1. I’m feeling better and am no longer
contagious, but I can’t talk. I will be
seeing a doctor about this again
tomorrow, but in the meantime I am
going to use text slides and video clips in
lieu of lecturing.
2. THE COLD WAR
The United States and the Soviet Union (Russia) were allies during WWII,
but only because they had a mutual enemy, Nazi Germany. The U.S. and
the Soviet Union were based on very different and opposing principles –
for the U.S., free market capitalism tempered by protections for
workers, and for the Soviet Union, pure socialism, in which the
government owns the means of production, i.e. business. Each saw its
system as superior and hoped to spread it across the globe.
3. THE COLD WAR AT HOME
Back in the United States, the prospect of a nuclear war proved frightening
to Americans both young and old. Some built their own bomb shelters
while others participated in mass drills in preparation for attack.
Nuclear weapons created a wartime atmosphere of “mutually assured
destruction”---a frightening prospect.
“Duck and Cover”: https://archive.org/details/gov.ntis.ava11109vnb1
4. AN ERA OF “CONFORMITY”
But there were other things going on on the homefront. After fifteen years
of economic depression and global war, Americans were ready for a
return to normalcy. The world they created in the 1950s was one that
valued conformity and a domestic contentment that was seen as a
protection against the spread of Communism---after all, if American
workers were happy and contented in suburban bliss, they would not be
susceptible to Communism.
5. POSTWAR HOUSING
After WWII, there were many fears that the economy would dip back into
depression. Given that this happened after WWI, and that it was only the
advent of war that ended the Depression of the 1930s, this fear was very
real. One problem many returning GIs faced was a severe housing
shortage.
Rent Control, 1945: https://archive.org/details/Ceilingo1945
6. LEVITTOWN AND SUBURBANIZATION
While there had been suburbs since the early 19th century, they had been
limited to the wealthy or the relatively small middle class. After WWII,
the creation of massive new suburbs, combined with affordable home
loans, led to a large expansion of the middle class.
These new suburbs tended to be limited to whites, leaving blacks,
Hispanics, and others out of the picture. However, they did make a
variety of ethnic groups---Italian-Americans, Polish-Americans, etc.---
white in the American consciousness. Individuals who had previously
been seen as of questionable citizenship became accepted without
question.
The following slides contain pictures of Levittown, the most famous mass-
produced suburb in postwar America. As you view these pictures, think
about what appeal these new communities had, what they were
centered around (usually shopping centers---remember that whole
consumption thing we’ve talked about?), and the size and quality of the
homes themselves.
11. YOUTHFUL MARRIAGE AND THE BABY BOOM
During the 1950s, the age of first marriage dropped to an unprecedented
low and the number of children per family jumped. This was partly
because people had put off marriage and childrearing because of
depression and war, but it was also a result of postwar America’s
emphasis on family and conformity.
The 1950s was not so much a return to the way things were before as the
creation of something new.
What do you notice in the graphs below?
12. CREATING CONFORMITY
During the 1950s, there was a lot of emphasis on conformity, and a lot of
fear of anything that seemed potentially subversive. Individuals
suspected with being members of the Communist Party of the USA
were tried as enemy spies, and a witch hunt spread through
Hollywood. Conformity meant more than just prosecuting Communist
sympathizers, though, as these videos from the time will show. It also
meant conforming to the breadwinner-father homemaker-mother
ideal which had spread with the growth of the middle class (in the
19th century, after all, only those in the relatively-small middle class
could afford to live on one income).
“Are You Popular?” https://archive.org/details/AreYouPo1947
“Why Study Home Economics?”
https://archive.org/details/0130_Why_Study_Home_Economics_20_47
_09_00
13. FEARS OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY
Remember what we said about fearing anything that seems subversive?
Well, during the 1950s juvenile delinquency was seem as an especially
large threat because of its subversive potential. Panics over juvenile
delinquency and the comic books “kids these days” were reading were
common in the 1950s.
14. SEXUAL SUBVERSIVES
It was during this period that gay men were (falsely) portrayed as child
molesters who prey on young boys. Again, this was part of viewing
anything outside of the conformity of the heterosexual suburban family
as potentially subversive.
“Boys Beware”: https://archive.org/details/boys_beware
15. THE BIRTH CONTROL PILL
The birth control pill was first released in 196O. Originally, only married
women had access to the pill. The pill was promoted by the government
in a Cold War context---it was believed that if couples had the ability to
choose how many children they could have it would help prevent
financial problems. The U.S. also promoted the pill globally, billing it as
a solution to the rapidly growing world population. Once again, it was
seen as a bulwark against subversion.
During this same period, unmarried women who became pregnant were
often forced to either marry or to give up their baby at birth regardless
of their own wishes.
16. CONSUMPTION
This period was also one of increased consumption. After fifteen years of
depression and war, business returned to producing consumer
durables with a vengeance. Their efforts took on a Cold War fervor as
they sought to show the superiority of capitalism to Communism. One
again Americans spoke a rhetoric of progress and improvement.
“Design for Dreaming” as produced by GM:
https://archive.org/details/2306_Design_for_Dreaming_21_26_14_00
17. CAVEATS
The apparent calm of the 1950s masked important areas of unrest.
Levittown and other housing developments benefited whites only, and
the black poverty rate was almost three times the white poverty rate.
Even as white women in the expanding middle class stayed at home,
black women predominantly worked, because they had to. It was also
during the 1950s that the civil rights movement took off in earnest. The
conformity of the 1950s also helped to fuel a rebellion against
conformity in the 1960s.
18. THE END
1. I have your midterms graded, please come get them from me before you
leave.
2. Remember that your second paper is due tomorrow, both on oncourse
and in hard copy.
