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1950s Culture and Society

1950s Culture and Society. Did you know that this came out in the 1950s?. Silly putty. TV Changes American Life. Scientists worked on TV since 1920s By end of WWII, ready for home use Between 1945-1950, 5 million TV’s were sold In 1959, 40 million were sold. Politics

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1950s Culture and Society

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  1. 1950s Culture and Society

  2. Did you know that this came out in the 1950s? Silly putty

  3. TV Changes American Life • Scientists worked on TV since 1920s • By end of WWII, ready for home use • Between 1945-1950, 5 million TV’s were sold • In 1959, 40 million were sold

  4. Politics V.P. Candidate Nixon used TV to appeal to public Checkers Speech https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjHoH2m3iKA 1954 Senate-Army Hearings Altered career of Senator Joe McCarthy Advertising Combination of picture & sound had more persuasive potential than radio By 1960, TV = major method of advertising Commercials developed Use of TV

  5. Programming • I Love Lucy • Texaco Star Theater with comedian Milton Berle = 1st big hit • Nicknamed “Mr TV” • American Bandstand appeal from cultural movement of 1950s • Rock & roll • Hosted by Dick Clark > forum for artists but also showed fashion/trends • On TV until 1987 • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdSGjmhtaL0

  6. Programming Continued… • Introduction of Daytime dramas (soaps), crime drama, game show • TV guide helped keep track • Some questioned effects on kids • Scandal in 1950s with rigged games (Quiz Show) • 1954 CBS & NBC begin color broadcast

  7. Computer 1951 available for commercial use Called UNIVAC (universal automatic computer) Weighed 30,000 lbs Cost: $50,000 International Business Market (IBM) Polio -Most contagious disease Worst year on record 1952 with 57,000 cases Scientist Jonas Salk developed vaccine Technology

  8. Children • Baby Boom • Peak in 1957 • Baby born every 7 seconds • Extra-curricular • Additional opportunities in Boy/Girl Scouts, music lessons, toys • 1st generation raised with TV • Dr. Benjamin Spock • Child Care: women stay at home • Not spoil, use discipline • Family dynamics

  9. “Boom” • Economically • Threats of nuclear war but economic success • World’s greatest economic power (yet just 67% of world’s population) • Socially • Baby boom • William Levitt created community of homes (Levittowns) • Stocked with appliances

  10. New Communities • Levittowns affordable > GI Bill • Not diverse (wouldn’t sell to African Americans) • “Cookie cutter” • Suburbs because crowding in cities • Sunbelt: warmer S.W. part of US • Air conditioning • CA = major destination • Highways • Ike favored highway development • 1956 Congress approved funding for 40,000 miles of highway system

  11. 1950s Rebellion • Many rebelled against sameness & conformity • Marlon Brando & James Dean (actors) • Jack Kerouac & Beat Generation took position of outsiders > borrowed language from jazz music & rejected social norms

  12. ’50s Music • Music = rebellion of youth • Rock ‘n’ Roll: combo of bluegrass & rhythm & blues • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XLYBkPTUM0 • Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis • Doo-Wop: “bubble gum” music • Angels: “My Boyfriend’s Back” • The Penguins: “Earth Angel” • The Five Stains: “In The Still of the Night”

  13. Women • In general, maintained a traditional role • Marriage • Average age for women to marry in 1940= 21.5, drops to 20.1 in 1950 • 1950: 60% of women 18-24 are married • Working • Women = 50% of workforce but earn only 60% of what men do; jobs are temporary & few in upper-management • Rights • Betty Friedan begins women’s rights movement • Activist vs. Housewife (June Cleaver)

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