The American Dream & the 1950s
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Transcript of The American Dream & the 1950s
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American Business & Consumerism
• Growth of Big Business–Conglomerates: major corporation that
includes small unrelated businesses• Example: General Electric
– Franchises: company that offers similar products or services at many locations • Example: McDonald’s – was nation’s first
& still is the largest today
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Advertising• Buy now, pay later plans• Encourage spending!• Ads – radio, TV, movies, magazines, papers,
billboards, etc.• Use psychological strategies to sell products• Hit on people's desire to “belong” – “keeping up
with Jones’ ”• Television major source of influence• 1950 Americans spent $6 Billion• By 1955, Americans spending $9 Billion
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The American Dream• 60% of Americans make up middle class during
the 1950s• Jobs change–Blue Collar Decrease ( ) (manufacturing
jobs)–White Collar Increase ( ) (clerical,
managerial, sales, advertising, etc)• Americans begin to socially conform–Businesses reward employees for teamwork,
cooperation, & loyalty
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• Consumerism (buying material goods) becomes associated with success!
• People buy products & invest in leisure activities
• To encourage consumerism, manufacturers used planned obsolesce: products designed to become obsolete, so consumers replace with new!
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Blue Collar White Collar
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• Suburbia: areas outside of cities where new homes and communities were developing
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Medical Breakthroughs • Jonas Salk: develops vaccine for polio– In 1952: 58,000 children had polio,
which either killed or crippled its victims • With the vaccine, the number of people
infected dropped to 5,700 by 1958• Child rearing – Dr. Spock–Raise children based on guidelines–Sold 10 million copies
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Baby Boomers
• Why???–Reunion of families post-WWII–Decreasing marriage age–Desirability of a large family–Confidence of continued
economic stability–Advances in medicine
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Role of Women
• Glorified role of housewife• Boredom• Felt unfulfilled • Many lost jobs• Women who did work
were paid less and jobs they could perform were restricted
• Glass-ceiling affect
Despite both of these, the amount of women working increased!
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40% of women with children worked
Movies and television portray the “perfect” wife and mother
More than 1/5 of suburban wives & mothers were not satisfied with their life
More women attend college
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Business & Highways
• Travel Easier
• Interstate Highway system leads to the development of the trucking Industry– Long Haul is feasible now!
• Evacuation in case of nuclear attack!
• Developed under President Eisenhower
• Business expands!
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Social Effects• Drive-in movies
• Drive-thru services
• Cruising teens
• Advertising Industry for cars
• Growth of suburbia: people can now use the car to commute into the city (80% build homes)
• Cars are cheap
• Gas is affordable
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Radio & Movies• Radio:– Continue to prosper– Radio shows turn into TV shows– Begin local program– Diversity of stations
• Movies: – Struggle to compete with television– 3 technologies give movies an advantage• Stereo sound• Color• 3-D effects
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• Golden Age of TV– Rapid expansion of TV– The Big Shows:
• Leave it to Beaver• I Love Lucy (Lucille Ball, Desi Arnez)
– Milton Berle: comedian– Edward Murrow: on the spot news
• TV Spurs Industry– Refrigerators– Frozen food– Advertising– Trends and fads– TV Guide
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Rock – n – Roll • Famous Artists:– Buddy Holly– Little Richard– Chuck Berry– Bill Haley– Elvis Pressley – the King of Rock – n –
Roll!
• Shows like Ed Sullivan’s Variety Show & Dick Clark’s American Bandstand develop to showcase musicians through the TV
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Rock-n-Roll comes from a mixture of white & black music
Teens loved it, parents hated it!
Television becomes widely available by 1948! The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) regulates the industry.
• Quiz Shows– Trivia Game shows– Scandals
~ Women appear as perfect homemakers~ More males than females~ Few minorities~ Portrayed the ideal America = ignored the country’s problems
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• ¼ of Americans lived below the poverty line
• The Other America: book that exposed how many are living in poverty
• Urban Renewal– Truman advocated for low income housing– Develop Housing & Urban Development
(HUD) – to improve the inner cities
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• White FlightMillions of whites move to the suburbs
Loss of tax $$ means loss of city services
Lots of rural poor to move the city
Adds up to breakdown of inner cities
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• Beatniks – a.k.a. the Beat Movement– Social & literary nonconformists
• Set precedent for hippy generation• Non-material lifestyle• Shunned regular work• Little structure• Clashed with regular America• Defied mainstream society & conformity• Zen Buddhism, drugs, music• NOT being anything mainstream
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• During WWII immigration from MEXICO increases– USA needs help harvesting crops– After WWII, many stay illegally
• Discrimination– Still widely faced by all minorities– Civil Rights Movement is slowly getting
underway
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• Native Americans remain 2nd Class Citizens– Indian Reorganization Act• Aimed to move away from assimilation• Mandated change socially, economically,
and politically
– Termination Policy• Federal government would give up rights to
tribes• Voluntary relocation program
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