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!