Prosperity and Culture of the 1950s

Prosperity and Culture of the 1950s

“Conservatism, Complacency, and Contentment”

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OR

“Anxiety, Alienation, and Social Unrest”

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This presentation is designed for you to click around and explore to learn more about the prosperity and culture in the 1950s in the U.S. To quickly see the interactive elements on any of the pages, click the Interactivty indicator in the top right corner.

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Table of Contents

Suburbia Chronicles

Boom Town

Baby Boom

Suburban Living & Expansion

The G.I. Bill of Rights

Levittown, L.I.

Workforce Revolution

On the Road to Prosperity

Federal Highway Act

A Changing Workplace

Consumerism & the Automobile

Gender Roles

Changing Times

Tune In to Progress

Television: Selling the American Dream

Religious Revival

Rock & Roll

Invention of the Transistor

Teen Culture

Advances in Medicine

The Beat Generation

Introduction

For many generations, the American Dream had promised a free democratic society with material wealth for the taking. For so many years, the idea of prosperity was just a dream, but for millions of American Dream became a reality in the 1950s. They could purchase a home, a car and have children. This was a change from the dreariness of the Great Depression. Explore the dynamic landscape of post-war America as we delve into the causes behind the Baby Boom, the transformative impact of the GI Bill, and the fascinating cultural shifts that shaped the era. From the glow of television screens to the rhythm of rock and roll, each page holds a piece of the prosperity puzzle.

Baby Boom

This excerpt describes the Baby Boom. Determine which part of the excerpt explains the significance of the Baby Boom. Select the correct answer.

G.I. Bill of Rights

A. the rapid demobilization of U.S. defense industries after World War II B. the federal domestic programs created as part of the Great Society C. incentives offered under the Bracero Program to temporary laborers D. assistance offered by the GI Bill to soldiers returning from World War II

The data presented on this graph illustrate an economic effect of —

Suburban Expansion & Living

Next Stop: → Levittown, L. I.

Suburban Living: Levittown, L. I.

Hover over houses in the neightborhood to see real images of the town.

Use the information you have learned from multiple slides to write your response in the Canvas quiz.

How did the Baby Boom and the GI Bill of Rights affect suburban growth?

Federal Highway Act

Click on the items/buttons around the room to learn more. Once you have your answer, add type it in the Canvas quiz below.

Give one pro + argument for the passage of the Federal Highway Act of 1956

The Culture of the Car & Consumerism

Determine whether the following statements are a cause or effect of the economic prosperity of the 1950s. Select the correct answer in each row.

A Changing Workplace

Click the picture frames in this room to learn more.

Explain the changing workplace in two complete sentences.

Well Defined Gender Roles

Click on the items and people in the room to learn more about this these topics and questions.

A. How do these advertisements portray women? B. How does this depiction of women differ from how women were portrayed during WWII? Explain.

Religious Revival

Television: Selling the American Dream

Click on the items/buttons around the room to learn more about the impact of television in the 1950s to look for an answer to the question. Once you have your answer, add type it in the Canvas quiz below.

Invention of the Transistor

Click on each scientist to learn more and to answer the question. Once you have your answer, add it in the Canvas quiz below.

What major effect did the transistor have on technology?

Advances in Medicine

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Teen Culture

The Birth of Rock & Roll

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Once you have your answer, add type it in the Canvas quiz below.

Watch the Elvis Presley video clip, then respond to this question: Why do you think certain people reacted negatively to Elvis Presley’s performance on The Ed Sullivan Show? Explain

The Beat Generation

A: they worked to revive organized religion B: they organized campaigns against racial injustice C: the rebelled against conformity and traditional social patterns D: They valued American middle-class culture above diverse cultural heritages.

Which of the following best describes the beatniks of the 1950s?

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Final Reflections

Your answer needs to be a minimum of 3 sentences with details from this lesson

How did popular culture and family life change during the 1950s?

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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.

Shifts in Population Distribution

1940-1970

U. S. Bureau of the Census.

On June 29, 1956, President Dwight Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956. The bill created a 41,000-mile “National System of Interstate and Defense Highways” that would, according to Eisenhower, eliminate unsafe roads, inefficient routes, traffic jams and all of the other things that got in the way of “speedy, safe transcontinental travel.” At the same time, highway advocates argued, “in case of atomic attack on our key cities, the road system would permit quick evacuation of target areas.” For all of these reasons, the 1956 law declared that the construction of an elaborate expressway system was “essential to the national interest.”

The 1950s witnessed a significant shift in the American lifestyle, with more people moving to the suburbs, seeking space and privacy away from the bustling city centers. Owning an automobile became a necessity for many families as it facilitated commutes to work, allowed for leisurely drives, and provided access to the burgeoning highway system. Cars represented more than just a mode of transportation; they embodied individuality and personal expression. Car culture flourished during this time, giving rise to a fascination with drive-in theaters, drive-thru restaurants, and car clubs.

• Use of the transistor made the widespread use of small powerful electronic devices possible.

• Ex. Radios, computers, calculators

• Allowed machines that had once taken up the entire room to fit on a desk.

In the 1950s, the Beat Generation rebelled against the conformity of their era. This movement began with a small and tightly connected group of young writers who were college students together in New York City and later most moved to San Francisco. They showed a care-free, often reckless and fresh approach to literature.

1946 → 7,000 TV sets in the U.S. 1950 → 50, 000, 000 TV sets in the U.S.

Mass Audience → TV celebrated traditional American values. Truth, Justice, and the American Way!

"Television is a vast wasteland." - Newton Minnow

Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, 1961

Rock and roll sent shockwaves across America. A generation of young teenagers collectively rebelled against the music their parents loved. In general, the older generation loathed rock and roll. Appalled by the new styles of dance the movement evoked, churches proclaimed it Satan's music. Because rock and roll originated among the lower classes and a segregated ethnic group, many middle-class whites thought it was tasteless. Rock and roll records were banned from many radio stations and hundreds of schools. But the masses spoke louder. When Elvis appeared on TV's The Ed Sullivan Show, the show's ratings soared.

The Beats experimented with both sexuality and drugs. From the name "beat," a news­paper columnist coined the term "beatnik," which became associated with artistic lifestyles in the 1950s, in which young men wore beards, berets, and sandals, while young women dressed in leotards. They recited poetry and discussed European philosophy. The beatniks represented an early form of what would later become known as the counterculture.

Following World War II, the United States experienced a greatly elevated birth rate, adding on average 4.24 million new babies to the population every year between 1946 and 1964. This generation of "baby boomers" was the result of a strong postwar economy, in which Americans felt confident they would be able to support a larger number of children. Boomers also influenced the economy as a core marketing demographic for products tied to their age group, from toys to records.

Three persons, Walter Brattain, John Bardeen and William Shockley, invented the transistor and shared the Nobel Prize in Physics for the breakthrough they achieved.

The post-war period saw many advances in medicine. The success of antibiotics in treating infections gave new hopes for cures. Other medical advances during this period included a measles vaccine, the first heart transplant, and the discovery of streptomycin, an antibiotic to treat tuberculosis.

Television - Family Shows

Many shows presented a glossy view of mostly middle-class suburban life. But...

I Love Lucy

Leave it to Beaver

The Honeymooners

In the 1950s 🡪 the word “teenager” entered the American language. They were the silent generation because they had little interest in the world’s problems. By 1956 🡪 Advertisements targeted youth for the first time.

In the 1950s large corporations, which offered these “white collar” jobs, grew. For example, insurance companies, advertising companies, or product producing companies would expand their sales departments. In this new “white collar” world, corporate leaders began to expect their employees to conform to company standards, which could include dress, actions, speech and even social associations. Many corporations did not value free thinkers but rather those who followed the rules. “The Company Man” became a (archetype or stereotype) in 1950s American culture and critics warned that this image was aiding in pushing society toward conformity.

The religious revival led to an increase in religious based movies

The Robe 1953

Ben Hur 1953

The Ten Commandments1956

It’s un-American to be un-religious! -- The Christian Century, 1954

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.

• The television impacted the average American family by drawing them into the "live" programs.

• In 1955, the average child watched 4-5 hours of TV a day.

• This helped parents with babysitting, entertainment, and financial problems, and also brought the family together.

“Juvenile Delinquency” ???

1951 🡪 J. D. Salinger’s A Catcher in the Rye

James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause (1955)

Marlon Brando in The Wild One (1953)

• People became dependent upon automobiles to get around.

• Highways met the need for better roads: Interstate Highway Act 🡪 largest public works project in American history!

• Gasoline, needed for cars was sold in more locations than ever before

• Gas companies started to offer credit cards to drivers.

1958 Pink Cadillac

1959 Chevy Corvette

"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 If a woman worked she was a secretary, teacher, nurse or sales clerk.

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 Evangelist: Reverend Billy Graham 🡪 gives an ecumenical message; warned against the evils of Communism.

Dunkin Donuts

Dunkin' Donuts, which is now the world's largest coffee and baked goods chain restaurant, was founded in 1950 by Bill Rosenberg in Quincy, Massachusetts. Four years later, he owned a total of five Dunkin' Donuts in Massachusetts and in 1955, the company licensed the first Dunkin' Donuts. At the end of the '50s, Bill Rosenberg founded the International Franchise Association, which as of 2010 included over 800 franchisors and 30,000 franchisee members, which accounts for more than 50 percent of all retail business in the United States."

Levittown, L. I.: “The American Dream”

Community created in Long Island of “cookie cutter houses” or houses that looked similar in shape, size and color.

1949 🡪 William Levitt produced 150 houses per week.

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

Advertisements of the 1950’s

1957 🡪 1 baby born every 7 seconds

It seems to me that every other young housewife I see is pregnant. -- British visitor to America, 1958

ROCK AND ROLL was everything the suburban 1950s were not. While parents of the decade were listening to FRANK SINATRA, PERRY COMO, and BIG BANDS, their children were moving to a new beat. In fact, to the horror of the older generation, their children were twisting, thrusting, bumping, and grinding to the sounds of rock and roll. This generation of youth was much larger than any in recent memory, and the prosperity of the era gave them money to spend on records and phonographs. By the end of the decade, the phenomenon of rock and roll helped define the difference between youth and adulthood.

Kentucky Fried Chicken

While founder Colonel Harlan Sanders opened his original restaurant, The Sanders Court & Café in 1930, he did not actively franchise what would come to be named Kentucky Fried Chicken until 1952. Colonel Sanders awarded the first franchise to Salt Lake City's Pete Harman, who agreed to pay Colonel Sanders five cents for every piece of chicken sold." In 2010, there are Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants in over 80 countries.

The Birth of an American Business in the 1950’s

The 1950s can be viewed as a time that heralded the franchised restaurant model that is still visible in America today.

What is a franchise? A franchise is a certain company that sells people the same product in different locations. The fast food industry was the most successful out of all of the franchises. Below are some well-known restaurants that became franchises in the 1950s.

Howard Johnson’s ← Motel

Pizza Hut

"In 1958, in a small university town in Wichita, Kansas, two brothers, Dan and Frank Carny borrowed $600 from their mother and opened the first Pizza Hut. By the end of the decade the first franchised Pizza Hut opened in Topeka, Kansas, and within 12 years over 1,000 Pizza Huts opened throughout the United States." In 2010, Pizza Hut was considered to be the biggest pizza franchise in the world.

The 1950s were a defining era for automobiles in America, shaping the way people lived, moved, and interacted with one another. This post-World War II decade saw an unprecedented surge in economic prosperity, which led to a boom in consumerism and a newfound fascination with cars. During this golden age, automobiles became symbols of freedom, status, and the American dream, profoundly impacting public perception, pop culture, and government policies. America became a more homogeneous nation because of the automobile and consumerism.

In 1953, Jonas Salk developed the first vaccine for polio, a disease that attacks the central nervous system and can cause paralysis or death. Polio paralyzed thousands of American children each year. Before the vaccine, the disease had killed over 20,000 kids a year. The Polio Vaccine gave people hope ~ after the vaccine was available, parents could feel more optimistic about their children’s safety as well as their own.

Post War U.S. society was a society of abundance. There were more goods and services available that allowed people to enjoy a new standard of living. Between 1940 and 1960, the average American income roughly tripled. Accompanying the country’s economic growth were dramatic shifts in work environments. Mechanization in farms and factories meant that fewer farmers and laborers were needed to produce goods. As a result, more Americans began working in what are called “white collar” jobs, such as sales and management; jobs in which you would quite literally wear a “white collar” versus the “blue collar” of the manual laborers blue coveralls. By 1956, the number of “white collar” workers outnumbered “blue collar” workers in America. This phenomenon began to split Americans’ view on education; that is traditional education versus skilled trade training because it took a different skill set to function in a “white collar” world.

American family life centered around television in two ways in the 1950s: families gathered together to watch television for entertainment. 1957 photo.

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.

Two of the founders of the movement, Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac, began giving public readings of their works in the mid-l 950s. Allen Ginsberg. They became even more well-known after Ginsberg's best known poem, Howl (1955), was seized for obscenity. The Beats opposed the conventions of the 1950s and saw the solution to the lifeless materialism of the fifties in the heightened sense of freedom and spirituality in their own works. Kerouac's novel, On the Road, tells the story of the narrator's adventures crossing the country in a car several times with a character named Dean Moriarty. Kerouac's theme was the experience of life itself.

McDonald's

McDonald's was one of the first restaurants to become widely franchised in the United States. Though it opened in the 1940s in California, Ray Kroc, a milkshake mixer salesman, gained permission from the McDonald brothers to franchise the restaurant outside of California in 1954. In just four years, the restaurant had sold over 100 million hamburgers."

First McDonald’s (1955) Fast Food →