Exploring American History

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Exploring American History

• Unit X Post War America
• Chapter 27 Section 3
• The Nation Prospers

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The Nation Prospers

• The Big Idea
• An expanding economy led to new ways of life for
  many Americans in the 1950s.
• Main Ideas
• Americas economy boomed in the 1950s.
• Americans enjoyed new forms of popular culture.
• Social critics found fault with 1950s society.

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The Baby Boom Years (0217)
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Main Idea 1Americas economy boomed in the
1950s.

• Millions of Americans earned more money than ever
  and could spend more.
• Young Americans getting married and starting
  families led to a baby boom, a significant
  increase in births.

Economy

• Many businesses and workers moved to the Sun
  Belt southern and western states that offered a
  warm climate year-round and low tax rates.
• 1956 Highway Act encouraged travel and made
  commutes easier.

On the Move
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Population Growth and Water in the Southwest
(0215)
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Suburbs and Cities

• Rising demand for homes encouraged development of
  new suburban neighborhoods.
• By mid-1950s, builders were constructing
  preplanned suburbs all over the country.
• By 1970 more Americans lived in suburbs than in
  cities.
• Suburban life appealed to many.
• Many enjoyed the additional space and
  convenience.
• Suburban life was criticized by others.
• Critics believed suburban life too heavily based
  on consumer culture
• Lacking in diversity most people living in
  suburbs were white and middle-class
• Discrimination some communities refused to sell
  homes to black families
• Move to suburbs meant cities collected fewer
  taxes and began to decline.
• Federal government began urban renewal program to
  improve life in cities.

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Levittown

• 16 million GI's were returning from either
  Europe, the Pacific, or from military bases in
  the United States.  Many were planning to get
  married and raise families.  But these former
  soldiers were running into trouble in their
  search to find suitable shelter for their new
  families. 
• The war had created a shortage of construction
  materials and the housing industry had fallen off
  rapidly.
• At the end of 1945, the US was in dire need of
  about five million houses, as ex-GIs and their
  families were living with their parents or in
  rented attics, basements, or unheated summer
  bungalows.  Some even lived in barns, trolley
  cars, and tool sheds.
• In Levittown all a prospective buyer needed was a
  90 deposit and payments of 58 per month

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Main Idea 2 Americans enjoyed new forms of
popular culture.

• Television
• By end of 1950s, nearly 90 percent of American
  families owned television sets.
• Americans shared the experience of watching the
  same news, comedies, and sports shows.
• American families watched about six hours of
  television a day.

• Music
• New styles of music helped reshape American
  culture.
• New style of jazz, known as bebop, became
  popular.
• Rock n roll swept the nation.
• Teenage fans bought more than 70 percent of all
  records sold in the late 1950s.

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Baby Boom - Television- QUIZ SHOWS

• A naively trusting public of the Fifties
  fell in love with television game shows. Some of
  the games were played for laughs and some for
  prizes and some for big money. Some survive today
  in contemporary form. The Price is Right wasn't
  born with Bob Barker at the helm. It was Bill
  Cullen in 1956.
• On Sunday nights everything came to stop
  while America watched The 64,000 Question. At
  their peak, there were 22 game shows on the air.
• By 1958 no one was laughing. That naive
  trust had been replaced by a suspicious cynicism
  that is with us yet. Why? Because many of the
  shows were rigged. The "winners" Americans had
  rooted for had been supplied with the answers in
  advance.
• Charles Van Doren, - Twenty-One. As Van
  Doren kept winning, his popularity grew until he
  became a recognized celebrity. His acting ability
  didn't suffer either as America watched him
  "agonize" over each question. Ultimately, he won
  129,000 - a hefty sum at any time, but a huge
  amount in the 50's
• The scandal prompted Congressional hearings.
  Although there were no laws prohibiting the
  "fixing" of game shows, both the networks and
  their sponsors acknowledged the public's distaste
  and kept game shows off the air for quite some
  time.

This Is Your Life
Ive Got A Secret
Price is right
Queen for a Day
Twenty-One- Scandal
To Tell the Truth
Whats My Line?
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Baby Boom - TV Dramas

• Daytime Soap Operas- Hawkins Falls- 1950-1955
• Dragnet- 1950-1970- Jack Webb
• Alfred Hitchcock Presents- mystery/ suspense
  dramas that came to an end after the last
  commercial. 1955-1962
• Dick Powell Theatre
• Kraft Suspense Theatre
• Studio One
• The Whistler
• Superman- Starring George Reeves- 1951-1957
• Perry Mason - Lawyer- 1957-1966
• Robin Hood- 1955-1958
• Route 66- 1960-1964
• Highway Patrol- 1955-1959
• The Grey Ghost- 1957-1959
• The Fugitive- 1963-1967
• 77 Sunset Strip- 1958-1964
• Ben Casey- Doctor show- 1961-1966

Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Perry Mason
Robin Hood
Route 66
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Baby Boom - Westerns

• Roy Rogers- 1951-1957
• Hopalong Cassidy- 1949-1951
• Gene Autry- 1950-1956
• Death Valley Days- 1952-1970(Ron Reagan)
• Sgt. Preston of the Yukon- 1955-1958
• Tombstone Territory- 1957-1958
• Rough Riders- 1958-1959
• Swamp Fox- 1959-1961
• Johnny Ringo- 1959-1960
• Laredo- 1967-1969
• Here Come the Brides- 1968-1970
• Bat Masterson- 1958-1961
• Annie Oakley - 1952-1956
• Branded- 1965-1966
• Cisco Kid- 1950-1955- Oh, Cisco, Oh Poncho
• Davey Crockett- 1954-1955
• Gunsmoke- 1955-1971
• Life and Times of Wyatt Earp- 1955-1961
• Lone Ranger- 1949-1957

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Baby Boom - Variety Shows

• American Bandstand- Dick Clark- 1952-1987
• Arthur Godfrey- 1949-1959
• Milton Berle Show- 1948-1967
• Ted Macks Original Amateur Hour- 1948-1970
• Your Show of Shows- Sid Ceasar and Imogene Coca.
  1950-1954
• Perry Como Show- 1948-1963
• Colgate Comedy Hour- 1950-1955
• You Hit Parade- 1950-1959
• Jack Benny Show- 1950-1965
• People are Funny- Art Linkletter-
  1954-1961
• George Gobel Show- Lonesome George-
  1954-1960
• Ed Sullivan Show- 1948-1971- A really big shew
• Diana Shore Show- 1951-1963 1974-1980
• Lawrence Welk- 1955-1977
• Red Skelton- 1951-1971- God Bless
• Ernie Kovacs- 1952-1962
• Jackie Gleason- 1952-1970

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Baby Boom - Comedy Shows

• Amos and Andy- 1951-1953
• Andy Griffith Show- 1960-1968
• Bachelor Father- 1957-1962
• Batman- 1966-1968
• Beverly Hillbillies- 1962-1971
• Brady Bunch- 1969-1974
• Burns and Allen- 1950-1958
• Car 54 Where are you?- 1961-1963
• Make Room for Danny- Danny Thomas- 1953-1964
• Dennis the Menace- 1959-1963
• Many Loves of Doby Gillis- 1959-1963
• Get Smart- 1965-1969
• Gilligans Island- 1964-1967
• I Dream of Jeannie- 1965-1970
• I Love Lucy- 1951-1957
• The Honeymooners- 1952-1961
• Leave it to Beaver- 1957-1963
• Mr. Ed- 1961-1965
• Ozzie and Harriet- 1952-1966

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Baby Boom - Kids Shows

• Captain Kangaroo- 1955-1984
• Ding Dong School- 1952-1956
• Flintstones- 1960-1966
• Flipper- 1964-1967
• My Friend Flicka- 1956-1958
• Howdy Doody- 1947-1960
• Jetons- 1962-1963
• Lassie- 1954-1971
• Mickey Mouse Club- 1955-1957
• The Monkees- 1966-1968
• Bozo the Clown- 1961-Today- Chicago TV
• Romper Room- 1954-1992
• Soupy Sales show- 1960- Pie in the Face.

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Entertainment (0750)
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Sports Games (0236)
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Main Idea 3 Social critics found fault with
1950s society.

• Some women were frustrated at lack of
  opportunities.
• Could only find work in limited fields
• Discouraged by expectation that they would give
  up jobs when they got married
• Novelists commented on society in their work.
• J.D. Salinger criticized culture filled with love
  of money and conformity.
• Ralph Ellison wrote of how African Americans were
  excluded by society.
• Young people known as beatniks, or beats,
  criticized society with unusual writing styles
  and rebellious behavior.
• Beat authors inspired many to question the rules
  of mainstream society.
• Many identified with rebellious characters in
  popular movies of the 1950s.

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Lifestyles (0757)
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