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A Time of Peace and Conflict
A Time of Peace and Conflict
THE 1950s:
THE 1950s:
Postwar Politics: Readjustments and Challenges
• A Rocky Transition to Peace– Truman’s “Fair Deal”
• Tried to help society by increasing minimum wage, aid to farmers and education
– Inflation• War contracts are over, unemployment
rises• Price controls are over, prices rise
Postwar Politics: Readjustments and Challenges
• Truman battles the Republican Congress– 22nd Amendment: presidential term
limits– Taft-Hartley Act: reduced the power of
labor unions– Congress resists civil rights changes
• Truman fights back by desegregating the military
• Election of 1948– Truman narrowly wins (huge surprise)
Eisenhower’s “modern Republicanism”
Economic Growth Creates an Age of Affluence
• Americans saved a lot of money during WWII, leads to:– Consumer demand ↑– Production ↑– Advertising ↑– Buying on Credit ↑– “Planned Obsolescence”
• Ex. Seasonal fashions
• The Economy Begins to Shift from Goods to Services– New Vocab: Service Sector– Ex. Motels and Fast food franchises
“Planned Obsolescence”
ConsumerismConsumerism1950 Introduction of the Diner’s
Card
All babies were potential consumers who spearheaded a brand-new market for food, clothing, and shelter. -- Life Magazine (May, 1958)
ConsumerismConsumerism
A Changing WorkplaceA Changing Workplace
New Corporate Culture:
Blue Collar to White Collar Jobs
“The Company Man”
1956 Sloan Wilson’s The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit
Marriage, Families, and a Baby Boom
• Increase in marriages (Decrease in marriage age)
• “Baby Boom”• Results:
– ↑ in consumer spending– ↑ in home sales– ↑ in schools
Average age of first marriages
Baby BoomBaby BoomIt seems to me that every other young housewife I see is pregnant.
-- British visitor to America, 1958
1957 1 baby born every 7 seconds
Well-Defined Gender Roles
Well-Defined Gender RolesThe 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
The ideal 1950s man was the provider, protector, and the boss of the house. -- Life magazine, 1955
1956 William H. Whyte, Jr. The Organization Man
A a middle-class, white suburban male is the ideal.
SuburbiaSuburbia
$7,990 or $60/month with no down payment.
Levittown, L. I.: “The American Dream”
1949 William Levitt produced 150 houses per week.
Suburban Living:The New “American Dream”Suburban Living:The New “American Dream”k 1 story high
k 12’x19’ living room
k 2 bedrooms
k tiled bathroom
k garage
k small backyard
k front lawnBy 1960 1/3 of the U. S. population in the suburbs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mGTLrI8rxQ&feature=related
Suburban LivingSuburban Living
SHIFTS IN POPULATION DISTRIBUTION,
1940-1970
1940 1950 1960 1970Central 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
*Population also shifts to the “Sunbelt” states.
Suburban LivingSuburban Living
SHIFTS IN POPULATION DISTRIBUTION,
1940-1970
1940 1950 1960 1970Central 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
*Population also shifts to the “Sunbelt” states. Like California
White Flight (from the city to
the burbs)
White Flight (from the city to
the burbs)Houses were only sold to whites
Blockbusting of City Neighborhoods
Whites sold houses at a loss when neighborhood changed
Suburban Living:The Typical TV Suburban Families
Suburban Living:The Typical TV Suburban Families
The Donna Reed Show1958-1966
Leave It to Beaver1957-1963
Father Knows Best
1954-1958
The Ozzie & Harriet Show
1952-1966
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbkTmvz0q7E
Juvenile Delinquency?
Juvenile Delinquency?Rock and Roll, Greasers,
James Dean “Rebel without a Cause”
The Culture of the Car
The Culture of the Car
First McDonald’s (1955)
America became a more homogeneous nation because of the automobile.
Drive-In Movies
Howard Johnson’s
1950’s Gender Roles
Think about it
• What do you think caused the conformity of the 1950s
• How is the 1950s like the 1920s?
To sum up
We haven’t even gotten to civil rights yet!