1. The American Dream Notes

2. A Wish List 1. Private home Permanent sign of middle class identity
Trailer parks temporarily satisfied housing needs in construction crunch of

3. 2. Common entertainment
Lower educated populations did not want bookshops & coffeehouses
Bowling alleys & diners provided cheap, comfortable fun

4. 3. Furnishings
Consumers bought items not available during Depression & WWII
21.4 million cars / 20 million refrigerators / 11.6 million TVs
Design of items were gaudy—responding to a lack of creature comforts for 15 years

5. Mass Production, Mass Identity, Mass Spending, Mass Chaos
All three had roots in lower class world, modernization would mainstream them
Diners—New England lunch wagons feeding dock workers beginning in 1890
Railcar production shifts from stockcars to diner buildings
Bowling—largely popular in basements of immigrant bars
Automatic pinsetters allow for larger, more convenient centers
Trailers—symbols of transient workers
Lack of housing in postwar US allowed mass produced trailers to become a viable option for young families

6. Social Upward Mobility
Larger, flashier, more homogenous examples illustrate lower classes rising in importance in society
Mainstream America will assimilate them into popular culture
A maturation of society
Lower class did not abandon old habits for new ones (diners/bowling)

7. Segregation
Explicit
Diners segregated lunch counters between white/black
Broadway Diner (Columbia, MO)…blacks could not enter and ordered from outside window
Implicit
New bowling alleys built in newer suburbs away from African American communities

8. The end of the big three Diners
Franchise chains (McDonalds, Steak n Shake, etc.) offered pre-known, popular menus…opposed to single store, unique offerings

9. Bowling Alleys
Different entertainment options (multiplexes, malls, etc.) split market share
Popular appeal of sport decreased in favor of more sophisticated attitudes

10. Trailer Parks
Construction of homes caught up and surpassed demand for houses
Flooded trailer market led to fall in prices…bought up by poor under class