2. American Dream Chapter 19 2-4

3. Business in the 50’s  More white-collar positions  Conglomerates  Major corporations  Includes small companies in unrelated industries  Franchise  Similar products / services = Locations  Fast Food Restaurants  McDonalds  Assembly line methods

4. Baby Boom  1940’s- 1960’s  Birthrate soared  1957 - Height - 1 baby born every 7 seconds -Largest generation in the nation’s history -Why? Husbands coming back after war, lower marriage age, desire for large families, economy, medicine

5. Childcare/Medicine  Discovery of drugs = Childhood diseases  Polio  Typhoid fever  “Common sense book of Baby and Child Care”  No spanking or scolding  Important for mothers to be at home  Leave it to Beaver

6. Leisure in the 50’s  More leisure time than ever before  Vacations  Labor saving devices  Power lawn mowers, dishwashers, washing machines  Sports  Boating, Golf, Football, and Baseball  Televised sports  Reader’s Digest, Sports Illustrated, Comic Books

7. Culture  Buying cars in record numbers  Suburbia  “Automania”  Drive through’s  Drive in  Cruising teens -The Interstate Highway Act = 1956  Building of a nationwide highway network  Encouraged development of new suburbs  “Cars”

8. Culture  More Americans hit the road  Flocked to mountains, lakes, national parks  Disneyland = July 1955  3 million visitors the next year  Restaurants / Shopping malls  Increased noise pollution  Widened the gap between the rich and poor  Obesity on the rise

9. Consumerism  Consumerism  Buying material goods = Success  What is a material good? -Planned Obsolescence  Made product s become obsolete  “Throwaway Society”  Todays cell phones -Credit  Diner’s Club = 1950 (1 st credit card)  Advertising  Encouraged spending = TV 1 minute commercial

10. Media  1950 --- 9% of homes had TV’s  1954 --- 55%  1960 --- 90%  2014?  Federal Communications Commission  Government agency that regulates and licenses television, telephone, telegraph, radio and other communication industries

11. Rock ‘n’ Roll  Music = Rock ‘n’ Roll  Elvis Presley  King  Heartbreak Hotel  All Shook Up  Many adults condemned the new music  Concerts were banned