1950s Pop Culture and American Consumerism

Cole Marra and Lauren Edelsberg

● Expansion of the Middle class

● Lifestyle of leisure and affluence

American Consumerism in the 50’s

● 1948: First McDonalds stand opened in California

● 1949: Plastic credit card introduced

● 1955: Disneyland opens in Anaheim

New Novelties

● Television○ 1946: 6 TV broadcasting stations○ 1956:442 TV broadcasting stations○ 7 million sold in 1951○ 1960: In virtually every American home

The Tube

● Televangelists○ Baptist Billy Graham○ Preacher Oral Roberts○ Catholic Fulton J. Sheen

● Spread the Christian gospel on the air

Religion on TV

● Sports went West and South○ 1958: NY Giants moved to San Francisco○ 1958: Brooklyn Dodgers moved to Los Angeles

■ Inspired more franchises to move away■ Led to expansion of MLB, NFL and NBA

1950’s Sports

● Popular music was drastically changed● Elvis Presley: Led revolution from pop-rock

○ White Singer from Tupelo, MI. ○ The King of Rock and Roll○ “Baby boomers” grew up listening and

watching him○ 1977: Died of fame, fortune, and primarily

drugs

50’s Music

● Marilyn Monroe○ Famous movie star○ Angered traditionalists because she was too

Sexy● Playboy Magazine

○ Enough said

New Standards of Sexuality

● There were arguments regarding both sides (pro and con)

Different Perspectives

● Middle class○ Benefited in many ways

■ easy credit● credit cards

■ cheap, high volume food● McDonalds

■ new affordable recreation activities● TV; Disneyland

Positive Prospective (Pro)

● Many people were against○ Degrading the public’s aesthetic,

social,normal, and political standards

○ Author John Kenneth Galbraith● The Affluent Society

● Prosperity produced other troubles

Negative Perspective (Con)

● It was an expansion of consumer culture○ Race, Sex and Class did not affect the

changes made

Racism, Sexism, Classism?

● Mostly middle class ○ New changes were

affordable ■ cheap food■ easy credit■ new entertainment

Group Benefits

● Started...○ The fast food industry○ Rock and roll music○ Plastic Credit cards ○ Expansion of televisions

Effect on todays’ society

● About 160,000 fast food locations in America

● About 50 million people/day consume fast food in America

● Fast food revenue $110 billion annually

Fast Food Today

● On average, people spend about 5.11 hours watching television per day

● 99% of houses have at least one tv● 65% of houses have three or more tvs● The average child watches 1,480 minutes of tv

per week (about 25 hours)

Television Today

● The American Pageant 13th Edition Page 884-885

● ABC Clio - "Timeline of Popular Culture Events, 1950s." Pop Culture

Universe: Icons, Idols, Ideas. ABC-CLIO, 2014. Web. 10 Mar. 2014.

○ http://popculture.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1510677?

terms=1950s+pop+culture

● Statistic Brain

○ http://www.statisticbrain.com/fast-food-statistics/

Citations