The 1950s POP CULTURE

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The 1950s POP CULTURE
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Conformity

• Why did people in the 1950s conform?
• Need for Stability after WW2 and G.D.
• Did not want to be Un-American Era of
  Communist Hunt

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Morality

• Fairly Strict Society
• Rebellion was not acceptable
• Surge in Religion felt good indicator of
  Anti-Communist
• Added Under God to the Pledge of Allegiance
• Gender Roles strongly held

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FASHION

• Prior to the 1950s, teen clothing very reserved/
  proper but to some extent that changed in the
  50s.
• Guys
• Hair longer w/ sideburns and slicked back with
  grease.
• Jeans
• Leather jackets (collar turned up to be cool)
• Girls
• Ponytails
• Pedal pushers, Scarves.
• Poodle Skirts popular because
• 1) Easier dancing, being spun around letting the
  skirt twirled.
• 2) skirt was loose and free, a sign of freedom.

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Youth Culture

• EMPHASIS ON YOUTH IN 1950s!
• Drive-in movies Good for dates
• Sock Hops informal HS dance
• Fast food restaurants
• TV in 90 of homes by 1959

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The Music

• ROCK N Roll
• evolved in the 1950's from rhythm and blues,
• Electric Guitars
• strong rhythm
• youth-oriented lyrics.
• Allowed Teenagers to break out of the mainstream
  conservative American middle class mold.

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Rise of Television

• Before 1952 freeze on any new TV stations so
  industry had time to plan for expansion and
  problems
• 1952-56, station s jumped from 108 to 500
• Programs usually broadcasted live
• Favorites Mickey Mouse Club, I Love Lucy, Leave
  it to Beaver

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Changes in TV

• On-The Scene Reporting
• Game Shows offered large cash prizes
• Businesses spent on TV Advertising
• 170 million in 1950
• 1 billion by 1955
• 2 billion by 1960
• TV Guide HUGE magazine, TV Dinners created so
  did not have to miss favorite show

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The Beatniks

• Subculture that expressed the social and
  literary nonconformity of artists and poets
• non-materialistic lives
• Shunned regular work

• Sought a higher consciousness Zen Buddhism,
  music, sometimes drugs
• Went against the dress/mentality of the 1950s
  attracted Media attention and imaginations of
  college students.