America in the 1950s

1. America in the 1950s Society & Culture

2. Warm Up • Which US president pulled-off the biggest upset in presidential election history when he won in 1948? • A = Truman • Which president used the CIA to overthrow left-leaning governments in Guatemala and Iran? • A = Eisenhower

3. MO • What was the U2 incident?

4. Post-War Prosperity • Stark departure from Depression & War • People want to enjoy the good life. • Main-Stream Cultural Image of Good life: • Owning a House w/ a lawn and a white picket fence. • Married w/ 2.5-kids. • Women are supposed to be homemakers • (Retreat from “Rosie the Riveter” & return to the Cult of Domesticity).

6. Economic Boom • 1945-1970s = Time of greatest economic prosperity in the nation’s history • Peaked in the 1960s. • Americans had the most wealth of any people in the history of the world.

7. GI Bill • Servicemen’s Readjustment Act. • $ for returning vets. To get vocational training, go to college, buy homes, etc. • Helps send more Americans to college than ever before. • Helps more Americans own homes than ever before.

8. A Time of Conformity • Many historians tend to stress the amount of conformity that existed in the 1950s. • Many people sought to be like the main stream cultural ideal. • This leads to an emphasis on materialism “Keeping up with the Joneses” = If your neighbors own something, you need to have it too.

9. Moving to the Suburbs • New prosperity means that more people can afford to own homes. • Many whites begin moving out of the city to the suburbs—housing communities outside of cities. • Levittowns (suburb communities of pre-made homes) are the epitome of this new suburban life.

13. TV • 1950s are when TV’s burst on to the scene. • Households that own TVs • 1950 = 3.9%1960 = 86.7% Instrumental in spreading main-stream cultural ideals.

14. Consumer Culture • Prosperity of the 1950s and 1960s is consumer driven (rather than investment driven). • Increased prosperity (& more goods available) led new levels of middle-class mass consumption. • TV helps to fuel this. • Mickey Mouse Club—kids bought MMC merchandise. • Modern kitchens and appliances.

16. Increased Highways • 1950s saw unprecedented building of highways. • Federal Highway Act of 1956 = $25-millon for new highways. • More people had cars • More people lived in suburbs.

18. The H-Bomb • Hydrogen Bomb (The “Super”) • Edward Teller • 1952

19. Bomb Shelters • Fear of Nuclear War during the Cold War led many Americans to build Bomb Shelters.

21. Baby Boom • 1945-1962 • Increased Prosperity • More people can afford to have kids.

22. Dr. Benjamin Spock • Wrote influential book on child care: Baby and Child Care. • Said that a woman’s chief responsibility is to be a mother. • Must put the child’s needs before her own. • Lots of pressure on women.

23. Dr. Kinsey • Biologist at Indiana University • Wrote best-selling books about sexual behavior. • Were extremely controversial

24. Playboy Magazine • Hugh Hefner--1953

25. Review • What was the “GI Bill”? • What were the most famous suburban developments called? • Who wrote the best-selling book on child rearing and what did it say good mothers should do? • What was the U.S. population explosion that occurred after WWII and lasted into the 1960s called?

26. More Review • Who was the most prominent figure o the 2nd Red Scare? • A = Senator Joseph McCarthy • What was the name of the best selling book about the discontent sufferd by many middle-class house wives during the 1950s that helped give rise to modern feminism? • A = The Feminine Mystique • Who wrote the above mentioned book? • A = Betty Friedan • What was the name of the authors and poets who wrote in a modernist style and rejected the social norms of the 1950s? • A = The Beats

27. Alienation • Despite many Americans buying-in to main stream cultural ideals of the 1950s, many felt alienated. • People feel unfulfilled by emphasis on conformity and material possessions. • Women & Many Minorities • Some Youths • Beats Theme of alienation and disillusionment is present in much of the art of the 1950s (literature, poetry, paintings, plays, etc.)

28. Women • While society held that women should be homemakers, the reality was that more women were entering the workforce than ever before. • Mainly clerical and service jobs. • Many people needed 2-income households to buy the material goods they felt that they should have.

29. Many women who remained at home felt stifled by their roles. • The sale of tranquilizers skyrocketed (“Mother’s Little Helper”). • Betty Freidan in the Feminine Mystiquemaintained that the lack of fulfillment experienced by many housewives was the genesis of he women’s movement in the 1960s.

30. Friedan became a major figure in the burgeoning feminist movement.

31. Women in the Workforce • While popular culture portrayed a women’s role as a homemaker, the 1950s saw a great increase in the number of women entering the workplace. • More 2-income families than ever before due to pressures of consumer culture. • Conversely, Dr. Benjamin Spock, Baby and Child Care held that a mother should be at home giving her full attention to her children. • This contrast between social norms and economic realities caused tension.

32. Youth Culture • Many youth sought to emulate the stereotypes of the main stream. • They wore poodle skirts and sweaters. • Hung out at the soda shop, etc.

33. Youth Rebellion • Other youths, however, rebelled against the cultural norms of the time. • The most popular images of youth rebellion were the leather jacketed greaser and the brooding young man.

35. The Beats • Poets and Writers who rejected contemporary American society. • Alan Ginsburg— “Howl.” • Jack Kerouac– On The Road • William Burroughs—Naked Lunch

36. Ginsburg and Kerouac

37. Beatniks

38. Main Stream Lit./Theatre • J.D. Salinger– Catcher in the Rye. • John Updike – Rabbit, Run. • Grace Metalious – Peyton Place • Arthur Miller – Death of a Salesman • All deal with themes of alienation.

39. Film • Marlon Brando and James Dean are the actors most emblematic of the Youth Rebellion. • Marilyn Monroe is at her height. • Doris Day is the archetype of the main-stream persona.

40. Music • With advent of TV, radio begins to rely more on music. • Term “Disc Jockey” conceived. • Rock and Roll is born. • Is an amalgamation of styles—mainly blues and country. • White performers like Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis rise to prominence by emulating the style of black musicians. • Elvis is the biggest star, he is known as “The King.” • Other big-names are: Chuck Berry, Little Richard, the Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens. • Embraced mainly by teens and young adults so is thus form of youth rebellion.

42. Art in the 50s • Abstract Expressionism is the dominant style of painting. • Centered in NYC. • Main Artists are: Jackson Pollock, Alan Rothko, Robert Motherwell, Willem DeKooning. • Edward Hopper is more a traditionalist. His paintings show isolated, anonymous individuals.

43. Jackson Pollock

44. Edward Hopper

45. Mark Rothko • Color Field

46. Post War Inventions and Breakthroughs • Salk Vaccine—1954, Prevents Polio. • DDT—Chemical Pesticide that protected crops from pests and prevented diseases caused by insects such as Typhus and malaria. Only later was it found to be toxic to humans and animals. • UNIVAC—Universal Automatic Computer. Developed by Remington Rand Company.

47. Fast Food • More cars and highways lead to Fast Food Restaurants. • McDonald’s is the leading “franchise” restaurant.

48. 1950s: Good Times for Everybody? • The economic boom applied mainly to middle-class whites. • African Americans and Latinos generally did not share in the good times.

49. The 1950s have often been described as a time of social and cultural conformity. To what degree is this statement true?