1. Section 2 The American Dream in the 1950s

2. Summer of 1946 10 million men/women return from WWII 1930’s 1920’s
Great Depression
1920’s
Roaring
Twenties
1940’s
WWII - Sept,1945
1950’s
The Nuclear Age

3. The Organization and the Organization Man
Business expanded – More people worked in higher-paid white-collar jobs (clerical, managerial, professional like sales, insurance, communications) than in blue-collar jobs (manufacturing)
Conglomerate – major corporation that includes a number of smaller companies in unrelated industries (diversification)
Example: ITT (Int’l. Telephone and Telegraph) owned rental car companies, insurance companies, hotel and motel chains.

4. Franchise = a company that offers similar products or services in many locations.
Founded by Ray Kroc in 1955 – he bought it from the McDonald Brothers in San Bernadino, California
Assembly line process, efficient, drive-in service
Fast-food restaurants standardized what people ate.

5. Social Conformity Loss of Individuality:
Corporations did not want creative thinkers or anyone who would
“rock the boat.”
Personality Tests given to see if someone was able to “fit in”
corporate culture

6. The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit
Auto-biographical novel about a
typical businessman who wears
a dark suit, white shirt and
conservative tie and shoes.
-Has 3 kids, wife, house in the
suburbs
-Commutes to Manhattan –
but he and his wife are both
dissatisfied.

7. Suburbs
Most Americans worked in cities, but fewer and fewer of them lived there
Cars and gasoline were affordable
By early 1960s, every large city was surrounded by suburbs
85% of new homes built in the 1950s were suburban

8. The Baby Boom
What: During the birthrate soared Why: -Returning soldiers who were settling into family life -Advances in medicine -confidence in economic prosperity Result: largest generation in US history

9. Leisure Time Most Americans had more leisure time than ever
40 hour work week + several weeks of vacation
People owned more labor-saving devices (washing machines, dryers, dishwashers, vacuum cleaners, power lawn mowers)
Activities geared to youth grew: Scouts, Little League, etc

10. The Automobile Culture
Suburban living made owning a car a necessity
Suburbs did not offer public transit
Most families owned 2 cars
Drive-in movies, drive-thru restaurants
More and more Americans hit the road vacationing, sight-seeing
Disneyland opened 1955

11. The Interstate plan in 1955

12. 1919 Army Convoy A 62 day trip

13. Federal Aid Highway Act 1956
WHAT: the interstate highway system
To be built over a 20 year period
25 billion (90% came from federal government)
(Inspired by Eisenhower’s army convoy in 1919)
Result: suburbs (“white flight” which leads to inner-city
decay), shopping malls, drive-in movie theaters, Disneyland,
noise, pollution

14. Interstate Highways
Over 41,000 miles were planned, all with the following design standards: - a minimum of 2 lanes in each direction - a 12 foot width for each lane - right paved shoulders of 10 feet in width
Major routes have either one-digit or two-digit numbers.
Auxiliary routes traveling around a city, meanwhile, have three-digit numbers.
North-south major routes are given odd numbers.
The odd number routes increase from west to east.
I-5 runs along the west coast
I-95 runs on the east coast.
East-west major routes have even numbers.
The even numbered routes increase from south
to north.
I-10 is in the south
I-94 is in the north.

15. Consumerism (buying material goods)
Planned obsolescence
Marketing strategy where manufacturers purposely design products to become obsolete (wear out; become dated) in a short period of time