1950s shortened

The1950s 1947- 1963

1947Chuck Yeager

broke the sound barrier

with an experimental rocket plane 760 mph =

mach 1

1963

JFK Assassinate

d

This decade is referred to as the

Liberal Liberal ConsensusConsensus

Liberal Consensus

Majority of

peopleagree change

is necessary…

Liberal Consensus

A Change

ConservativisConservativismm

Conservative =

Want to

keep the

Status Quo.

… became the keyCONFORMITYCONFORMITY

offered a sense of Security

UnityProtection

CONFORMITYCONFORMITY

Nuclear FamilyMom, Dad, 2.5 kids

Nuclear Family“BACKBONE” of the LC

Preserved the “American way of life”Establish moral fiber (i.e. anti-comm)

Nuclear FamilyStrong family unit =

strong sense of security and protection

Role of Television

• TV FLATTENED society– No class– No race– No conflicts

• IF a minority shown…– in stereotype–Ex: “Buckwheat” of The Little Rascals

Role of Television

Role of Television in 50s

Role: Role:

Encouraged Encouraged people to people to

conform to conform to what they saw what they saw

on TVon TV

Role of religion

Religion = nationalismReligion = nationalism

Promoted unityPromoted unity

Increase in Increase in ProtestantProtestantismism

Reinforced Reinforced moralitymorality

G.I. Bill• Signed by Truman in 1944•Money provided to returning WWII soldiers

- Mostly veterans at 1st

- All uniform appearance

- Prefabricated parts

-Paved streets

Characteristics & “Rules”

http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~hst203/images3/levittown.jpg

-Paved streets

- Had appliances

- Approved lines only

- No clothes line on Sun.

Characteristics & “Rules”

-Trees 28’ apart

- Only door chimes

- Supervised lawn cutting

- No fences

Characteristics & “Rules”

http://server1.fandm.edu/levittown/images/lg_jpegs/D13G2.jpg

http://server1.fandm.edu/levittown/images/lg_jpegs/D14G3.jpg

http://server1.fandm.edu/levittown/images/lg_jpegs/D14G5a.jpg

http://web.clas.ufl.edu/users/chmonty/amh2020/image2RJ.JPG

Open Floor Plan

Picture Windows

Expandable attics… carports too!

Built-in Kitchen

Indoor / Outdoor Living

Impacts of the Suburbs

• Forced community

“It takes a village”

• Development of highway system

http://drake.marin.k12.ca.us/academics/comacad/decades%2000/1950's/goodrefrig.JPG

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.truetoneradioland.com/television001005.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.truetoneradioland.com/page15.htm&h=491&w=437&sz=201&tbnid=yC24nDBWTGIPhM:&tbnh=127&tbnw=113&hl=en&start=6&prev=/images%3Fq%3D1950s%2Bfurniture%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D

http://automaticwasher.org/COLLECTIONS/GANSKY1/01@WO-65%20Washer%201950%20%20TR-60%20Filtra-Matic%20Dryer%201952@GANSKY1.jpg

►Increase in consumer societyIncrease in consumer society

Joseph McCarthy

Elizabeth

Bentley

J. Robert Oppenheim

er

Julius & Ethel Rosenberg

Klaus Fuchs, Harry Gold,David Greenglass

Alger Hiss

The Hollywoo

d Ten

Action in the North Atlantic (1943)

* assault on American isolationists

* supported Stalin’s purges * anti-fascist

Song of Russia (1944) * smiling Russian children

Mission to Mars (1945) * Russians calling our men

“comrade”

Agencies and Laws• McCarren Act:• HUAC: • CIA: • NSC: • FBI:

The Beat GenerationJack Kerouac

1923-1969Allen Ginsberg

1926-1997William Burroughs *

1914-1997

Poets influenced by Walt Whitman

What does “Beat” mean? beat, beattitude, beatific(ation)

Greenwich Village, NY to San FranciscoUsually male (?) & homosexual or bisexualDressed in all black

• On the Road by Jack Kerouac–Autobiographical–“stream of consciousness” – on “the roll”,

no margins, no paragraphs, single lines–Myth = written in 3 weeks • Written over 7 years in small notebooks

• “Howl” by Allen Ginsberg- 3 part poem about experiences with friends

• Naked Lunch by William Burroughs- Time magazine’s “100 Best English-

Language Novels from 1923-2005

Had different expectations than parents

“Searching for significance in life”

“Brought poetry out of the Ivory Tower and back to the streets” – Berkeley U.

Nicknamed Beatniks (derogatory)

Elvis Presley Musician / Singer White Southerner Sang “Black” music Danced provocatively Wore flashy clothes Wore make-up Androgynous (what is this?) Dissolved segregation by crossing

culture boundaries

Suez Canal Crisis – 1956-7

Sputnik - 1957