Gemma

1950’s

Gemma Donnelly

Authors Page

1992— I was born on the 11th of April 1992, my birth stone is

Crystal and my star sign is Aries.

1993— I started to walk!, was walking when i was 9 months

old.

1994—I was an early walker, but i was a very late talker. I did-

n't say my first word until i was 2 years and 2 months.

1995— I went on my first holiday too Bulgaria. This is the year

i also met my first best friend, Nicky. I also joined Nursery School at the age of 3.

1996—I joined Primary 1 at Forge Integrated Primary School. I

stayed here for 7 years, This was also the year my first little sister was born, Carly.

1998—In p3 i did my Holy Communion. My parents let me choose

whether i did it or not, as they are both from mixed backgrounds and wanted me to make my own choice.

2002— in 2002, i was in p7 and i did my 11+ transfer test. I got a

grade D, but that did not matter as i wanted to go to Lagan Col-lege, which is not only an integrated school but it also a Compren-sive.

2004—In 2004 I did my Confirmation.

2007—in 2007 i did my GCSE‘s. These were: Maths, English, Sci-

ence, History, Art, ICT, Religion and P.E. I received 8 GCSE graded A—D.

2010— In 2010 i did my A-levels and received two in Art and Mov-

ing Images.

2012— I am now in Belfast Metropolitan college studying Fashion

and Clothing at Level 3, Btec. I hope to go on to design bridal wear and someday open my own Boutique.

Contents: - Authors Page 2/3

- Historic Events 5/7

- Popular Culture 8/10

- Art Movements 11/12

- Economic Factors 13/14

- Fashion Icons 15/16

Historic Events:

1951-

One of the most important events and influential changes of the 1950‘s hap-pened in 1951, Colour TV. Perhaps the most far reaching change in communi-

cations worldwide was the advancement in the area of television broadcasting. During the

1950‘s television became the dominant mass media as people brought television into their

homes in greater numbers of hours per week than ever before. In the early fifties people

watched TV more hours than they went to school, a trend which has not changed greatly

since that time. What was portrayed on televi-sion became accepted as normal.

1952-

When she was born in 1926 no-one expected Princess Elizabeth to become Queen. Her father George was not the King and

he didn't think he ever would be. George had an older brother called Edward. Because Edward was the eldest son he would get to be

King. Things changed when Edward fell in love with an

American woman. She had already been married and divorced. Because of this she could never be Queen.

Edward gave up the throne so he could marry the woman he loved. Princess Elizabeth's father took over

the job and became King George VI. King George led the country through the Second World War but in

1952 he died of lung cancer. Princess Elizabeth was his eldest child. She became Queen Elizabeth II.

1953 –

Dr James Watson who, along with Professor Francis Crick, Dr Rosalind Frank-

lin (and Professor Maurice Wilkins), discovered the double helix structure of

DNA in 1953. 1856-1865 Gregor Mendel founds genetics.

1869 Johann Friedrich Miescher discovers a weakly acidic substance in human

nuclei he calls nuclein. It is later

called DNA.

1882 Walther Fleming discovers chromosomes.

1902-1903 Walter Stanborough Sutton uses grasshoppers to discover that

chromosomes have genes.

1924 Chromosomes are shown to be made of protein and DNA.

1928 Franklin Griffith figures out that genetic information can be transferred

from heat-killed bacteria to live ones.

1944 Oswald Avery figures out that Griffith‘s substance was DNA.

1949 Edwin Chargaff figures out that no matter the species, the amount of

adenine (A) equals the amount of thymine (T) and the amount of guanine (G)

equals the amount of cytosine (C).

1953 Francis Crick, James Watson and Rosalind Franklin discover the double

helix structure of DNA.

1954-

‘Government Acts: Tobacco Firms' Research Offer Two important announcements were made yesterday on the debated relation-

ship between smoking and cancer of the lung. In the Commons the Minister of Health, Mr Iain Macleod, said that the relationship between the two must

now be regarded as established. And a group of eight leading tobacco manu-facturers have already offered £250,000 for research into the true cause or

causes of lung cancer.’ This is part of the exact article published in The Guardian on Saturday 13

February 1954 09.52 GMT.

1955-

The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a political and social protest campaign that started in

1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, United States, intended to oppose the city's policy of racial

segregation on its public transit system. The campaign lasted from December 1, 1955,

when Rosa Parks, an African American woman, was arrested for refusing to surrender her seat

to a white person, to December 20, 1956, when a federal ruling, Browder v. Gayle, took

effect, and led to a United States Supreme Court decision that declared the Alabama and

Montgomery laws requiring segregated buses to be unconstitutional

1956-

The first TV remote control, called "Lazy Bones," was developed in 1950 by Zenith

Electronics Corporation. Lazy Bones used a cable that ran from the TV set to the viewer.

In 1956, Zenith's Dr. Robert Adler suggested using "ultrasonic's," that is, high-frequency

sound, beyond the range of human hearing. He was assigned to lead a team of engineers

to work on the first use of ultrasonic's tech-nology in the home as a new approach for a

remote control.

1957- Dr. Seuss Publishes ‗The Cat in the Hat‘. ‗The Cat in the

Hat‘ is a children's book by Dr. Seuss and perhaps the

most famous, featuring a tall, anthropomorphic, mischie-vous cat, wearing a tall, red and white-striped hat and a

red bow tie.

1958- In 1958, British artist Gerald Holtom drew a circle with

three lines inside, intending the design to be a symbol for the Direct Action Committee against Nuclear War

(DAC). The design incorporates a circle with the lines

within it representing the simplified positions of two semaphore letters (the system of using flags to send

information great distances, such as from ship to ship). The letters "N" and "D" were used to represent "nuclear

disarmament." (The "N" is formed by a person holding a flag in each hand and then pointing them toward the

ground at a 45 degree angle. The "D" is formed by holding one flag straight down and one straight up.)

1959-

The original Sound of Music Broadway Show brought the inspiring story of the

von Trapp family to prominence to a wider audience when it hit the stage in

1959 and continued playing for over

three years.

Popular Culture

There are many factors which affect the way people lived in the 1950‘s and

the lifestyles they would have lead.

Entertainment: The results showed that a average kid watched six

hours of television a day which was equal to how long they went to school

every day. One of the popular shows for teenagers was American Bandstand. Dick Clark, the star of the show, got more than fifty thousand fan letters a

week. They thought watching this show was more important than doing their

homework. Teenagers loved American Bandstand.

‗Neato’ Toys: During World War Two toy companies were actually

making supplies for the war. So afterwards they had fascinating ideas for new

dolls and games. They started to see wonderful new material, like plastic. In

1948, Lionel produced new trains. In 1949, Silly Putty started there were over

30 million Silly Putty eggs sold. In that year Lego was introduced. Matchbox

Cars, a favourite to little boys now were invented in 1954. In 1957, Hula

Hoops were invented in. They became a fad in 1958, but it was shortly over

in 1959 when Barbie took over.

Technology: There were some new technologies in the fifties. Televi-

sion was just one of them. In 1950 Paper Mate made it's first leak free ball point pen. The first copy machine was made 1950 also. The Chevrolet Cor-

vette becomes the first car to have a all-fibreglass body in 1953. In 1954 Bell Telephone labs produce solar battery. In 1954 you could get a yard of contact

paper for only 59 cents. Polypropylene was invented in 1954. In 1955 Jonas Salk invented a polio vaccine which was given to more than seven million

American students. In 1956 a solar powered wrist watch was invented.

A surprise came in 1957; a 184 pound satellite was launched by the Russians. They named it Sputnik 1. The space race begins 4 months later the United

States launches a smaller satellite. In 1958 the first plastic Coke bottle ap-

peared.

Burma Shave: Back in 1925, Allan Odell convinced his farther to

give him $200 to make wooden signs along the road to advertise his father's shaving cream called Burma-Shave. It didn't take long for the sales to fly.

Soon Allan and his brother were putting up signs over. At first the signs were boring, and then they made the slogans more fun and humorous. There were

seven thousand signs across America. But then in the fifties people started to

drive faster. The little signs were replaced by huge billboards. One billboard still remains at the Smithsonian Institution which reads:

‘Shaving bushes

You'll soon see’em

On a shelf

In some museum

Burma-Shave’

Teen Idols: The teens of the fifties had many role models. Some of them were known as

"hip", "groovy", or "cool". Some of the teen idols were Frankie Avalon, Bobby Darin, Fabian, Ricky Nelson, Paul Anka, and Bobby Rydell. Here are a few of

their famous sayings.. Frankie Avalon - If a miss wants to be kissed instead of cuddled, And to

this you are in doubt as what to say, When a girl changes from bobby socks to stockings, Then she is old enough to give her heart away.

Bobby Darin - There was lollipop with-a Peggy Sue, Good Golly, Miss Molly

was-a even there, too! A-well-a Splish Splash, I forgot to about the bath I

went and put my dancin'‘ shoes on, yay... Fabian - Turn me loose, Turn me lose, I say. Gonna rock and roll As long

as the band's gonna play Bobby Rydell - Forget him, If he doesn't love you. Forget him, If he doesn't

care... Ricky Nelson - Some people call me a teenage idol, some people say they

envy me. I guess they got no way of knowing how lonesome I can be. Paul Anka - And they call it Puppy Love just because we're seventeen. Tell

them all, oh, please tell them it isn't fair to take away my only dream.

Civil Rights: In the 1800's there was slavery. There was a law that

banned this, but even after that the African-American were not treated fairly.

There were schools in the fifties that did not allow African-American children attend. The schools for white children were nice and clean. The schools for

the African-American children had very little supplies and were not as hygi-enic. In the south states they spent on average, ten times more money on

white schools then they did on black schools. In 1954 this changed; those

schools that had segregated children had to bring them together. However,

just because they were in school together didn't mean everything was fair.

The Cold War and the Korean War: The Cold

War was the name of a military conflict with no actual warring. Beginning af-

ter World War II, it was a time of diplomatic struggles and mutual suspicion between the United States and a group of nations led by the Soviet Union.

The United States, being a democracy, was at odds with the communist ideals of China and the Soviet Union. The fear of Communism was very powerful in

the United States. In Congress there was a series of highly publicized inquir-ies into pro-Communist activity. The best-known investigator was Senator Jo-

seph R. McCarthy, who was known for his strong stance on anticommunism. McCarthy first attracted attention in February 1950, with the charge that the

Department of State had been infiltrated by Communists. Although his accu-sation was never substantiated, during the next several years he repeatedly

accused various high-ranking officials of "subversive" activities. Many movie actors and actresses were also thought to be communists at that time.

A by-product of the Cold War was the Korean War. When Communist North Korea invaded South Korea in 1950, President Truman sent the American

military into action. The Korean War ended three bloody years later in a truce

that left the border between North and South Korea intact, the infamous 38th parallel. The U.S. suffered 157,530 casualties and South Korea sustained over

1.3 million casualties. Estimated Communist casualties were 2 million.

Art

Movements There were many art movements in the 1950‘s which affected

fashion. Five of the main Expressionisms are: Art Formel, Art Brut,

Cobra, Lyrical Abstraction and Abstract Expressionism.

Cobra - Cobra was a post-World War II Euro-

pean avant-garde movement. The name was

derived from the initials of the members'

home cities: Copenhagen, Brussels, and Am-

sterdam. Copenhagen is the head, Brussels

is the body, and Amsterdam is the tail of the

Cobra. In a Europe devastated by war, artists

were eager to join forces, pool their thoughts

and react to the inhumanity of a civilization

based on reason and science. Cobra had a

distinctive political and social dimension based on a criticism of the

Cold War society of their day.

Lyrical Abstraction – Lyrical Abstraction in

paintings in an opening to personal expres-

sion. The name ‗Tachisme‘ is sometimes used

to describe this movement. The image to the

right is a painting by Anita de Caro. She focu-

sed most of her work on this particular art

movement. This painting in particular is called

‗Imaginary City‘. Lyrical Abstractionion is rela-

ted to Post-War Modernism. The various forms

Abstract Expressionism - Abstract expressionism was an American post–World War II art movement. Abstract Expressionism is re-garded by many as the golden age of American art. The movement is marked by its use of brushstrokes and texture, the embracing of chance and the fre-quently massive canvases, all employed to convey powerful emotions through the

glorification of the act of painting itself. Some of the key figures of the movement were Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Wil-lem de Kooning, Robert Motherwell and Franz Kline. Although their works vary greatly in style, for example the pieces of Pollock at one end of the spectrum and

the works of Rothko at the other, yet they all share the same out-look which is one of freedom of individual expression. The move-ment was enormously successful both critically and commercially. The result was that New York came to replace Paris as the centre for contemporary art and the repercussions of this extraordinarily influential movement can still be noticed thirty years after its prime time. To the right is a painting by Jackson Pollock called ‗Eyes in the

Heart‘.

Economic

Factors:

The economy of the 1950's was a relatively stale period of time. Because it was much of an uneventful era, the economy did not experience any major problems or breakthroughs. However, the gradual growth of the U.S. during this time led the economy to its peak in the 60's.

Many Americans feared that the end of World War II

and the subsequent drop in military spending might bring

back the hard times of the Great Depression. But instead,

pent-up consumer demand fueled exceptionally strong

economic growth in the post war period. The automobile

industry successfully converted back to producing cars,

and new industries such as aviation and electronics grew

by leaps and bounds. A housing boom, stimulated in part

by easily affordable mortgages for returning members of

the military, added to the expansion. The nation's gross

national product rose from about $200,000 million in

1940 to $300,000 million in 1950 and to more than

$500,000 million in 1960. At the same time, the jump in

post-war births, known as the "baby boom," increased the

number of consumers. More and more Americans joined

the middle class.

Fashion

Icons Audrey Hepburn As with Roman Holiday,

the clothes in Sabrina

were credited to Para-

mount‘s now-legendary

chief costume designer,

Edith Head – who won Os-

cars for both films. But in

Sabrina, many of Hep-

burn‘s most memorable

outfits and gowns were ac-

tually the work of coutu-

rier Hubert de Givenchy

Grace Kelly When I think of the 1950‘s, I think of glamour, style

and class, not only in the way women like Grace Kelly

used to dress and look, their lifestyle as well. It was a

period of real transition in fashion. The arrival of the

―teenage cult‖ changed the fashion from a much disci-

plined style to the more flexible 1950s glamour, and

brought with it the defined waist line, the full and volu-

minous skirt, the tube-like pencil skirt and mid-heeled

pumps. In addition to that, the detailing of the 1950s

clothes was very intrinsic, with plenty of beading on

the blouses and skirts.