The document discusses the characteristics of life in the United States during the 1950s. It was a time of economic boom fueled by post-war prosperity. Suburban living became the norm as new highways and affordable housing developments like Levittown emerged. Television also rose to prominence during this period, influencing popular culture. However, tensions arose as new youth cultures like rock and roll music developed and rebelled against the conservative social values of the time.

1. THE
FIFTIES-
THE GOLDEN
AGE

4. The Golden Age
 What were the characteristics of the
affluent age?
 1. Changed Economy
 2. A Suburban nation
 3. A consumer culture
 4. The TV world
 A New Ford
 Women at Work
 Segregated Landscape

5. Economic Boom
 Robust post war economy fueled by a society
eager to spend after years of depression and
war.
 Factories re-tooled from machinery of war to
consumer goods!

6. The Organization and the
Organization Man
 During the 1950’s businesses
expanded rapidly
 More people hold “white-
collar” jobs
 The fields of
sales, advertising, insurance,
and communication exploded

7. A Suburban Nation
 Causes
 Good Economy
 Returning Veterans
 Baby Boom
 Shortage of housing in cities
 Highway Act
 Automobiles

8. Baby Boom
 During the late 1940s and through
the early 1960s the birthrate in the
U.S. soared
 Why did the baby boom happen?
 Husbands returning from war
 Decreasing marriage age
 Confidence in economy
 Advances in medicine
 Baby boomers represent the largest
generation on the nation’s history

10. Highway Construction
 Interstate Highway and Defense
Act, 1956
 Purpose?
 Unintended Consequence? Why
would this bill promote
suburbanization?
 Federal funds helped cities pay for
the highways needed for
suburbanization

12. Levittown
 Houses cheap and
plentiful
 FHA and VA
subsidies
 The dream of home
ownership came
within the reach of
the majority of
Americans
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUrf_
jzn_To

14. A Consumer Culture
 Freedom interpreted as buying?

15.  Consumer Goods
 TV, Cars, Stereos, Dishwashers
 National Fads
 Rise in Consumer Credit up 800% (1945-57)

16.  We will continue the 1950s notes tomorrow.
 Homework – Create a visual summary for today’s
notes. Write the main idea for 5 of the following
subheading and illustrate each one.
 The Golden Age
 Economic Boom
 The Organization and the Organization Man
 A Suburban Nation
 Baby Boom
 Highway Construction
 Levittown
 Consumer Culture

17. The TV World
 TV replaces newspaper as
the most common source of
information
 Provided Americans with a
common cultural experience
 TV avoided controversy and
projected bland image of
middle-class life
 Effective advertising
medium
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFbCGT_A
WBI&list=FL_FeRENpHqj0K6lq4EsISow&index
=1&feature=plpp_video

19.  The average family watched 4 to 5 hours of
TV a day

20. A New Car Culture
 Along with a home and TV, the car became
part of what sociologists called “the standard
consumer package” of the 1950s
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhR8GZ_
WWMM

21.  Main form of urban transportation
 Allowed the suburbs to expand
 In the 1950s car manufacturers began making
yearly changes to car designs
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhR8GZ_WWMM

22. Female Sphere
 Did Women lose or gain
during this period?
 After 1945, women lost many
of the jobs they had
performed during the war
 By the mid-1950s women
were working again, but the
nature and aims had changed
 Women were expected to get
married, have children, and
stay at home

23. Women at Home
 Popular culture
glorified
marriage, family, a
nd parenthood
(Leave it to
Beaver, Father
Knows Best)
 Educational
programs
promoted
domestic sciences

24. Leisure in the 1950s
 Shorter work weeks and longer vacations
 Labor-saving devices added more spare time

25. TV Ads, TV Guides and TV
Dinners
 TV ads increase from $170 million in 1950 to
nearly $ 2 billion in 1960
 TV Guide
 TV Dinners

26. Leisure Activities
 In 1953 alone $30 billion is spent on leisure
 Popular activities include
bowling, hunting, golf
 Americans attended or watched sports
 Drive-ins

27. Fear in the 1950s
 Internal Domestic Prosperity VS External Fear of Communism

28. Fear of the Bomb

29. Fear of Polio

30. Fear of Teenage Culture
 The term teenager
was not really used
until after WWII
 Cultural Split
between
parent/teens –
different dress/ hair

31. Teenage Culture
 The term teenager was not really used until
after WWII
 Cultural Split between parent/teens –
different dress/ hair

32. Teens: Boring Suburbs
 Teens rejected the
suburbs/ nothing ever
happened
 Many teens felt
misunderstood
 The ideal of being a
rebel increases
juvenile crime

33. Teens: Rock and Roll
 Birth of Rock and Roll
 Grown out of rhythm and blues
tradition
 Lyrics more explicit
 Teens love it, parents hate it
 Rock influenced race relations/
integrated concerts
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOvUdZgl7vo&list=PLF8106F33BA3D
28A9&index=2&feature=plpp_video

34. Elvis
 Elvis brought rock and roll
to white middle class
America
 A huge hit with young
female fans
 Became a symbol of
rebellious youth
 http://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=3PdVqWuqUsI&list=FL_Fe
RENpHqj0K6lq4EsISow&index
=4&feature=plpp_video

35. Rebels without a Cause
 Generational tensions lay beneath the bland
surface of the 1950s life

36. The Beats
 The Beats were a
small group of poets
and writers who went
against mainstream
culture
 Rejected
 Work ethic
 The “desperate
materialism” of the
suburbs
 The militarization of
US life by the cold war
 Celebrated impulsive
action, immediate
pleasure

37. The Beatniks
 Emergence of literature and
film dealing with alienation
 Against conformity
 Jack Kerouac
 J.D. Salinger
 Allen Ginsberg