The Fifties – The Four A’s ANXIETY, ANTI-COMMUNISM, AFFLUENCE, ALIENATION

ANXIETY

Truman, the old county judge Truman, the old county judge. Had said in ’41 if Germans are winning, help the Russians, and vice versa. Thought he could do business with Joe Stalin, like Tom Pedergast, local party boss, Kansas City. “From Brest on the Baltic to Trieste on the Adriatic.” Soviets consider the Churchill Speech in March 5, 1946 the beginning of cold war. Arguments over who started go round and round. Truman erupts over Polish “elections”

Cold War We’re not going to shoot at each other….too horrific to contemplate…but we will use proxies to try to win over the world.

The Russian Bomb, ‘49

Civil Defense Bert the Turtle Says “Duck and Cover”

Our H-Bomb, ‘52

Their H-bomb, ‘53

“New Look”: Mutual Assured Destruction

October 4, 1957

This is Only A Test…

Push Button Age

Fallout

                                               

No Need to Worry

There Wouldn’t Be Such Anxiety if it wasn’t for those Godless Communists!

ANTI-COMMUNISM

International Communism is a Disease

CONTAINMENT STALEMATE more than VICTORY Truman Doctrine, ’47 Marshall Plan, ‘48 Berlin Blockade/Airlift, ’48-’49 NATO, ‘49 Korean War, ’50-’53

Domestic Anti-Communism

Fighting Commies at Home J. Edgar Hoover FBI Richard Nixon Sen. Joe McCarthy 205 Names!

Execute A Few P.S. They Were Guilty

Put A Few Behind Bars Alger Hiss Hollywood Ten

Ruin a Few Careers Dalton Trumbo – Blacklisted 13 years

Who You Can Trust? Loyalty Oaths, 1950

They Could Be Hiding Under Your Bed!

You Could Bowl with One on Tuesdays

Conformist Society: Don’t Stand Out in A Crowd

Whatever Communists Don’t Like, We Like: State vs. Family

Everyone is Getting Married

Even in the Comics

Post War Baby Boom

Woman’s Place But, Women work more as decade goes on

Gender Roles Very Clear

Return of the Full Figured Star

TV Tells us How to Behave Cult of Domesticity

Heroes and Villains

Stalin Tears Down Moscow’s Cathedral Atheism vs. Godliness Stalin Tears Down Moscow’s Cathedral To Build….

We Get More Religious

“Under God…”

Highest Standard of Living in History Family, Religion, Gender Roles Separate Us from Communists But, Bottom Line, We’re Also Far Wealthier Highest Standard of Living in History

AFFLUENCE

U.S. Economic Dominance After World War II – U.S. Produces 45% of World Economy July, ’44. In 1945, the U.S. produced half the world's coal, two-thirds of the oil, and more than half of the electricity. The U.S. was able to produce great quantities of machinery, including ships, airplanes, vehicles, armaments, machine tools, and chemicals. Reinforcing the initial advantage—and assuring the U.S. unmistakable leadership in the capitalist world—the U.S. held 80% of gold reserves and had not only a powerful army but also the atomic bomb. Other currencies fixed to dollar, dollar fixed at $35 per ounce. IMF policed exchange rates, needed approval to change. World Bank to make loans to help countries recover.

G.I. Bill

Marshall Plan, 1947 $13 Billion in aid to Western Europe Especially France and Italy – why? Huge Success Home & Abroad Offered aid to Communist countries too…of course Stalin says no. There is a reason why East Europe never fully recovers under Soviets

Consumption is Patriotic!

$10,000 homes – FHA and VA Loans Suburbs $10,000 homes – FHA and VA Loans

Business and Labor Harmony Big Business Booms Big Labor Prospers Good Pay, 40 hour week Factory Workers Buy Homes 60% Americans Are Home Owners Big Business Booms – enjoys high reputation and image from wartime contribution

Credit Cards Diners’ Club, 1950 Sears cards for the rest of us Sears bets on abundance after war…MW bets on contraction. Guess who wins.

Interstate Highway System IKE started in 1956. Remembers traveling across country on Lincoln highway in 1919. Lobbied hard by automakers. Justification was Civil Defense and Military Movement. No question helped movement of goods cross the country.

Vacation and Leisure                                                 

New Industries

ALIENATION Who are These Malcontents?

The Warren Court Brown v Board of Education, 1954

19 Million Blacks Are A Little Tired of This De Jure or De Facto, It Still Spells Segregation

Suburban American Dream?

Public Accomodations Rosa Parks, 1955 Martin Luther King – Why Ministers? Montgomery Bus Boycott, 1956 Importance of having ministers lead the movement…to counter complaints of Communism…student sit ins in Greensboro….

School Integration

Abstract Expressionism Jackson Pollock

Extreme Comics

BeBop Charlie Parker Dizzie Gillespie

Literature: Chaos, Spontaneity, Alienation The BEATS Burroughs, Ginsburg, Kerouac

SEX! -- Alfred Kinsey Sexual Behavior ’48 Males ’53 Females

Sex Which View Represented the 50’s? Playboy 1953

Youth culture and rebellion Anti-Materialism, Anti-Conformity Marlon Brando James Dean Youth culture and rebellion Sultry youth…looking for something besides the mainstream values…reaction against consensus, bland, bottled up and tranquilized 50’s.

POPULAR MUSIC First Teen Market 45’s and Radio Shows Elvis Presley changes everything Elvis rebels against norms about race, sex, class, and the protestant work ethic

The Fifties – The Four A’s ANXIETY, ANTI-COMMUNISM, AFFLUENCE, ALIENATION