OR Topic 15 THE 1950 s 1950 s

OR Topic 15 THE 1950 s:

1950’s SOCIETY AND CULTURE

http: //www. movieweb. com/video/V 07 D 5 jmox. J MTUY

: The postwar era witnessed tremendous economic growth and rising social contentment and conformity. Yet in the midst of such increasing affluence and comfortable domesticity, social critics expressed a growing sense of unease with American culture in the 1950 s. Assess the validity of the above statement and explain how the decade of the 1950 s laid the groundwork for the social and political turbulence of the 1960 s.

Baby Boom The Economy Consumer Culture Migration 1950’s Society and Culture Women Music Teen Cuture TV & Movies Family Life

WELCOME TO LEVITTOWN

1944 GI Bill of Rights

1944 GI Bill of Rights Perhaps the greatest area, in terms of the federal government's participation in education, was the GI Bill of Rights. The GI Bill, officially known as the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was designed to provide greater opportunities to returning war veterans of World War II.

Baby Boom It seems to me that every other young housewife I see is pregnant. -- British visitor to America, 1958 1957 1 baby born every 7 seconds

Baby Boom 1957 1 baby born every 7 seconds

During the baby boomer years, 1946 -1964, 75. 8 million Americans were born. The biggest year of the boom was 1957, when 4. 3 million boomers were born.

1 B. Baby Boom

Levittown, L. I. : “The American Dream” 1949 William Levitt produced 150 houses per week. $7, 990 or $60/month with no down payment.

Levittown, L. I. : “The American Dream” ¢BABY Boom – 21 million babies ¢GI bill ¢ 36 houses a day built in Levitt developments ¢ 17, 000 houses total ¢ 1955 ¾ of houses built in US were like Levit’s suburbs

§ 1 story high § 12’x 19’ living room § 2 bedrooms § tiled bathroom § garage § small backyard § front lawn By 1960 1/3 of the U. S. population in the suburbs.

Levittown, L. I. : “The American Dream” $7, 990 or $60/month with no down payment.

Baby Boom The Economy Consumer Culture Migration 1950’s Society and Culture Women Music Teen Cuture TV & Movies Family Life

Consumerism

. Consumerism

Baby Boom The Economy Consumer Culture Migration 1950’s Society and Culture Women Music Teen Cuture TV & Movies Family Life

TV and Gender Roles The Typical TV Suburban Families The Donna Reed Show 1958 -1966 Father Knows Best 1954 -1958 Leave It to Beaver 1957 -1963 The Ozzie & Harriet Show 1952 -1966

Television 1946 - 7, 000 TV sets in the U. S. 1950 - 50, 000 TV sets in the U. S. Mass Audience TV celebrated traditional American values. Truth, Justice, and the American way!

1950 - 1951: By year's end, the number of TV households grows to 20 million, up 33% from previous year. U. S. advertisers spend a record $288 million on TV time, an increase of 38. 8% from 1951

1950: 9% of American households own television sets 1959: 88% 5 million TV’s purchased/year

"I Love Lucy, " a half-hour filmed TV sitcom, is born. The show, unlike the live TV productions typical of the time, ranks No. 1 in the nation for four of its first six full seasons.

Television – The Western Davy Crockett King of the Wild Frontier Sheriff Matt Dillon, Gunsmoke The Lone Ranger (and his faithful sidekick, Tonto):

Suburban Living: The Typical TV Suburban Families The Donna Reed Show 1958 -1966 Father Knows Best 1954 -1958 Leave It to Beaver 1957 -1963 The Ozzie & Harriet Show 1952 -1966

Well-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 family’s suburban house and worked out on the trampoline to keep her size 12 figure. -- Life magazine, 1956 Marilyn Monroe The ideal 1950 s man was the provider, protector, and the boss of the house. -- Life magazine, 1955

HOW TO BE A GOOD WIFE Home Economics High School Text Book, 1954 Have dinner ready. Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal, on time. This is a way of letting him know that you have been thinking about him and are concerned about his needs. Most men are hungry when they come home and the prospect of a good meal are his needs. Most men are hungry when they come home and the prospect of a good part of the warm welcome needed. Prepare yourself. Take 15 minutes to rest so that you'll be refreshed when he arrives. Touch up your makeup, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh-looking. He has just been with a lot of work-weary people. Be a little gay and a little more interesting. His boring day may need a lift. Clear away the clutter. Make one last trip through the main part of the home just before your husband arrives, gather up schoolbooks, toys, paper, etc. Then run a dust cloth over the tables. Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest and order, and it will give you a lift, too. Prepare the children. Take a few minutes to wash the children's hands and faces (if they are small), comb their hair, and if necessary change their clothes. They are little treasures and he would like to see them playing the part. Minimize all noise. At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of the washer, dryer, dishwasher, or vacuum. Try to encourage the children to be quiet. Be happy to see him. Greet him with a warm smile and be glad he is home.

HOW TO BE A GOOD WIFE Home Economics High School Text Book, 1954 . Some don'ts: Don't greet him with problems or complaints. Don't complain if he is late for dinner. Count this as minor compared with what he might have gone through that day. Make him comfortable. Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or suggest he lie down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him. Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, soft, soothing and pleasant voice. Allow him to relax and unwind. Listen to him. You may have a dozen things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first. Make the evening his. Never complain if he does not take you out to dinner or to other places of entertainment. Instead, try to understand his world of strain and pressure, his need to be home and relax. The Goal: Try to make your home a place of peace and order where your husband can renew himself in body and spirit.

Let’s not play house

Let’s not play house BETTY FRIEDAN: The Feminine Mystique Women could not find fulfillment as housewives and mothers

The Feminine Mystique Initiated a fundamental rethinking of how women defined themselves, their responsibilities and their choices in the post-war world.

Credited with starting the modern women's movement

“The new mystique makes the house-wife-mothers, who never had a chance to be anything else, the model for all women. ” “…Fulfillment as a women had only one definition for American women after 1949 – the house-wife mother. ”

Baby Boom The Economy Consumer Culture Migration 1950’s Society and Culture Women Music Teen Cuture TV & Movies Family Life

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

The Culture of the Car registrations: 1945 25, 000 1960 60, 000 2 -family cars doubles from 1951 -1958 1959 Chevy Corvette 1958 Pink Cadillac

. The Culture of the Car America became a more homogeneous nation because of the automobile. Drive-In Movies First Mc. Donald’s (1955) Howard Johnson’s

Ray Kroc, at 52 years old, invested his entire life savings to become the exclusive distributor of a milk shake maker called the Multimixer. Hearing about the Mc. Donald's hamburger stand in California owned by Dick & Mac Mc. Donald running eight Multimixers at a time, he packed up his car and headed West. It was 1954. Ray Kroc had never seen so many people served so quickly. He pitched the idea of opening up several restaurants to the Mc. Donald brothers, convinced that he could sell eight of his Multimixers to each and every one. "Who could we get to open them for us? " Dick Mc. Donald said. Well, " Kroc answered, "what about me? "

The Culture of the Car The U. S. population was on the move in the 1950 s. NE & Mid-W S & SW (“Sunbelt” states) 1955 Disneyland opened in Southern California. (40% of the guests came from outside California, most by car. ) Tomorrow Land Frontier Land Main Street

A History in Pictures "I could tell something was happening in 1952. " So writes Dick Clark in his introduction to LIFE's celebration of 50 years of rock 'n' roll. In 1952 Clark was a young deejay in Philadelphia, and what he sensed was happening, we now know, was that a new kind of music was casting an irresistible spell on America's young.

Teen Culture Behavioral Rules of the 1950 s: U Obey Authority. U Control Your Emotions. U Don’t Make Waves Fit in with the Group. U Don’t Even Think About Sex!!!

Teen Culture In the 1950 s the word “teenager” entered the American language. By 1956 13 mil. teens with $7 bil. to spend a year. Elvis Presley “The King”

Teen Culture “Juvenile Delinquency” ? ? ? 1951 J. D. Salinger’s A Catcher in the Rye Marlon Brando in The Wild One (1953) James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause (1955)

Teen Culture The “Beat” Generation: f Jack Kerouac On The Road f Allen Ginsberg poem, “Howl” f Neal Cassady f William S. Burroughs “Beatnik”

Answer the questions below based on the video “The Fifties. ” Facts and figures: • Number of marriages in 1946? • How many babies were born between 1945 and 1950? 1. • Average for marriage? Describe the expectations for women in the 1950’s. 2. How did educational films reinforce theses expectations? 3. What professions were open to women? 4. Why did many women drop out of college. 5. What indications were that women were growing increasingly unhappy with their role as housewives? 6. Why were many women concerned about being successful in college. 7. Explain the significance of Betty Freidan’s book The Feminine Mystique

Week of 5/29 ¢ Tue 5/30 – Assign. #2 and web quest ¢ Th 6/1 - #3 and Regents ques. for practice ¢ Fri 6/2 - #4 (to be handed out on Wednesday). If you are absent get it on Thursday.

THE 1950 s: “Conservatism, Complacency, and Contentment” OR “Anxiety, Alienation, and Social Unrest” ? ? Ms. Susan M. Pojer Horace Greeley HS Chappaqua, NY

2 A. Suburban Living Levittown, L. I. : “The American Dream” 1949 William Levitt produced 150 houses per week. $7, 990 or $60/month with no down payment.

2 A. Suburban Living: The New “American Dream” k 1 story high k 12’x 19’ living room k 2 bedrooms k tiled bathroom k garage k small backyard k front lawn By 1960 1/3 of the U. S. population in the suburbs.

2 B. Suburban Living SHIFTS IN POPULATION DISTRIBUTION, 1940 -1970 Central Cities Suburbs Rural Areas/ Small Towns 1940 31. 6% 19. 5% 48. 9% 1950 32. 3% 23. 8% 43. 9% U. S. Bureau of the Census. 1960 32. 6% 30. 7% 36. 7% 1970 32. 0% 41. 6% 26. 4%

4 A. A Changing Workplace Automation: 1947 -1957 factory workers decreased by 4. 3%, eliminating 1. 5 million blue-collar jobs. By 1956 more white-collar than blue-collar jobs in the U. S. Computers Mark I (1944). First IBM mainframe computer (1951). Corporate Consolidation: By 1960 600 corporations (1/2% of all U. S. companies) accounted for 53% of total corporate income. WHY? ? Cold War military buildup.

A Changing Workplace New Corporate Culture: “The Company Man” 1956 Sloan Wilson’s The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit

Progress Through Science 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 1959 -- Press Conference of the First 7 American Astronauts

Progress Through Science 1957 Russians launch SPUTNIK I 1958 National Defense Education Act

Progress Through Science UFO Sightings skyrocketed in the 1950 s. War of the Worlds Hollywood used aliens as a metaphor for whom ? ?

The postwar era witnessed tremendous economic growth and rising social contentment and conformity. Yet in the midst of such increasing affluence and comfortable domesticity, social critics expressed a growing sense of unease with American culture in the 1950 s. Assess the validity of the above statement and explain how the decade of the 1950 s laid the groundwork for the social and political turbulence of the 1960 s.