Download
1 / 12
160 likes | 308 Views
TECHNOLOGY IN THE 1960’S. Appliances. During the 1950s, the role of women was generally considered to be that of the 'homemaker'. Bright television and magazine advertisements encouraged women to stay at home and create a domestic haven for their families using the new appliances on offer.
E N D
Appliances • During the 1950s, the role of women was generally considered to be that of the 'homemaker'. • Bright television and magazine advertisements encouraged women to stay at home and create a domestic haven for their families using the new appliances on offer. • These devices promised to raise standards of living and release housewives from the shackles of household chores.
The benefits • Electric stoves, refrigerators, toasters and kettles revolutionised the kitchen, and vacuum cleaners and washing machines shaved hours off time spent cleaning. • Women could enjoy more leisure time while still creating a clean, comfortable home for their families. • Many women chose to join the paid workforce, changing the shape of the Australian labour market forever.
Developments in manufacturing technology • Demand led to a huge increase in mass production as many small appliances that were at first considered luxuries, like kettles and electric mixers, were now considered 'must-have' items. • Mass production meant that most appliances became not just affordable, but essential parts of everyday life. • Lower quality products or products with new features became the new way to manufacture goods in order to encourage consumers to continually purchase. • Look and designs of products mirrored those of industry factory equipment and thus looked more like hard work than a pleasurable experience. • As a result, manufacturers altered the design resulting in appliances becoming smoother, shinier and more stylish and available in a variety of colours.
Housing • Increased importance of suburbs saw cheaper building technology allowing for larger homes to be built cheaper and products like plastic paints, linoleum floor coverings and laminex kitchen benches made household cleaning even easier. • Technological advancements also led to the growth of inner-city high-rise apartments and skyscrapers.
The Family Home • Second bathrooms and extra bedrooms became common. Many families built a 'family' or 'rumpus' room, providing two living areas and some homes were air-conditioned. • As car ownership increased, many new houses were built with a garage or carport. New building materials. • New emphasis on homes that were more suited to climate and blended into the local environment. Home design entered a new phase of 'bringing the outdoors indoors', with a new emphasis on using natural light and a proliferation of patios and other outdoor living areas.
The motor car • By the 1960s, the car had become an essential part of everyday life. • Road development increased to accommodate the increased numbers of cars. • Freeway’s became popular allowing a fast, smooth, paved car journey. • The Mini was small, fast, easy to park, reasonably priced and well-suited to city life.
Air travel • By the 1960s, propeller-driven aircraft were less common as jet aircraft dominated the skies. • International and domestic air travel became cheaper and more comfortable and hours were continually being shaved off travel times. • As a result, air travel posed a real threat to rail networks. • Allowed people to gain first-hand experience of the cultures of other countries. As a result, ideas, fashions, trends and technology from overseas flowed more easily into society.
Rail travel • Long distance journeys had previously been thanks to the steam train, however, diesel locomotive trains were much faster and cleaner than the old steam engines and could carry much greater loads. • Diesel trains also eliminated the heavy rocking motion of steam trains, causing less wear-and-tear on rail tracks and providing a smoother ride for passengers. • Although electric trains had been operating since the 1920s. The electric system was developed further when the world's first double-decker electric trains began operating in Sydney.
Telephone Subscriber trunk dialling (STD) was introduced in the mid-1960s, allowing people to directly dial long-distance areas. Replaced the previous system whereby the phone user would dial the operator, who would then place the call.
Television • Transformed the way the world received information. It soon became the most popular and dominant form of mass communication, taking over from radio and cinema and posing a challenge to print media. • Awareness and experience of the rest of the world changed rapidly. Television exposed people to other cultures and world views and provided information that would play a major role in shaping popular public opinion.
Satellites and telecommunications • Satellites were a bridge to exchanging information with the rest of the world and instigated major changes in television viewing and telephone communication. • The first satellite weather images • The potential of television and satellite technology was fully realised on 20 July 1969, when American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon. This landmark event was broadcast live into homes.
