America in the 1950s

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The 1950s Americas Boom Decade for Teens,
Tots, Tech and TV
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• The Baby Boom

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• The Baby Boom

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• The Baby Boom

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• The Baby Boom

Even today, people born in the post-war years are
called baby boomers.
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• The
• Suburbs
• Hmmm
• Where does the word derive from?

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• The Suburbs

Some builders produced 150 houses per week.
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• The SuburbsThe American Dream Every man is a
  king.

Typical 1 story high 12x19 living room 2
bedrooms Bathroom Garage Backyard Front lawn
By 1960 ? 1/3 of the US population in the suburbs.
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• The Suburbs

SHIFTS IN POPULATION DISTRIBUTION, 1940 -
1970 1940 1950 1960
1970 Central Cities 31.6 32.3 32.6
32.0 Suburbs 19.5 23.8
30.7 41.6 Rural Areas/ 48.9 43.9
36.7 26.4 Small Towns Analyze this chart
which regions grew, shrank, and stayed the
same? Source U. S. Bureau of the Census.
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• Growth of Consumerism
• Business Grows Wealth Spreads

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• Growth of Consumerism

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Technology Comes Home
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A Changing Workplace
Automation 1947-1957 ? factory workers
decreased by 4.3, eliminating 1.5 million
blue-collar jobs. Machinery takes over segments
of the economy. By 1956 ? more white-collar
than blue-collar jobs in the U. S. Computers ?
First IBM mainframe computer (1951).
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• Science Fact

1953 -- DNA Structure Discovered 1954 -- Salk
Vaccine Tested for Polio 1957 Nuclear
energy used to generate civilian power 1958 --
NASA Created
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• Science Facts Hit Home

• Atomic Anxieties
• Duck-and-Cover Drills

• Atomic Testing
• 1946-1962 ? U. S. exploded 217
  nuclear weapons over the Pacific
  and in Nevada.

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• Science FactScience Fiction

UFO Sightings skyrocketed in the 1950s Hmmmwhy?
War of the Worlds
Hollywood used aliens as a metaphor for
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The Culture of the Car

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The Culture of the Car
Car registrations 1945 ? 25,000,000
by 1960 ? 60,000,000

1959 Chevy Corvette
1958 Pink Cadillac

• 1956 Interstate Highway Act ? largest
  public works project in American
  history
• Cost approx. 32 billion
• 41,000 miles of new highways were built

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The Culture of the CarTangential Effects
First McDonalds (Chicago, 1955) fast food
Drive-In Movies
Disneyland (CALI)
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Television

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Television
1946 ? 7,000 TV sets in the USby 1950 ?
50,000,000 TV sets in the US

Mass Audience TV celebrated traditional American
values and mythical heroism
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Teen CultureIn the 1950s the word teenager
entered the American lexicon (everyday words) as
we know it today.
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Teen Culture
Suggested Behaviors of the 1950s

• Obey Authority.
• Control Your Emotions.
• Dont Make Waves ? Fit in with the Group.
• Innocence is a virtue

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Teen Culture

• Power, Music, Rebellion
• Power By 1956, teen purchasing power was in
  millions of dollars

Music 1951 ? ROCK N ROLL ?race music?
Elvis Presley (Aka. King of Rock)
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Teen Culture
Rebellion
In Literature 1951 ? J. D. Salingers Catcher
in the Rye In Movies
Marlon Brando inThe Wild One (1953)
James Dean inRebel Without a Cause (1955)
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Songs of the 1950s
How Many do YOU recognize?? http//www.youtube.co
m/watch?vXZH8zTzjQpE
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Defined Gender Roles
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Defined Gender Roles
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 familys
suburban house and worked out on the trampoline
to keep her figure. -- Life magazine, 1956
Yet the Iconic Image of the 1950s Marilyn
Monroe
The ideal 1950s man was the provider, protector,
and the boss of the house. -- Life magazine,
1955
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The 1960s.would have a much different
identityboycotts.protests.activism.social
unrest.To be continued