The Postwar Years at Home 1945 1960 Setting

The Postwar Years at Home 1945 - 1960

Setting the Scene Returning soldiers wanted to get on with their lives. n Women had “nest eggs” n STRONG desire for consumer goods and homes. n

Setting the Scene Marriage rate skyrocketed n Baby boom n Suburbs boomed n By 1960 n n n 75% owned a car 80% had television

Businesses Reorganize GDP BOOMED! n Per capita Income increased n Industries quickly switched from war goods to consumer goods n

Industries Make Changes n The growth of conglomerates and corporations. n Less family owned businesses

Growth of Restaurants The Birth of Fast Food n The birth of the franchise n

Technology Transforms Life TELEVISION! n By 1955 families watched 4 – 5 hours of tv a day. n

Favorite Shows: n I Love Lucy!

Favorite Shows n Father Knows Best

Favorite Shows n Leave It To Beaver

Favorite Shows n Howdy Doody

Favorite Shows n The Mickey Mouse Club

Favorite Shows n American Bandstand

Television n ONLY 3 networks on until 1970. n n n CBS NBC ABC

The Computer Industry n Grace Hopper (Admiral) pioneered the first computers n Invented the term “debugging”

The invention of the TRANSISTOR First circuit device that amplifies, controls and generates electrical signal. n Didn’t take as much space. n

Nuclear Power n Ideas that nuclear power would be part of everyday lives. n n Nuclear wallpaper Nuclear children’s toys

Advances in Medicine 1954 - Dr. Jonas Salk: Polio Vaccine n Penicillin – the first antibiotic n Improvements in surgery n

Changes in the Work Force n 1940: n n n 55. 2% workers blue collar 44. 8 white collar workers 1960: n n 56. 2% white collar workers 43. 8% blue collar workers

White Collar Worker Drawbacks n n n Often impersonal Less connection with products and services Employees felt pressure to dress, think and act alike

Suburbs and Highways n The Baby Boom n n 1940 s’ – 19 births per 1, 000. 1957 30 births per 1, 000! n Baby Boom Generation 1945 1963

Moving to the Suburbs n n With growing families With new prosperity Families wanted to live more “nuclear” Families wanted “modern” housing.

Moving to the Suburbs Families wanted ranch-style houses. n Quickly assembled tract homes for the growing demand. n

Cars and Highways n To follow customers, downtowns moved to strip malls closer to the suburbs.

Cars and Highways Public transportation often didn’t reach to the suburbs. n More demand for cars. n Cars were status symbols (were? ) n

Cars and Highways 1950 s – auto makers began to do yearly models with new and improved features. n 1948 – 1958 car sales went up 50% n

Growth of the Car Culture People wanted to travel n 1956 – the Federal Highway Act, started the interstate system through the country. n n I – 80 in Nebraska completed in 1968

Little Known Fact About Interstates n Bigger lanes were meant for quicker evacuation of cities in case of nuclear attack and quicker movement of military equipment.

Car Culture created changes: n n Gas Stations Drive-in Movies Drive-in restaurants. Urged people to take trips and see the USA.

Growth of Consumer Credit The birth of the credit card! n Counter checks n

The Mood of the 1950 s n Comfort and security. n After the insecurities and “doing without” in the Depression and WWII – people didn’t want conflict.

The Mood of the 1950 s Americans encouraged conformity as a way of achieving harmony between individuals and groups. n Compromise over conflict was the motto n

Comfort and Security: Tootle the Engine Children’s book n Powerful parable “Always stay on the track no matter what. ” n n Tootle the little engine in “Engineville”

Youth Culture: The Silent Generation Little interest in the problems and crises of the world. n Strong economy allowed more teens to stay in school rather than leaving to find jobs. n

Youth Culture: The Silent Generation Students had more leisure time to be in sororities / fraternities. n Lots of parties n

Youth Culture: The Silent Generation n Advertising and movies built an image of how teens should look. n n Bobby socks Poodle skirts Letter sweaters “Clean cut” teens

Teen Girls: Conformity n About the only acceptable jobs for teen girls was babysitting. n n With the Baby Boom there were LOTS of jobs. Building their “Hope Chests” n Cabinets for things they would need as brides or new wives. – Silver, linens, and bridal stuff

Resurgence in Religion Church attendance was up. n Was it in response to “godless communism”? n Was it to protect against nuclear war? n

Resurgence in Religion n n Dial-a-Prayer phone lines “The Family that prays together, stays together. ” Televangelists like Billy Graham 1959 – 95% of Americans said they felt connected to formal religious groups

Government in Religion 1954 – “Under God” added to the Pledge of Allegiance n 1955 – “In God We Trust” added to our money. n n Felt it would show us who the Communists were.

Men’s and Women’s Roles n Men n Go to school, find a job, support the wife and children. Earn the money and make important political, economical, and social decisions. Be part of the world

Men and Women’s Roles n Play a supporting role to husband’s life. n n n Keep house Cook meals Raise children Hostess Do volunteer work n PTA, Campfire Girls, etc.

Challenges to Conformity n Social conformity made it easy to mask the differences among individuals and groups. n Ethnicity was discouraged.

Women at Work n Not all women left the workforce when they got married. n n 1950 – 24% of workforce was women 1960 – 31% was women.

Women at Work n Accepted in traditional jobs n Secretaries, teachers, nurses and sales clerks

“Typical” Woman in 1950 s n n Woman married at 16 4 children Kept busy with PTA, Campfire Girls, charity causes Home manager, mother, hostess and useful civic worker.

Challenges to Conformity Betty Friedan “The Feminine Mystique” n 1963 n First voice to say women were frustrated with their roles in the 1950 s. n

“The Feminine Mystique” n “It was unquestioned gospel that women could identify with nothing beyond the home – not politics, not art, not science, not events large or small, unless it could be approached through female experience as a wife or mother or translated into domestic detail. ” n Betty Friedan

Youthful Rebellions: Not every train was on the track! n Rebel Without a Cause – n n James Dean became a symbol of rebellion Catcher in the Rye – n Holden Caulfield troubled by “phonies” around him.

The Birth of Rock and Roll! n Alan Freed – DJ in Cleveland Ohio in 1951. n n Came up with the description of a new type of rhythm and blues sound. RADICAL! He played both black and white musicians.

Rock and Roll Legends n Chuck Berry

Rock and Roll Legends n Little Richard

Rock and Roll Legends n Fats Domino

Rock and Roll Legends n Bill Haley and the Comets

Rock and Roll Legends n Jerry Lee Lewis

Rock and Roll Legends n. ELVIS!!!

Society’s Reactions to the “devil’s music” in the 1950 s? Feared it would lead to immorality. n Caused a mixing of the races! n n Kids of different races going to the same concerts and buying the same records!

The Beatniks n n n “Beat Generation” Writers, artists, groupies. Encouraged spontaneity and no planning of anything. Open sexuality Thought that money and property was too controlled by the rich.

The Beatniks: Jack Kerouac On the Road (1957) Written in a month One continuous roll of paper. “Stream of consciousness” style of writing. Wild form

The Beatniks: Allen Ginsberg n Epic poem “HOWL” n “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness …”

Domestic Politics in the 1950 s n Two Presidents: n n Harry Truman (Democrat) Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower (Republican)

Harry Truman Took over after FDR. n “The buck stops here. ” n

Surprise Re-Election in 1948 “To err is Truman. ” n No one expected him to win! n But he did. n n Started some desegregation. Busy with Korean War after 1950. Was he an FDR Democrat or a believer in state’s rights?

1952 – 1960: Ike Eisenhower Former Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in WWII. n “A president must save himself the three or four big decisions he makes a year. ” n

“I Like Ike” Campaign slogan n “New” Republicanism: Conservative with money, liberal with human rights.

Eisenhower First to end segregation of troops. n First to send in the National Guard to desegregate Little Rock, Arkansas schools. n

Eisenhower: The Arms Race n Despite trying to balance the budget – he saw one of the greatest expansions of the military to fight the Cold War.

Eisenhower n Created NASA and the Space Race to keep space from going “Commie. ” n Made the decision that test pilots would be the best for being astronauts.

Let us not forget Eisenhower’s Vice President! n He was in trouble even then!

“The Checkers Speech” Richard Nixon was accused of having a secret money account to pay for his campaigning. n He didn’t, but the public believed it. n Eisenhower told him to save himself if he could. n

The Checkers Speech On television Nixon said the only gift he had ever accepted was for the family dog. n “My wife, Pat, wears a respectable Republican cloth coat. ” n

The public bought it. n It was Eisenhower and Nixon in 1952 and 1960.

Note: It is still Eisenhower and Nixon today. n Ike’s grandson and Nixon’s daughter are married.