in 1950 1958 - $1.25 billion spent on toy sales alone Contributing factors: Reunion of families after the war Decreasing marriage age Desirability of large families Confidence in continued economic prosperity Advances in medicine – drugs to help childhood diseases like, diphtheria, typhoid fever, polio

  10. The baby boom was a product of and a cause for conservative family values—especially about the place of women in American society. Dr. Benjamin Spock author of the wildly successful Baby and Child Care suggested that mothers devote themselves to the full-time care of their children.

  11. During World War II, 6 million women, 75% who were married WORKED The American Family Women gave up their new found freedom from working and returned to the home- “kitchen and cribs” By 1956, majority of Americans held higher-paying, white collar jobs – sales, advertising, insurance

  12. Television 1946  17,000 TV sets 1950  50,000,000 TV sets Mass Audience  TV celebrated traditionalAmerican values. Truth, Justice, and the American way!

  13. The Typical TV Suburban Families The Donna Reed Show1958-1966 Leave It to Beaver1957-1963 Father Knows Best1954-1958 The Ozzie & Harriet Show1952-1966

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

  15. Television - Shows The Honeymooners Television sets the standards and values for homes I Love Lucy

  16. Television fueled mass consumption of goods

  17. Consumerism REMARKABLE ECONOMIC RECOVERY • Americans were ready to buy consumer goods!! • In Affluent Society, John Kenneth Galbraith detailed the “rise of America as consumer” and warned about a gap in wealth.

  18. The first credit card !

  19. Consumerism All babies were potential consumers who spearheaded a brand-new market for food, clothing, and shelter. -- Life Magazine (May, 1958)

  20. Consumerism Buy now, pay later! Private debt grew from $73 billion to $179 billion in the 1950s Washing machines, dryers, blenders, freezers, dishwashers, televisions, tape recorders, new hi-fi (high fidelity) record players Plastics replaced wood, glass and metal Teflon used for coating cookware

  21. Consumerism After years of rationing and shortages…. 1954 General Electric introduces colored kitchen appliances. Bye, bye white! first pocket-sized transistor radio 1952

  22. The first home microwave ovens are manufactured by Tappan. They cost $1300!

  23. Howard Johnson’s First McDonald’s (1955) Drive-In Movies

  24. TV ADS, TV GUIDES AND TV DINNERS EXPAND • TV advertising soared from $170 million in 1950 to nearly $2 billion in 1960 • TV Guide magazine quickly became the best selling magazine • Frozen TV dinners were introduced in 1954 – these complete ready-to-heat meals on disposable aluminum trays made it easy for people to eat without missing their favorite shows

  25. In 1953, $30 billion spent on leisure goods and activities – sports like fishing, boating, hunting, basketball, baseball, football (in person or on television) Magazines like Sports Illustrated became popular Brownies, Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, and Little League all had an increase in membership

  26. 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. NuclearPower Plant 1958 -- NASA Created

  27. 1950copy machine Antihistamines electric guitar telephone answer machine • 1951Chrysler Corporation introduces power steering super glue heart-lung machine video recorder built-in flash camera • 1952Mr. Potato Head • 1953Chevrolet Corvette becomes the first car to have a all-fiberglass body radial tires saran wrap Color Television!!!

  28. 1954 Bell Telephone labs produce solar battery kidney transplant • 1955Tetracycline "Flashmatic," which represented the industry's first wireless TV remote • 1956"Mistake Out" later renamed, Liquid Paper • 1957 Eveready produces "AA" size alkaline batteries Velcro • 1958 The Modem Laser plastic Coke bottle appeared Hula Hoop • 1959The Pacemaker

  29. Religious Revival Church membership: 1940  64,000,000 1960  114,000,000 Today in the U. S., the Christian faith is back in the center of things. -- Time magazine, 1954 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.

  30. Religious Revival Hollywood: apex of the biblical epics. The Robe The Ten Commandments Ben Hur1953 1956 1959 It’s un-American to be un-religious! -- The Christian Century, 1954

  31. Religious Revival 1956- "In God We Trust" was adopted as the official motto of the United States. 1957- "In God We Trust” was added to paper currency. 1954- “Under God" was incorporated into the Pledge of Allegiance. By 1960 over 65% go to church!

  32. Suburban Living SHIFTS IN POPULATION DISTRIBUTION, 1940-1970 1940195019601970 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.

  33. It’s time to leave the city! Come to Suburbia!

  34. SUBURBS suburban sprawl • After WWII, returning vets faced a severe housing shortagecreated by the decline of housing construction since the 1920s. • In response to the crisis, William Levitt used assembly-line methods to mass-produce houses. The result was a range of cookie-cutter homes sold cheaply to young couples. • His company could build a home in 16 minutes for $7,000! With the help of the GI Bill, many veterans moved into suburbs

  35. 13 million homes built in the 1950s 85% were suburban • A safe, healthy environment for children Suburbia = the American Dream Affordable single-family housing Congenial neighbors like themselves $7,990 or $60/month with no down payment. uniform community

  36. Edward DeBartolo- best remembered as the father of the American shopping mall Boardman Plaza One of the first strip malls in the country !!

  37. WHITE FLIGHT • In the 1950s, millions of middle-class white Americans left the cities for the suburbs • WWII saw millions of African American rural poor migrate to the cities • “White Flight” drained cities of valuable resources, money and taxes.

  38. 50s Music Light melodies, sweet lyrics, wholesome singers. Innocent and inoffensive songs. Most of the songs of the Early Fifties were "feel-good" tunes, which genuinely reflected the mood of post World War II America. Rosemary ClooneyPerry Como Pat Boone

  39. My Prayer The PlattersOh Carol Neil SedakaNadine Chuck BerryOh Boy Buddy Holly and the CricketsLil' Darlin' The DiamondsVenus Frankie AvalonWake Up Little Susie The Everly BrothersEarth Angel The PenquinsSchool Days Chuck BerrySecret Love Doris Day

  40. BIG BAND Dick Clark American Bandstand

  41. suburban teenagers “Barbie as a role model” Through Barbie, aspects of suburban life and femininity were reflected for young girls. Suburban lifestyles involved consumption of numerous goods and luxury items. Barbie emulated these ideals by always having the newest cars, clothes, and accessories.

  42. Barbie's reflected American society's attitude toward women. Barbie was used as a "teaching tool for femininity" Long legs and arms, a small waist, and high round chest, Barbie represented every little girl's dream of the perfect mature body

  43. Barbie Clothes: • She wore undergarments that symbolized adulthood • She had a girdle which was a necessary garment to encourage good posture in women • She also owned clothing for safe recreational activities such as playing tennis and dancing ballet • She came with a popular fashion booklet that accompanied her • Popular outfits pertained to hygiene one important skills taught to girl teenagers • Barbie is seen in a Bar-B-Q outfit showing the homemaking skills required for being a good wife.

  44. Outfits of Barbie reflected American tradition and attitudes toward females. A popular outfit of the first Barbie was the wedding dress. In the 50's, marriage was a sacred institution viewed as a necessary step in adulthood. . Ken's development portrays one of the expectations of 1950's women. It was necessary to create Ken because "women were considered failures without male companionship"

  45. Because of Barbie's first relation was a male companion named Ken. The first advertisement for Ken said, "He's a doll!" Barbie's boyfriend was given an image of "innocence, cleanliness, extroverted playfulness, boyish masculinity, and a hint of shyness" • To create this image, Ken came with teenage male essentials, such as a letter sweater, tuxedo, and a gray flannel suit. • One of the biggest questions facing Mattel was how anatomically correct should Ken be. They finally determined that young girls did not need to be exposed to some realities of adulthood; therefore Ken was born with permanent underwear.

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