1. The Affluent Society
27.2: The postwar economic boom brought great changes to society, including the ways many Americans worked and lived.

2. American Abundance The Spread of Wealth Multinationals & Franchises
The Organization Man
The New Consumerism
The Growth of Suburbia
-Three characteristics of the postwar economy were abundant goods, low unemployment, and a housing boom.
-The economic boom was the result of consumerism and the GI Bill.
-They wanted to escape urban crime and make a better life for their families. They had automobiles to transport them to and from work.

3. 1958 economist John Kenneth Galbraith published The Affluent Society: the U.S. & some other industrialized nations had created an “economy of abundance”
New business techniques & improved technology  standard of living never before thought possible
Many Americans began working in white-collar jobs, such as sales & management & for the 1st time in 1956 outnumbered blue-collar workers–people who perform physical labor in industry
Multinational corporations were located close to important raw materials & used cheaper labor forces, making them more competitive.
1950s increasing # of franchises, in which a person owns and operates one or several stores of a chain operation.
Luxury items  the advertising industry became the fastest-growing industry in the U.S., using new marketing techniques to sell products.
Levittown, New York, one of the country’s earliest suburbs, was a mass-produced residential community spearheaded by Bill Levitt.
As the mechanization of farms & factories increased, many Americans began working in white-collar jobs, such as sales and management.
In 1956, for the first time, white-collar workers outnumbered blue-collar workers–people who perform physical labor in industry.
-White-collar employees generally worked for large corporations, some of which expanded into overseas corporations.
The rise in luxury products led to the growth of more sophisticated advertising.
Between 1947 and 1951, other Levittown-type communities were built all over the United States.
-What supported Galbraith’s Affluent Society? Between 1940 and 1955, personal income for many American’s almost tripled. Americans produced more than they could use, and there was a huge increase in the number of homeowners.

4. During the 1950s, car ownership increased, so too did the need for better and more efficient travel routes.
In 1956, Eisenhower passed the Federal Highway Act, the largest public works program in American history; it was a $140 billion dollar project to construct 40,000 miles of interstate highways.

5. 1950s CONFORMITY & CONSUMER CULTURE
Corporate leaders wanted employees who could conform to company standards.
In the 1950s book The Lonely Crowd, sociologist David Riesman argued that the “inner-directed” man was giving way to the “other-directed” man, with concerns regarding company approval outweighing personal values.
The suburbs came to symbolize the American dream, while others saw it as another example of American conformity.
America became a very consumer-based economy and culture, where mass advertising led to heavy consumption of new products.
Due to advertising, Americans also became very “cookie-cutter,” everyone sought the same products and fashion: a sign of social standing within the community.
Pete seeger 1:58

6. Technological Breakthroughs
1946 scientists working for the United States Army developed one of the earliest computers called ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer), & it made military calculations
1950s there were many medical breakthroughs such as the development of antibiotics; new drugs for arthritis, diabetes, cancer, & heart disease; & advances in surgical techniques.
Jonas Salk developed an injectable vaccine that prevented polio.
Soviet Union launched the world’s first space satellite, Sputnik, in October 1957.
U.S. launched its own satellite in January 1958.
Explorer I is the first U.S. satellite to go into orbit. It was launched Jan. 31, 1958, by a Jupiter C rocket from Cape Canaveral, Fla.
Right: ENIAC, center: UNIVAC
A newer model called UNIVAC (Universal Automatic Computer) could handle business data & led to the computer revolution.
American engineers were making commercial planes smoother & faster.
-Polio epidemics swept the nation in the 1940s and 1950s.
-New cases of polio declined dramatically. American scientist Albert Sabin later developed an oral vaccine for polio, causing the threat of polio to disappear in the United States.

7. The Other Side of American Life
27.4: Not everyone in the U.S. prospered during the nation’s postwar boom, as millions of minorities and rural whites struggled daily with poverty.
-Single mothers, the elderly, minority immigrants, rural Americans, inner-city residents, African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, and people in Appalachia were left out of the postwar economic boom.

8. Poverty Amidst Prosperity
The Decline of the Inner City
African Americans
Hispanics
Native Americans
Appalachia

9. 1950s, 1 in 5 Americans lived below the poverty line, a figure the government set to reflect the minimum income required to support a family
Writer Michael Harrington chronicled U.S. poverty in The Other America: described how some Americans lived in the run-down & hidden communities of America
Poor included single mothers, elderly, minority immigrants, rural Americans, Appalachians, & Native Americans
Many Americans moved to the suburbs  the urban areas became home to poorer, less educated minority groups
Gov. tried to improve conditions with urban renewal programs, in which they tore down slums and built high-rise projects

10. 1958 African American salaries were only 51% of what whites earned
NAACP & the Congress of Racial Equality pushed for equality & economic opportunities for African Americans - had little success
The Bracero program, some 5 million Mexican immigrants came to U.S. to help with agricultural needs. These laborers struggled with poverty & worked in unbearable conditions for very little pay.
Native Americans were the poorest group in the nation.
Through the termination policy, the federal government withdrew all official recognition of the Native American groups as legal entities & made them follow the same laws as white citizens.
During 1950s, many impoverished families left Appalachia in search of a better way of life.

11. Juvenile Delinquency
Important social problem in 1950s U.S. = rise in, or at least a rise in the reporting of, juvenile delinquency–antisocial or criminal behavior of youths.
Cut across class and racial lines.
While most teens did not participate in any illegal activity, teens were stereotyped, especially if they had long hair & dressed in an unconventional manner
As baby boomers started attending school, enrollments increased greatly.
During 1950s, schools suffered a shortage of buildings & teachers
Because U.S.S.R. launched 1st space satellites, the nation’s educational institutions were criticized for a lack of technical education -> efforts were made to improve math & scientific education in U.S. schools
Rise in juvenile delinquency blamed on: poverty, lack of religion, television, movies, comics, racism, busy parents, rising divorce rates, and anxiety over the military draft.