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1950s Culture and Society. Did you know that this came out in the 1950s? Silly putty.

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1950s Culture and Society
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Page 1: 1950s Culture and Society. Did you know that this came out in the 1950s? Silly putty.

1950s Culture and Society

Page 2: 1950s Culture and Society. Did you know that this came out in the 1950s? Silly putty.

Did you know that this came out in the 1950s?

Silly putty

Page 3: 1950s Culture and Society. Did you know that this came out in the 1950s? Silly putty.
Page 4: 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

Page 5: 1950s Culture and Society. Did you know that this came out in the 1950s? Silly putty.

Use of TV

Politics– V.P. Candidate Nixon

used TV to appeal to public

Checkers Speech

– 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

Page 6: 1950s Culture and Society. Did you know that this came out in the 1950s? Silly putty.

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

Page 7: 1950s Culture and Society. Did you know that this came out in the 1950s? Silly putty.

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

Page 8: 1950s Culture and Society. Did you know that this came out in the 1950s? Silly putty.

Technology

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

Page 9: 1950s Culture and Society. Did you know that this came out in the 1950s? Silly putty.

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

Page 10: 1950s Culture and Society. Did you know that this came out in the 1950s? Silly putty.

“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

Page 11: 1950s Culture and Society. Did you know that this came out in the 1950s? Silly putty.

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

Page 12: 1950s Culture and Society. Did you know that this came out in the 1950s? Silly putty.

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

Page 13: 1950s Culture and Society. Did you know that this came out in the 1950s? Silly putty.

’50s Music

Music = rebellion of youth

– Rock ‘n’ Roll: combo of bluegrass & rhythm & blues

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”

Page 14: 1950s Culture and Society. Did you know that this came out in the 1950s? Silly putty.

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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