Chapter 19

1. Chapter 19 1950’s Culture

2. “The American Dream” • The “American Dream” was shown in one’s success, fame and wealth attained through thrift and hard work …

3. The 1950’s saw a rise in white collar jobs (clerical, managerial, professional) vs. blue collar jobs (factory labor). • Conglomerates and franchises grew . (Xerox, ITT, etc.) (McDonald’s)

4. McDonald’s mechanized its kitchen selling 15 cent hamburgers…. Ray Kroc built it into a multi-billion dollar industry.

5. America became a more homogeneous nation because of the automobile. First McDonald’s (1955) Drive-In Movies Howard Johnson’s

6. The 50’s is the era of “social conformity”.

7. Suburbs began to rise due to affordability and availability of cars and highways. • Everyone wanted to “keep up with the Joneses.”

8. Levittown – planned city in the late 1940’s

9. The role of the woman and mother changed as well. The homemaker was glorified in the media. 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

10. Leave It to Beaver1957-1963 The Donna Reed Show1958-1966 The Ozzie & Harriet Show1952-1966 Father Knows Best1954-1958

11. Women grew bored with this image, leading to the 1960’s women’s rights movement. • By the late ’50’s, 40% of the women worked outside of the home, but only in certain jobs…

12. Baby Boomers – babies born between late 1940’s and early 1960’s. 1957  1 baby born every 7 seconds

13. Raising Baby Boomers • Dr. Spock taught spanking children was bad. He advocated reasoning with children….. Dr. Benjamin Spockand the Anderson Quintuplets

14. All babies were potential consumers who spearheaded a brand-new market for food, clothing, and shelter. -- Life Magazine (May, 1958)

15. Companies realized the potential of the rise in consumer goods…

16. Consumerism – material goods became equated with success. • Planned obsolescence – goods designed to wear out or become outdated in a short period so that people buy more.

17. Automania – suburban living made cars a necessity. Car registrations: 1945  25,000,000 1960  60,000,000 2-family cars doubles from 1951-1958 1959 Chevy Corvette 1958 Pink Cadillac

18. Television became a major source of entertainment and advertisement. 1946  7,000 TV sets in the U. S.1950  50,000,000 TV sets in the U. S. Mass Audience  TV celebrated traditionalAmerican values. Truth, Justice, and the American way!

19. Television – The Western Davy CrockettKing of the Wild Frontier Sheriff Matt Dillon, Gunsmoke The Lone Ranger(and his faithfulsidekick, Tonto):

20. Television: Television led to TV Guide… led to TV Dinners….. led to stereotyping…..

21. Television - Family Shows Glossy view of mostly middle-class suburban life. But... The Honeymooners I Love Lucy

22. The radio and movies had to change to adapt to the “golden age” of television. • Radio concentrated on local news, weather, music and community issues. • Movies made changes in sound, images, color, etc.

23. Teen Culture – In the 1950’s, the word “teenager” entered the American language Rules for teens: • Obey Authority. • Control Emotions. • Don’t Make Waves  Fit in with the Group. • Don’t Even Think About Sex!!!

24. 1951 – Rock and Roll music emerged…. • It made big bucks. • Rock and Roll changed the world of music and affected teens all over the world. • It was a unifying force among teens. • It was also a source of rebellion. • Little Richard, Elvis, Chuck Berry….. • However, there is still segregation, even in music.

25. Little Richard, Elvis, Chuck Berry….. • However, there is still segregation, even in music.

26. Juvenile Delinquency: • 1951  J. D. Salinger’s A Catcher in the Rye • Marlon Brando in James Dean in The Wild One Rebel Without a Cause

27. Beat Generation – centered in San Francisco, NY’s Greenwich Village and Los Angeles. “Beatniks” expressed nonconformity. They were opposed to the materialism of their parents. Jack Kerouac On The Road Allen Ginsberg  poem, “Howl” Neal Cassady William S. Burroughs

28. Religious Revival Today in the U. S., the Christianfaith is back in the center of things. -- Time magazine, 1954 Church membership: 1940  64,000,000 1960  114,000,000 Television Preachers: 1. Methodist Minister Norman Vincent Peale The Power of Positive Thinking 2. Reverend Billy Graham  ecumenical message; warned against the evils of Communism.

29. The movies and religion. Hollywood: apex of the biblical epics. The Robe The Ten Commandments Ben Hur1953 1956 1959 It’s un-American to be un-religious! -- The Christian Century, 1954

30. Scientific Achievements: • 1951 -- First IBM Mainframe Computer • 1952 -- Hydrogen Bomb Test • 1953 -- DNA Structure Discovered • 1954 -- Salk Vaccine Tested for Polio • 1957 -- First Commercial U. S. Nuclear Power Plant • 1958 -- NASA Created

31. UFO Sightings skyrocketed in the 1950s. War of the Worlds

32. The Other America: • Not everyone prospered in the 1950’s • “white flight” – middle class/rich moved out of city. • As people moved to the suburbs, cities lost funds and resources. • The rural poor and African Am. migrated to the cities. • The poverty line grew.

33. Urban renewal – attempt to improve city housing for low-income. • HUD established to help housing problem– later became cabinet position (Housing and Urban Development)

34. Minority problems: • braceros – Mex. allowed into the US to perform jobs 1942-47; many didn’t leave. Other Mex. entered the country illegally. • The Longoria incident showed the Am. attitude toward Hispanics. This led to activist promotion of minority rights. • Native Am. encountered the same problems of discrimination.