1950’s Culture The 1950’s America was a time of abundance and is often time referred to is “The Affluent Society.” What does that mean?

Prosperity The average income of the American family triple in the decade between 1950 and This sudden surge in wealth was the result of many advancements and lead to many changes. – Mechanization – Electronics – Telecommunications (TV and Radio)

The labor force Due to advancement in machinery in the factory and farm, less people were needed to do manual labor. Lead to white collar and blue collar workers – White collar workers were those whose jobs were in sales and management – Blue collar worker were the manual laborers who did the physical work – Huge corporations and multinational firms became more widespread. – Urbanization- Where jobs are

Baby Boomers The American birth rate also exploded during the decade resulting in the era often times being referred to as the “Baby Boom.” Why?

ENIAC The first computer “ENIAC” which stood for “Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer” was developed.

Medical Breakthroughs Many medical breakthroughs were the result of the 1950’s era most notably the cure for the disease that plagued President Franklin Roosevelt. Polio- Vaccine created by Jonas Salk Chemotherapy for cancer and insulin for diabetes were other medical advancements.

Space “The Final Frontier” Sputnik- First space satellite in orbit by USSR in 1957 We had one up ourselves within 3 months.

New Mass Media TV was becoming so popular that in 1951 the first color television was created and TV shows became very popular. – Howdy Doody-Kid Show – Gunsmoke-Western – Lone Ranger-Western – Dragnet-Police Show – “I Love Lucy”-Comedy – Ed Sullivan-Variety Show – $64,000 Question-Game show

Radio and Rock and Roll Due to the advancement of the TV, Radio had to change it’s way of thinking to keep up with the TV. Alan Freed of Ohio became one of the first DJ’s (Disk Jockey) when he decided to play records over his radio program. Freed gained permission to play “Rock and Roll” and “Jazz” on his radio station and the youth went nuts over the music.

Rock and Roll Freed’s idea gave rise to such Rock and Roll legends as: – Elvis Presley (King of Rock and Roll) Elvis Presley – Buddy Holly Buddy Holly – Chuck Berry Chuck Berry – Bill Haley Bill Haley

Beat Movement The popularity of Rock and Roll created a movement by the youth called the beat movement. A creation of a generation gap was created between adults and youth, with the youth saying the adults were trying to beat them down, cause they do not like Rock and Roll. These youths grew to be known as “Beatniks.”

Translation Please This new culture also change the way our youth talked. Match the Word with it’s 50’s meaning. _______CoolA. dull person, outsider _______Hang LooseB. worthy of approval _______HairyC. formidable _______Yo-YoD. don’t worry b,d,c,a

Despite the feeling of peace time the Cold War was still active. Many people dug their own bomb shelters and supplied them with many items, just in case. – Air blower, radiation detector, face respirator, hand shovel, gas generator, full gas cans, chemical toilet, bunks, non-electric clock, first aid kit, sterno stove, canned water, canned food, paper products Bomb Shelter

By the Numbers Postage stamp.03 Loaf of bread.19 Sports Illustrated.25 Movie ticket.35 Gallon of milk.50 Hourly wage$2.05 New car$2,845 Average Income$5,235 Home$19,500

Other side of the 1950’s Not all was peachy in the 1950’s some of the flip side to prosperity was: – Inner city poverty and slums – Minority groups: Women-not equal yet, working towards Blacks and Hispanics (to many for # of jobs, discriminated) Native Americans-terminations policy, forced to follow the laws of the rest Juvenile delinquency-the rise of urban cities also gave rise to criminal behavior within out youth