David Peltz

From War to Peace

16 million+ serve during WWII Demobilization=the dismantling of U.S.

war machines Active duty dropped from 12 mill in 1946

to 1.6 by mid 1947 Open jobs at industries being taken and

were converting to peacetime industry from wartime

Economic Growth

2 mill cars produced in 1946, nearly twice as many in 1955

975,000 TV's bought in 1948 and 2 years later 7.5 mill sold

1960 75% of people owned at least 1 car and 87 % owned at least 1 TV set

Gross National Product “GNP” (the total value of countries goods and services)

Economic Growth Cont.

GNP rose from 100 billion to 300 billion in 1950

Real Income=the amount of income earned taking into account an increase in prices increased more than 20%durning the same period

Discretionary Income=money to buy what they wanted as well as what they needed

Persuading the Consumer Advertisement

was one of the fastest growingindustries help grow bigger

○ color TVThey would make false statement

○ s to make you buy there product over others make there item seem better.

ex: a second car was a status symbol, mouthwash was the key to immediate social success

Movie

Impact of the GI bill

It was passed by congress in 1944. Using mass production the housing

industry built 13 million new homes during the 1950s

House ownership went from 44 to 62% from 1940 to 1960

The new world of business Bigger the Better The ibm jumped from 119.4 million in

1946 to 1.7 billion in 1961 General motors doubled its net assets

during the 1950s from 1.5 billion in 1951 to 2.8 billion in 1960

Farming Farm populations (in millions)

1940=30.51960=13.5Average acreage per farm

1940=1751960-297

Persons supplied per farm 1940=10.71960=25.8

Automobile Culture

Auto dealers sold a record of 58 million cars during the 1950s

New kind of car more power made of chrome and steel and many colors to choose from

Drive-ins Fast food drive-ins Drive-in movie theatres Waiters and waitresses on roller-skates

Highways

The highway act 1956 32 billion for construction of more

than 40,000 miles of federal highway

This section by:

William Bahureksa

Growth of Suburbia Suburbia- Residential areas outside the

city Suburbia grew during the 1950’s due to

various reasons including: Whites wanting to escape congestion of cities, minorities wanted to escape prejudice, and some just wanted a better life, as it was considered going up in the social chain by going to a suburb.

Modern

American Dream America now a steady and more or less

even lifestyle for most white Americans, however some felt like it was monotonous and was filled with conformity

However, because of this new living style and the closeness you have with your neighborhood, people became more social and often joined social groups or clubs to become part of the community

Currency Eisenhower started printing “In God We

Trust” on currency and stated, “everybody should have religious faith, and I don’t care what it is.”

Inventions

Billy Graham, Fulton J. Sheen, and Norman Vincent Peale were all people using the inventions, such as television, to broadcast religious messages and families began flocking to the churches

Baby Boom

According to statistics of the 1950’s, every 7 seconds, a baby was born

During the 1940’s to 60’s, birthrate for 3rd and 4th children doubled.

Because of the growth of more people, bigger houses were needed and more schools were built

More stuff

After school activities began, Girl scouts and brownies doubled, as well as Little leagues going from 800, to 6,000

Many TV programs were added,TV heroes for kids clubs.

Medical sciences

Antibiotics and vaccines diphtheriaInfluenza typhoid feverDr. Jones Salk

○ vaccine for polioDr. Albert Sabin

○ made an oral version, virtually wiping out polio

Woman’s place Dr. Benjamin Spock

encouraged women to stop beating their children

Women were discouraged from going to college and some studies were done saying that they don’t mind not succeeding personally

It was also stated by one professor that women should stay home and give comfort and warmth to the husband

Anderson Quintuplets

More on Women John Cheever

wrote a passage describing the women's role as hard and tiring

The education system encouraged the girls in school to lead the lives of their mothers, survey done in 1962 by Gallup Poll, 90% of

mothers did not want them to lead the same lives.

Women Questions their roles Women were left unsatisfied with their

lives at home and were also pushed out of their old jobs they had in WWII

However because of the women in lower economic ranks, they began working other jobs, in which from 1940 to 1960, working wives went up from 17% to 32%, 1.5 million to 6.6 million

Women keep going

Women filled many clerical and secretarial positions

Women often worked to help pay for the children or vacations

However, because of the working class of women was growing so much, the government began making restrictions.

Restrictions In 1960, census indicated that any

families making over $15,000 would have their income cut in half

Women faced this problem, as well as neglect and sexism in their jobs and social environments

They received about %40 less pay then men, so their American dreams and rights were undermined.

By: Adam Brito

Poverty and Plenty

Culture of poverty, the poor largely invisible members of a generally affluent American society

Hidden Poverty

The “invisible poor” were so well hidden the Fortune magazine stated that less than 1 million poor people were in the U.S.

Reasons for Invisibility

The population of midtown Manhattan dropped from 1.5 million during the day to 2,000 at night

The poor seemed invisible because they had no effective political voice

The urban poor in the 1950s included whites, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Native Americans

The Culture of Poverty

The poor after the war had no relief programs to help them out of poverty

Americans lived on about $2.10 Reasons for poverty were varied

such as racial inequality towards native Americans and Mexican Americans, as well the elderly

Young and Old

Half of the poor was made of children, and many of the others were citizens over 65

Because of all the modern technology, many older folks were found without jobs

Rural and Urban Poverty

The new technologies made it easy for big farms to rule out small farms

Drop in coal demand put 70% of coal workers out of business

The poor crowded into the rural areas, making living conditions harsh

African Americans

African American farmers in the south shared their poverty with their white counterparts, however, in the cities they lived there with the fear of the KKK and their harsh racial terrorism.

Made about half as much as whites, schools still segregated

Hispanic

Made of nations second largest minority

Women generally found jobs more than men, flipping the husband-wife relationship

Were politically insecure

Agricultural workers

Mexicans made up most of this group, however there were Puerto Ricans, poor whites, and African Americans

Worked 10 to 12 hour days, were not helped by the labor laws, children worked along side parents

Displaced Native Americans Native Americans were one of the

poorest, smallest and ignored groups

Generally, only 15%-20% of Native Americans were employed

Those that moved to the cities faced the same discrimination as Hispanic Americans and African Americans

Termination policy

In 1953, Federal government adopted a policy to end the reservations system and terminate Federal services to Native American groups

This resulted in the loss of thousands of acres of Native American land

Lacking political power, any protests were ignored, and they were left unnoticed