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