The 1950s Culture The 1950s Culture

GI Bill of Rights Provided a year of unemployment payments to veterans unable to find work Received financial aid for college Gave government loans to veterans for building homes and starting businesses Helped WWII veterans integrate back into society successfully

Taft Hartley Act Workers wanted higher wages but businesses did not give raises Workers went on strike Congress passed the Taft Hartley Act, law that outlawed the closed shop- a workplace in which only union members can be hired Truman vetoed; Congress overrode veto

Baby Boom 1957  1 baby born every 7 seconds

Suburban Living $7,990 or $60/month with no down payment. Levittown: “The American Dream” 1949  William Levitt produced 150 houses per week.

Consumerism

The Culture of the Car Car registrations: 1945  25,000,  60,000,  Interstate Highway Act  largest public works project in American history Proposed by Eisenhower Proposed by Eisenhower Cost $32 billion. Cost $32 billion. 41,000 miles of new highways built. 41,000 miles of new highways built Chevy Corvette 1958 Pink Cadillac

The Culture of the Car First McDonald’s (1955) America became a more homogeneous nation because of the automobile. Drive-In Movies

Television 1946  7,000 TV sets in the U. S  50,000,000 TV sets in the U. S.

Teen Culture In the 1950s the word “teenager” “teenager” entered the American language  “ROCK ‘N ROLL” Elvis Presley  “The King”

Religious Revival Church membership: 1940  64,000,  114,000,000 Television Preachers Reverend Billy Graham  ecumenical message; warned against the evils of Communism. “In God We Trust” added to money “Under God” added to Pledge of Allegiance

Well-Defined Gender Roles The ideal modern woman married, cooked and cared for her family, and kept herself busy by joining the local PTA and leading a troop of Campfire Girls. She entertained guests in her family’s suburban house and worked out on the trampoline to keep her size 12 figure. -- Life magazine, 1956 Marilyn Monroe The ideal 1950s man was the provider, protector, and the boss of the house. -- Life magazine, 1955

Progress Through Science First IBM Mainframe Computer

Progress Through Science 1957  Russians launch SPUTNIK I Schools begin to focus on math and science in order to be more advanced than the Soviets.

Progress Through Science Atomic Anxieties:  “Duck-and-Cover Generation” à Bert the Turtle Film =IKqXu-5jw60

Other Information Americans moved to Sunbelt region Service sector grows “Ideal” families Improved healthcare Some discontent among groups –Farmers suffer hardships and move to cities –African Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans continue to suffer discrimination –Poverty is widespread in urban and rural areas –Writers and artists protest life values in 1950s Beats