Life in the 1950’s American Decades

Facts of the 1950’s Population: 151,684,000 (U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census)* Unemployed: 3,288,000 Life expectancy: Women 71.1, men 65.6 Car Sales: 6,665,800 Average Salary: $2,992 Labor Force male/female: 5/2 Cost of a loaf of bread: $0.14 Bomb shelter plans, like the government pamphlet You Can Survive, become widely available

1950’s Vocabulary Artificial- manmade Communism- a form of government where there is no private property Desegregate- to stop racial segregation Fad- a popular fashion that does not last long Polarize- to sharply divide into opposites Prejudice- an opinion formed without knowing the facts Technology- methods of science and industry Wholesome- healthy and morally good

American History: 1950’s

Presidents Harry S. Truman (D) Dwight D. Eisenhower (R) “I Like Ike”

President Truman “inherited the office” with FDR’s death No one believed he would win re-election in 1948 Somehow he did

President Eisenhower Very popular Reelected in 1956 in biggest landslide since FDR in 1936 Disliked government spending Highway Act of 1956 $32 billion on 41,000 miles of roads Modern interstate highway system First president to have a TV news conference

FDR Signs GI Bill (1944) Government/General Issue Bill Financial assistance for veterans of US military service Offered college tuition fees Offered mortgage subsidies Used by 2.2 million to enter higher education Made a college education more easily attainable

Civil Rights Movement Brown vs. Board of Education Topeka, Kansas Outlawed segregation in schools Montgomery Bus Boycott Montgomery, AL Opening act of civil rights movement

Other Things at Home NASA starts in 1958 What does this have to do with the other things going on? Disneyland opens in 1955 at Anaheim, CA What does this tell us about consumers?

Other Things at Home First McDonald’s opens in Chicago in Discussion: What does the growth of fast food tell us about our society? Polio Vaccine discovered Hawaii and Alaska become states

World History 1950’s

NATO/Warsaw Pact NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization International military alliance created to defend western Europe against a possible Soviet invasion Britain, France, The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, U.S. and Canada

NATO/Warsaw Pact Warsaw Pact Stressed the maintenance of international peace and security A defensive alliance Countries had consult each other on all aspects of international relations Military committee of the combined armed forces in Moscow In 1990 it was dissolved

IMF and World Bank International Monetary Fund (1944) Formed to avoid the kinds of problems brought about by the Great Depression of the 1930s World Bank (1945) A bank that makes loans to developing countries for development programs

Cold War Begins Phrase “the iron curtain” is termed by Winston Churchill Stalin dies in 1953 Fully prepared and equipped at all times How does fear of communism affect life at home?

Our Nuclear Triad Air Force bombers Nuclear missiles called Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) Submarines with nuclear missiles They couldn’t stop all three Something would hit the Soviets

Arms Race “We will bury you.” – Nikita Khrushchev (hroosh-CHOFF) Really said “We will leave you in the dust.” How are those quotes different?

Space Race Begins Sputnik October 4, 1957 First craft in Earth’s orbit Only 58 cm across 96.2 minute rotation of the earth After 57 days, destroyed while reentering the atmosphere

Korean War North Korea invades South Korea prodded by Stalin UN gets involved Out of fear of communism Nothing is resolved Korea still divided today

Other Countries Fidel Castro seizes control in Cuba Mao Zedong leads a revolution in China Ho Chi Minh tries to seize power against the French in Vietnam Suez Crisis in the Middle East Argentina dictator Juan Peron ousted by military after death of his wife, Evita Someone reaches the top of Mt. Everest- 1953

Lifestyles 1950’s

The American Dream Ideal Lots of prosperity However, 20% of Americans lived in poverty Cheerful moms who kept the home spotless Dads worked to support the household Family Life in the1950's 1957 Pepsi commercial

Where did we live? In the suburbs Moved towards the warmer southern states “The Sunbelt” Lead to “urban decay” No one left behind to pay taxes to maintain cities Build fallout shelters against nuclear war

Baby Boomers Soldiers come home from the war after being away… A lot of babies are born

Consumer Purchases Car sales exploded Number of Registered Vehicles million million Stock car racing becomes popular What are some potential effects of more prevalent cars in society?

More Mobility More affordable cars More highways First commercial jet airline

1950’s Trends American Decades

Entertainment Rock ‘n’ roll Drive in movies Television Movie sales plummet By 1960, 9/10 households had one watch as much hours of TV as spent in school More family oriented

Early 1950’s Music Light melodies Sweet lyrics Wholesome singers Innocent and inoffensive songs BORING!

Late 1950’s Music R&B had been played by African Americans for the 1930s and 1940s Late 50s, whites take it, spin it, play it and make it popular Rock ‘n’ roll is born Teenagers LOVED it! “Rock Around the Clock”- first rock n’ roll hit Rock Around the Clock

Musicians Elvis Presley Bill Haley Buddy Holly

Elvis Presley Best selling solo artist in U.S. History Charted 149 songs on Billboard's Hot 100 Spent 80 weeks at the top of the charts 10 consecutive #1 hits 18 #1 hits (2 nd to Beatles)

Elvis Presley #2 for overall album sales (117.5 million) 25 Multi-Platinum albums 55 Platinum albums 27 Platinum singles 97 Gold albums 24 Gold singles

No wonder they call him the King!

Television Westerns Musicals Romances Children Lassie, Lone Ranger, Howdy Doody Show, Mickey Mouse Club Families I Love Lucy, Leave it to Beaver, Ozzie and Harriet, Gunsmoke

American Bandstand Devoted exclusively to rock n’ roll 50,000 letters a week sent to Dick Clark Across the country, teens watched The Doors, Simon and Garfunkel, the Supremes, the Temptations and Stevie Wonder all started there

Actors/Actresses Gene Kelly Marlon Brando* Burt Lancaster Frank Sinatra Grace Kelly Audrey Hepburn Humphrey Bogart James Dean* Julie Andrews

Clothing Davy Crocket hats Poodle skirts Hula hoops Saddle shoes Bobby socks

Other Fashion Trends Crew cuts sideburns

Fashion Expectations Women/girls only wore skirts! Girls did eventually start to wear jeans with button down shirts tucked in. Men were always clean cut, clean shaven, and wore suits or shirts and ties. Boys wore collared shirts tucked in.

Technology New York puts up “don’t walk” signs and 3-color lights to reduce accidents. Thought we’d be living on Mars by GM brings a/c to cars.

Sources The 1950’s Take a Field Trip Through the 1950s