The American Dream & The “other” America Economic Boom & Widespread Poverty in the 1950s

THE OTHER AMERICA By 1962, nearly one out of every four Americans was living below the poverty level ($2,973 annually for a family of four in 1958; approximately $22,000 annually today) Many suburban Americans failed to internalize or even notice these problems, refusing to believe that the “richest nation on earth” could possibly have so many people living below the poverty line Most of these poor were the elderly, single women and their children, and/or minorities

“WHITE FLIGHT” In the 1950s, millions of middle-class white Americans left the cities for the suburbs At the same time millions of rural poor migrated to the cities (fleeing dying towns unconnected to the new nationwide highways) The so-called “White Flight” drained cities of valuable resources, money and taxes

Urban Renewal People in the inner cities had to live in dirty, crowded slums (elderly, single mothers/children, minorities) Many suburban community boards had covert policies making it extremely difficult for non-white families to buy homes in those areas One proposed solution was “urban renewal”. The National Housing Act of 1949 called for the tearing down of rundown neighborhoods and the construction low-income housing Although the tearing down did occur, parking lots, shopping centers, highways, parks and factories were constructed on much of the cleared land Urban renewal simply became “urban removal” as many people simply had to move from one ghetto to another. Dodger Stadium- An example of urban renewal

Poverty Leads to Discrimination… When the United States entered WWII, a shortage of agricultural workers spurred the government to initiate a program in which Mexican braceros, or hired hands, were allowed into the U.S. to harvest crops from 1942-1947 They were expected to return to Mexico once their employment ended; but many remained in the U.S. illegally to escape the poor economic conditions in Mexico. As a result, prejudice against Mexicans and Mexican-Americans rose dramatically

The Longoria Incident Felix Longoria was a Mexican-American WWII hero who had been killed in the Philippines The only undertaker in his Texas hometown refused to provide his family with funeral services Outraged Mexican Americans stepped up their efforts to stamp out discrimination by creating the G.I. Forum Designed to register Mexican American voters and to promote candidates who would represent their interests (still exists today and promotes Latino-American civil rights, education and veterans rights) By the 1960s, more Latino civil rights leaders and movements would appear

Native Americans Continue Their Struggle… 1887 to 1934, government policy towards Native Americans: “Americanization” and assimilation. 65,000 Native Americans left reservations for military service and war work during WWII In 1953 the federal government announced it would give up its responsibility for Native American tribes. The new approach, known as the “termination policy” eliminated federal economic support, discontinued the reservation system, and redistributed tribal lands to individual Native Americans. Native Americans were encouraged to resettle in cities. The policy was a dismal failure. Most couldn’t find jobs because of poor training and racial prejudice. In 1963, the termination policy was abandoned The National Congress of American Indians was formed in 1944 to: Ensure civil rights for Native Americans Enable Native Americans on reservations to retain their own customs

WOMEN’S ROLES IN THE 1950S During the 1950s, the role of homemaker and mother was glorified in popular magazines, movies and television This ideal was one which failed to satisfy a great many middle class women, and was wildly unrealistic for many others, who had no choice but to work

WOMEN AT WORK Being employed did not necessarily bring happiness or intellectual fulfillment however Those women who did work were finding job opportunities limited to fields such as nursing, teaching and office support Women earned far less than men for comparable jobs

THE BABY BOOM During the late 1940s and through the early 1960s the birthrate in the U.S. soared At its height in 1957, a baby was born in America every 7 seconds (over 4.3 million babies in ’57 alone) Baby boomers represent the largest generation in the nation’s history

What are the official years of the Baby Boom Generation? 1946 - 1964 saw a marked increase in the number of births in North America. How did the birthrate rise and fall during the baby boom years in the US? 1940 2,559,000 births per year 1946 3,311,000 births per year 1955 4,097,000 births per year 1957 4,300,000 births per year 1964 4,027,000 births per year 1974 3,160,000 births per year

WHY SO MANY BABIES? Why did the baby boom occur when it did? Husbands returning from war Decreasing marriage age Desirability of large families Confidence in economy Advances in medicine

ADVANCES IN MEDICINE AND CHILDCARE Advances in the treatment of childhood diseases included drugs to combat typhoid fever and polio (Jonas Salk) Dr. Salk was instrumental in the eradication of polio

DR. SPOCK ADVISES PARENTS Pediatrician Dr. Benjamin Spock Children should be allowed to express themselves Parents should never physically punish their kids Dr. Spock’s book sold 10 million copies in the 1950s

IMPACT OF BABY BOOM As a result of the baby boom 10 million students entered elementary schools in the 1950s California built a new school every 7 days in the late ’50s Toy sales reached an all-time high in 1958 when $1.25 billion in toys were sold

RISE OF CONSUMERISM By the mid-1950s, nearly 60% of Americans were members of the middle class Consumerism (buying material goods) came to be equated with success and status

NEW PRODUCTS One new product after another appeared in the marketplace Appliances, electronics, and other household goods were especially popular The first credit card (Diner’s Club) appeared in 1950 and American Express was introduced in 1958 Personal debt increased nearly 3x in the 1950s

Advertising is everywhere today in America THE ADVERTISING AGE The advertising industry capitalized on runaway consumerism by encouraging more spending Ad agencies increased their spending from 6 billion to 9 billion between 1950 and 1955 Target Markets: Suburban women “ On May 18, 1956, The New York Times printed a remarkable interview with a young man named Gerald Stahl, executive vice-president of the Package Designers Council. He stated: ‘Psychiatrists say that people have so much to choose from that they want help—they will like the package that hypnotizes them into picking it.’ He urged food packers to put more hypnosis into their package designing, so that the housewife will stick out her hand for it rather than one of many rivals. Mr. Stahl has found that it takes the average woman exactly twenty seconds to cover an aisle in a supermarket if she doesn’t tarry; so a good package design should hypnotize the woman like a flashlight waved in front of her eyes.” —The Hidden Persuaders “Teenagers”: a new word, a new target for marketing Teens now attending school in record numbers; many worked, but many did not have to. Rising family incomes made weekly allowances more common and companies fell over each other to market to this new group Advertising is everywhere today in America

Television Perpetuates “Traditional Values” Through Both Programming and Advertising https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TF5WgeQQYbE