The Postwar Boom

I. Postwar America

A. Readjustment and Recovery

• About 10 million men and women had been released from the armed forces by 1946 and were rebuilding their lives

1. The Impact of the GI Bill

• GI Bill of Rights (1944)- to help the servicemen readjust to society

– Paid part of educational tuition– Low-interest Federal Loans– Used the $ to buy homes or farms or businesses

2. Housing Crisis

• Initially a severe housing crisis (1945-46)

• Efficient assembly-line methods to mass-produce houses

• William Levitt- created small, residential communities surrounding cities (suburbs)– Claimed he could build a house in 16 minutes

Levittown

Levittown

Levittown family

• All houses looked the same

• There were neighborhood regulations dealing w/ cutting grass, no fences

• New Lifestyle

3. Redefining the Family

• New roles for women during WWII?

• Refuse to give up newfound independence– 6 million women in workforce (75% married)

• High Divorce Rate– More than a million war marriages by 1950

4. Economic Readjustment

• Wartime to Peacetime economy (less jobs)

• OPA (Office of Price Administration) removed price ceilings which led prices to skyrocket until supply could catch up with demand.– People wanted more than were being produced

• Also, salaries were lower because so many people were applying for the available jobs

5. Remarkable Recovery

• After the initial readjustment, the economy boomed as demand exceeded supply

• Houses and appliances were bought up as soon as they were available

• “The affluent society”- 25 years of prosperity

• The Cold War also contributed to growing economy (strong foreign markets?)

B. Economic Challenges

• A desire for stability made the country more conservative

1. Truman’s Inheritance

• Faced 2 huge challenges:

– The threat of Communism

– Restoring the economy to a strong footing

2. Truman Faces Strikes

• 4.5 million workers went on strike in 1946– Steelworkers, coal miners, railroad threatened

• Truman acted by threatening to take over the industries or draft the strikers into the military to be on permanent duty– Unions gave in before his speech to Congress

was finished

3. “Had Enough?”

• Republicans asked the public, “Had enough” and voters responded at the polls

• The Republicans won a majority of both the House and Senate for 1st time since 1928 (1946 Congressional Election)

Democrats used this strategy in 2006

C. Social Unrest Persists

• Racial Violence erupted in the South

• African Americans demanded their rights as citizens, especially veterans

1. Truman Supports Civil Rights

• Put his career on the line for civil rights– “I am asking for equality of opportunity for all

human beings… and if that ends up being my failure to be reelected, that failure will be in a good cause.”

• Met with African-Am. leaders to find out their top-priorities

• Congress constantly failed to act

• Truman issued an executive order integrating the armed forces

• The Supreme Ct. ruled that African Am.s couldn’t be barred from residential neighborhoods

2. The 1948 Election

• Democratic Party split, yet Truman determined to get reelected

• Truman goes on a “whistlestop campaign”– Meets with the people face to face

President Ford using the whistlestop campaign strategy first

used by Truman

a. Dixiecrats

• Southern Democratic delegates

• Walked out of the convention and formed the States’ Rights Democratic Party– Strom Thurmond nominated for president

3. Stunning Upset

• Truman’s “Give ‘em hell, Harry” campaign worked even though the early edition of the Chicago Tribune read “Dewey defeats Truman”

• Thomas Dewey was the Republican candidate

• Democrats also won control of Congress even though they lost control of the south

4. The Fair Deal

• Truman’s extension of Roosevelt’s New Deal

• Ideas of compulsory nationwide health insurance and a subsidy for farmers– Both measures defeated in Congress

• Was able to raise minimum wage and extend Social Security

D. Republicans take the Middle Road

• Truman decides not to run for reelection while his approval rating was at an all-time low (23%) in 1951.

• Adlai Stevenson (Democrat) vs. General Dwight D. Eisenhower (Republican) 1952

1. I Like Ike

• Republicans criticized Korean War and Inflation

• Nixon (VP candidate) almost ruined Ike’s campaign for profiting from a secret fund, but he used television to deny charges

– Ike and Nixon won election in 1952

2. Walking the Middle of the Road

• Dynamic Conservatism- “Conservative when it comes to money and liberal when it comes to human beings”

• Didn’t believe the government should be involved with desegregation but upheld the Brown v. Board of Education decision (1954) by sending federal troops to help black students attend class in Arkansas

Littlerock 9

II. The American Dream in the Fifties

A. The Organization and the Organization Man

• Business was expanding rapidly in the 1950’s

• White-collar jobs were expanding– Sales, advertising, insurance agents,

communication managers

1. Conglomerates

• A major corporation that includes a number of smaller companies in unrelated industries

• Example- ITT owns Xerox, General Electric

2. Franchises

• A company that offers similar products or services in many locations

• McDonald’s sold franchise rights in 1954

3. Social Conformity

• The Organization Man (1956 study) described “company people” that were rewarded for teamwork, cooperation, and loyalty

• Businesses wanted workers that would “fit in”

B. The Suburban Life

• Affordable automobiles and new highways allowed easy access to work

• 85% of the houses built in the 1950’s were suburb houses

1. The Baby Boom

• Soldiers returned home and settled into life contributing to an unprecedented population explosion

• Created the largest generation in American history– Factors on pg. 573

2. Dr. Spock’s Babies

• A pediatrician that wrote how children should be raised in Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care– Sold 10 million copies in 50’s

– Believed the role of the mother staying at home was extremely important

3. Women’s Roles

• The Role of the Homemaker and Mother was glorified in magazines, movies, and on T.V.

• The % of working women did rise to the point that 40% of women with children between 6-17 held jobs– Nurses, teachers, office support

4. Leisure Time in the Fifties

• More Leisure time than ever before

• 40 hour work weeks w/ paid vacations

• Labor saving devices (dishwashers, vacuum cleaner, lawn mowers)

• Became avid readers, Little League baseball emerged

C. The Automobile Culture

• Inexpensive fuel was plentiful

• Cars were being bought at rapid rates

• 10 million more cars on the road in 1960 compared to 1950

1. Automania

• Suburban living made owning a car a necessity

• Work, stores, churches, doctor’s offices are not within walking distance

• Many families owned 2 cars (often a station wagon)

2. The Interstate Highway System

• Interstate Highway Act (1956) authorized the building of a nationwide highway network

• Encouraged developments of even more new suburbs

• Made long-hauling trucking possible (Semis)

• Vacations occurred to distant places

Disney World opened in 1955

3. Mobility takes its Toll

• Noise and exhaust create problems for both society and the environment

• Automobile accidents claim lives

• Traffic jams raise stress

• Jobs moved to suburbs, as well, leaving poor city dwellers w/o jobs and vital services

D. Consumerism Unbound

• Consumerism- buying material goods– Came to be equated w/ success

1. New Products

• Technologies produced during WWII were used for consumer goods– Teflon pans, clothing fabrics (polyester)– Household Appliances w/ electronics– Recreational equipment (televisions, patio

furniture)

2. Planned Obsolescence

• A marketing strategy to encourage consumers to purchase more goods by purposely designing products to become obsolete (become outdated in a short amount of time)

• New models every year (cars)

• “throwaway society”

’57 and ‘58 Chevy

3. Buy Now, Pay Later

• Purchases made with credit

• First credit card (1950) issued by the Diner’s Club

• American Express emerged in 1958

4. The Advertising Age

• Ads were everywhere– Newspapers, Magazines, radio, television,

billboards

• U.S. spent more on advertising than other countries did on public school systems

• 1 minute t.v. commercial became popular

III. Popular Culture

A. New Era of the Mass Media

• Mass Media- means of communication that reach large audiences

• Television developed with lightning speed

– 9% of homes in 1950 had a t.v.– 90% of homes in 1960 had a t.v.

1. The Rise of Television

• After a brief freeze on new television stations by the government, the # of stations soared

• I Love Lucy began

• Children’s programs- The Mickey Mouse Club

• TV Guide became the most sold magazine

• TV dinners became popular

2. Stereotypes and Gunslingers

• Critics of television objected to the stereotypical portrayals of women and minority

• Males outnumbered females 3 to 1

• African Americans and Latinos rarely appeared

• Portrayed an idealized white America

TV Land Video Player : Video Clips of Classic Television and Original Series – TV Land

3. Radio and Movies

• Radio turned to news, weather, music, and community issues to not compete w/ TV.

• Movie profits suffered but did not crumble– Capitalized on the benefits of movie theaters– Color screens, surround sound, 3-D movies

Ex. Around the World in Eighty DaysThe Man Who Knew Too Much

B. A Subculture Emerges

• The messages of the beat movement in literature and rock ‘n’ roll clashed with the tidy suburban view of life

• Set stage for the counter-culture of the 60’s

1. The Beat Movement

• Expressed the social and literary nonconformity of artists and poets

• Followers of this movement were called Beatniks and lived nonconformist lives including caring little for material goods

• Disliked structure

2. Rock ‘n’ Roll

• Electronic instruments were added to the traditional blues music creating rhythm and blues

• Named Rock ‘n’ Roll by Alan Freed- a Cleveland DJ whose listeners responded enthusiastically

• Primarily African Americans playing to white audiences originally

• Love, cars, and teenage issues captivated teens across the country

• Elvis Presley became the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll– His rebellious style captivated audiences– Many adults condemned this music– American Bandstand further popularized Rock ‘n’

Roll as middle class whites were seen dancing to popular songs

C. African Americans and Popular Culture

• African American Singers, Actors, Musicians, and Athletes were all extremely popular

• Nat Cole, Miles Davis, The Drifters, Jackie Robinson

IV. The Other America

A. The Urban Poor

• In 1962, ¼ of Americans were living in poverty

• Elderly

• Single women with children

• Minority groups (African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans)

1. White Flight

• White, middle-class Americans left the inner-city for suburbs taking with them valuable economic resources and isolating them from other classes and races

• The rural South, meanwhile, were moving to the inner city

• Inner city loses businesses and income tax $

Doughnut Configuration

2. Inner Cities

• Few believed their was actually poverty in America as the Suburbs were booming

• Couldn’t get advocates to help support them

• Fortune said poverty would be ended by 1970

• Michael Harrington wrote The Other America: Poverty in the United States (1962)- confirmed poverty was widespread

3. Urban Renewal

• Proposed solution to the housing problem in the inner cities

• National Housing Act 1949- to provide a decent home and suitable living environment for every American family

• Tore down rundown neighborhoods and built homes, malls, ballparks, factories

B. Mexican Americans and Native Americans

• African Americans began making strides toward reducing racial discrimination

• Mexican-American activism gathered steam after veterans returned from WWII

1. Mexican-American Activism

• Braceros- Mexican hired hands, allowed into the U.S. to harvest crops

– 200,000 entered U.S. in 1942-47

– Many Mexicans entered the country illegally

– Wanted an opportunity to get educated and earn a living

• Operation Wetback (1954)- Federal program to find illegal aliens and return them to Mexico

– Deported more than 2 million

2. The Longoria Incident

• Felix Longoria- Mexican Am. WWII hero killed in the Philippines.

• The only undertaker in his hometown refused to let the Longoria family have a funeral b/c they were “Mexicans”

• Mex.Am. Veterans organized the G.I. forum in 1948 to protest

• Ignacio Lopez’s Unity League registered Mexican-Am. Voters and promoted candidates to represent them

• California outlawed segregated classrooms for Mexican-Ams.

• Other voter-registration groups developed in Arizona and Texas giving them a voice

Buried at Arlington National Cemetery

3. Native Americans Continue their Struggle

• Remember the Dawes Act (1887)- assimilation

• Indian Reorganization Act (1934)- autonomy– Economic- land belongs to tribe, not individ. farms– Cultural- # of boarding schools cut back, schools on

reservations– Political-Tribal councils could govern the

reservations

4. The Termination Policy (1953)• Eliminated federal economic support,

discontinued the reservation system, and distributed tribal lands among individual Native Americans

• Native Am. Response was to begin a voluntary relocation program to help resettle in cities– Often unable to find jobs

• Termination Policy abandoned in 1963– The other America could no longer be ignored