Describe what your thoughts are when you look at these two pictures.

Postwar culture of the 1950s Everything’s Booming

Booming Economy With war time restrictions ended, demand for consumer goods soared Businesses employed more people to produce more goods Supply and demand cycle Postwar years ushered in a period of domestic prosperity lasting 20 years The U.S. became the richest nation in the world Economy got a boost from federal defense spending Also benefitted from new technology-atomic power, computers, plastics Nation’s GNP more than doubled Growth of the “service sector” enlarging the white collar work-force

“Booming” With babies With the war ending and soldiers returning home many quickly married and started families This resulted in a “baby boom” 1957 was peak of boom—a baby was born every 7 seconds, 4.3 million for the year From 1946-1964, over 75 million “baby boomers” were born

Booming suburbs As new families started, new houses were sought GI Bill of Rights 1 year of unemployment Financial aid for college Government loans for housing Fueled upsurge in home construction Developers figured out how to mass produce homes William Levitt – Levittown, PA Interstate Highway Act 41,000 miles of highway The Sun Belt Southern & Western states Appealing climate & defense jobs Development of air-conditioning

Booming culture Consumerism Family life – nuclear family Spent more because they had more Companies encouraged buying on credit “Diner’s Club” first credit card Home appliances Supermarkets—buy everything in one place Family life – nuclear family Dad, mom, children Mom staying home—had to accept their role as homemakers Childcare – children became focus Dr. Benjamin Spock – importance of nurturing children Healthcare Advances in medicine – vaccines, antibiotics, penicillin Polio, tuberculosis, whooping cough

Warm-up: From the last section of your reading, list some things that countered the idea that the 1950s were not quite as fabulous as it was portrayed.

Booming entertainment Television Sales outpaced radio and movies New popular family friendly sit-coms—TV dinners Children’s shows Sped up and reinforced a mass national culture Eroded distinct regional & ethnic cultures Changed political campaigns

Booming “teenagers” Parents indulged children Teens had more leisure time and were given money to spend on anything they wanted Rock-n-Roll Originated in the rhythm and blues traditions of African Americans “teenager” became synonymous with rock-n-roll Many thought rock-n-roll a bad influence on young people Elvis Presley Congress even held hearings on subversive nature of “that” type of music

Booming education More teens sought higher education 1940-15% 1960-40% Government spending on education increased Sputnik 1 Increased money for Math and Science Democratized Make education more accessible Ended segregated schools