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

2. Postwar culture of the 1950s
Everything’s Booming

3. 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

5. “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 , over 75 million “baby boomers” were born

6. 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

8. 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

11. 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.

12. 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

14. 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

16. Booming education More teens sought higher education
% %
Government spending on education increased
Sputnik 1
Increased money for Math and Science
Democratized
Make education more accessible
Ended segregated schools