1950s

1. Aim: How did the 1950s
change American’s lives?

2. Things that
happened in the
1950s

3. The 1950s

4. Returning Veterans “Readjust”
• GI Bill of Rights (Servicemen’s
Readjustment Act
of 1944)
• Provided veterans with
education, training, and low-
cost loans for businesses and
homes
• College enrollment
skyrocketed (increased
greatly)
• GI Bill helped create “baby
boom” of 1950s and 1960s

5. The 1950’s saw a
Baby Boom or
period when the birth
rate dramatically
increased.
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!!!!

6. Suburbanization
:
• In the 1950s growing
families looked for more
spacious living in
suburbs—areas near
cities but away from the
crowded and busy city.
• During the 50’s average
Americans and veterans
with the GI Bill were
able to afford buying a

7. Levittown, Long Island
“The American Dream” “The White Picket Fence”
• William Levitt
produced 150
houses per week.
• By 1960, 1/3 of
the U. S.
population was
living in the
suburbs.

8. All the homes
looked the same!
• 1 story high
• 12’x19’ living room
• 2 bedrooms
• tiled bathroom
• garage
• small backyard
• front lawn

9. Consumerism
1952
1956
• 1950  Introduction
of the Diner’s Card

10. 1950’s Consumerism

11. Teen Culture
• In the 1950s  the word “teenager”
entered the American language.
• Rock ‘N Roll and Elvis Presley “the
King” become important for teens
–Behavior rules of the 1950s:
• Obey authority and
elders
• Control emotions
• Fit in with the group
• Don’t even think about
sex!

13. 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
• The ideal 1950s man was the
provider, protector,
and the boss of the house.
--Life magazine, 1955

14. Fashion
• Guys wore their hair longer with sideburns and
slicked back with grease. They also wore jeans and
leather jackets (with the collar turned up to be
“cool”)
• Girls wore ponytails, poodle skirts, pedal pushers,
and scarves.

16. • In the 1950s more
Americans held white
collar jobs (service)
than blue collar jobs
(factory jobs)

17. In the 1950’s….
• There was a rise of Fast-food stores, drive-ins,
and chain stores like McDonalds and Macys

18. • Rise of Conglomerates: businesses reorganized into
conglomerates—large company that owns other smaller
companies that produce different goods.

19. • Television defines the norm and perpetuates the
1950’s as the “Happy Days”

20. • 1950’s Technology– the Computer and advances in
medicine (polio vaccine, penicillin and other
antibiotics)

21. • The Eisenhower Interstate Highway System
began construction with the Federal Aid
Highway Act of 1956.

22.  Compare & Contrast the
1950s and the 1920s

23. America in the
1920s
After WW1—The US was
the richest & most
developed and stabled
country in the world.
Wages rose, working hours
declined, and Americans
had access to new
products.
Not everyone enjoyed the
Roaring 20’s
America in the
1950s
• After WW2—The US was
the richest & most
developed and stabled
country in the world.
• Wages rose, Americans
had access to new
products.
• Not everyone enjoyed the
Happy Days of the 50’s