Slide 1

Lecture 1

major cultural and political directions in the 1950s American Literature, 1945 to date Mihai Mindra

Political BackgroundHarry S. Truman (Democrat, 1945 1953)Atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: August 6 and 9, 1945The Korean War (part of the Cold War: mid-1940s to the early 1990s): 1950 -1953McCarthyism (Republican senator Joseph Raymond McCarthy [1908-1957]): activities associated with the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare (First Red Scare:shortly after the end of World War I and the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia; fear of anarchism: 1917 1920)roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950scharacterized by heightened fears of Communist influence on American institutions and espionage by Soviet agents. Political BackgroundTerm coined by Washington Post cartoonist Herbert Block. Block and others used the word as a synonym for demagoguery, baseless defamation, and mudslinging. Later, embraced by McCarthy and some of his supporters. "McCarthyism is Americanism with its sleeves rolled, (McCarthy, a 1952 speech; later that year he published a book titled McCarthyism: The Fight For America).

Political BackgroundDwight D. Eisenhower (Republican, 1953 1961)commanding general of the Allied forces in Europe during World War IItruce in Koreamoderate policiescontinued most of the New Deal and Fair Deal programs; balanced budgetreinforced desegregation of schools"atoms for peace" program--the loan of American uranium to "have not" nations for peaceful purposestried to ease Cold War tensionsordered the complete desegregation of the Armed Forces.

New Deal was the name that United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave to a sequence of central economic planning and economic stimulus programs he initiated between 1933 and 1938 with the goal of giving aid to the unemployed, reform of business and financial practices, and recovery of the economy during The Great Depression. The enactment of New Deal policies lasted from 1933 through 1939. The Fair Deal was U.S. President Harry S. Truman's catchphrase for a series of social and economic reforms [1], outlined in his 1949 State of the Union Address to Congress on January 5, 1949. Truman stated that "Every segment of our population, and every individual, has a right to expect from his government a fair deal." Despite a mixed record of contemporary legislative success, the Fair Deal remains significant in establishing a call for universal health care as a rallying cry for the Democratic Party 1950S Everyday Lifestyle* At the opening of the decade, the United States: the most powerful nation on earth. Its industrial base, undamaged and strengthened by World War II, manufactured over half of all the world's products, along with producing raw materials like steel and oil in prodigious quantities.Presidents of the decade: Harry S. Truman (1945 1953); Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953 1961)America: the biggest single consumer of this outpouring. Citizens rushed to buy everything that appeared on the new peacetime market. This orgy of self-indulgence created a level of prosperity unseen since the heady days just before the stock market crash of 1929, resulting in a period of unparalleled growth and economic expansion that lasted through the decade.*The 1950s. William H. Young, Nancy K. Young. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2004.1950S Everyday Lifestyle* - The Economy 1950 1960: the gross national product (GNP) grew by over $200 billion, escalating from $285 billion to $500 billion in ten years, a remarkable increase by any measureWorker productivity doubledMuch of the growth stemmed from the changing demographics of the nation: the mid- to late 1940s heralded a nonstop population surge that carried through the 1950s. In 1940, the U.S. census counted 132 million Americans, a figure that rose to 150 million in 1950, and then leaped to 179 million in 1960.More people meant more of everything: jobs, workers, goods, servicesall the ingredients for a boom economy that eagerly accepted the challenge.1950S Everyday Lifestyle* - The Economy heralded an onslaught of personal consumption the likes of which the world has never seen. This display shows the wealth of disposable products that flooded the market during the decade, proof that American prosperity was such that people could throw away much of what they used. (Young 4) World perception as material: consume and dispose. (Protest: the Beats [e.g. Howl])1950S Everyday Lifestyle* - The Economy

1950S Everyday Lifestyle* - The Economy Family and its Prosperity as major Eisenhower values of the American middle class: the job and economic success for the family channeled human mental and physical energy as well as human relations.For the first time, industry employed more white-collar (office) employees than blue-collar (factory) workers. The mechanization and automation of traditional occupations led to the creation of many more office positions. Further, in 1957, the service sector overtook and surpassed the manufacturing portion as the leading component of the national economy. Both industry and service grew increasingly impersonal, as little family businesses became components of large corporations.1950S Everyday Lifestyle* - The Economy This led to the growth of the American middle class and its values. See The Adventures of Augie March as rebelling attitude towards the imposition of social clichs of the decade, rejection of patterns/roles other characters offer to Augie as trimmers of his individualism [perceived in Whitmanesque, pre-industrial manner.Read Allen Ginsbergs A Supermarket in California (1956) for poetical perception of American 1950s materiality and consumerism vs. 19th century spiritual values

1950S Everyday Lifestyle* - The Economy

In the area of durable goods, Americans went on a buying spree in the 1950s, bringing about the birth of huge, warehouse-like stores to cater to their wants. This picture shows shoppers looking at the latest in television sets, a product that certainly helped spark this phenomenon. 1950S Everyday Lifestyle* - The Economy The small-town face of America had begun to be supplanted by an urbanized and corporate one. Most people were enmeshed in a consumer frenzy to buy and accumulate. Despite rising inflation spurred by rising government expenditures, Americans as a whole directed increasing amounts of their money to whatever they wished, enjoying a level of goods and services never dreamed of earlier. Median family income almost doubled: between 1950 and 1960, it went from $3,083 per year to $5,976 per year. Even factoring in inflation, real wages increased 30 percent, so that food, clothing, and shelter no longer took away so much of each paycheck. New cars (instead of used models), televisions, high-fidelity units, improved telephones, alcoholic beverages, and endless entertainment saw sharply rising sales 1950S Everyday Lifestyle* - The Economy Pockets of poverty persisted in postwar America. Many black Americans still toiled in underpaid, low-status jobs and lived in substandard housing. Neither did a majority of farmers and factory workers immediately share the fruits of rising prosperity. Single women, already laboring in low-paying positions, continued to lag behind their male counterparts.1950S Everyday Lifestyle* - Family Life More and more couples opted for more offspring, making the 1950s one of the most youthful decades on record. By 1958, almost a third of all Americans were 15 years old or younger. The parents of all these childrenanxious to buy houses, cars, and all the other material goods needed to set up a household and join the ranks of the swelling middle classemerged as a primary factor in the rambunctious economy. 1950S Everyday Lifestyle* - Family Life Divorce rates rose somewhat during the decade, and marriage rates fell slightly. The rush to marry during and immediately following World War II had subsided, and some couples that had wed with the pressures of war reexamined their decisions, a partial explanation of growing divorce figures.Read John Updikes Rabbit Run, 1960, to understand better the domestic atmosphere and problems of the American 1950s.1950S Everyday Lifestyle* - Family Life Despite the declining marriage totals, surging birth rates more than made up for any differences. Baby boom evolved as the term used to describe the skyrocketing numbers of new additions to familiesThis astonishing rise proved an economic bonanza for retailers, but schools and recreational facilities found themselves stretched to their very limits (Young 7)Having children was touted as the highest form of happiness; a woman fulfilled herself by bearing children. And, despite a swelling population, the baby boom continued unabated.1950S Everyday Lifestyle* - Family Life Popular television situation comedy, I Love Lucy, (1951 1957). Desi and Lucy Ricardo, husband and wife, find that Lucy is expecting. In those more innocent days of TV, network censors considered the word pregnant taboo, although they embraced the concept of approaching motherhood. In reality, Lucille Ball, the star of the show, had become pregnant, and so her condition got written into the series. It proved a wise move; audiences followed her progress in one episode after another, culminating in the birth of little Ricky in early 1953 (filming took place in November of 1952). It became one of the most watched events in the history of American television.

1950S Everyday Lifestyle* - Family Life In a similar way, shows like Father Knows Best, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, Leave It to Beaver, Make Room for Daddy, and The Donna Reed Show espoused strong family values. The picture painted of the decade might be unrealistic and rose-colored, but it has persisted as a nostalgic perception of the 1950s. TOGETHERNESS AND DO IT YOURSELF Focus on the nuclear family as major social and psychological life unit.In the 1954 Easter issue of McCall's magazine, the term togetherness gained some media legitimacy. It meant the family worked as a unit, that Mom and Dad and the kids undertook joint activities. It meant families looked inward, that parents and children learned from one another, and the home became the nexus of sharing.

TOGETHERNESS AND DO IT YOURSELF Do it your-selfinstead of letting outsiders do it for youemerged as a catchphrase eagerly embraced by suburban families everywhere.Fathers showed sons how to assemble a bookcase, and mothers demonstrated to daughters how to prepare a proper meal. Everyone could work on a paint-by-numbers kit in the family room, an area reserved in the modern suburban home for just such activities. As long as the family operated together, all was well with America.TOGETHERNESS AND DO IT YOURSELF Organized religion also celebrated this emphasis on the insular family. A popular slogan of the time touted the family that prays together stays together. Americans attended church in record numbers. About half the citizenry claimed church membership or affiliation in 1950. TOGETHERNESS AND DO IT YOURSELF On July 30, 1956, two years after pushing to have the phrase "under God" inserted into the pledge of allegiance, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs a law officially declaring "In God We Trust" to be the nation's official motto. The law, P.L. 84-140, also mandated that the phrase be printed on all American paper currency. The phrase had been placed on U.S. coins since the Civil War when, according to the historical association of the United States Treasury, religious sentiment reached a peak. Eisenhower's treasury secretary, George Humphrey, had suggested adding the phrase to paper currency as well.TOGETHERNESS AND DO IT YOURSELF The new Revised Standard Version (RSV) of the Bible spent an unprecedented three years on the best-seller lists.With the government proclaiming a Christian heritage, various evangelists found themselves drawing record crowds into churches and other venues. Chief among them was Billy Graham and his Crusades, but Bishop Fulton Sheen, Norman Vincent Peale, and Oral Roberts also attracted large audiences.Personalize: you are a teenager in Eisenhowers America in a typical middleclass family. See Pleasantville for cinematic representation and easier personalization. TOGETHERNESS AND DO IT YOURSELF Even with togetherness, evangelism, and record church attendance, the 1950s also witnessed the development of tranquilizers, most of which sold in astronomical numbers. By 1957, some 73 brands crowded the market, with Miltown and Equinal among the best known. Although available only by prescription, it soon became obvious a lot of people used them. TOGETHERNESS AND DO IT YOURSELF Beneath an outwardly calm surface, Americans had issues that needed attention, and organized religion seemed unable to solve all of them. For some, masking reality with drugs appeared a possible outlet. The reality to be concealed: the role playing at home and at the office to conform with the Protestant middle class norms of the decade, i.e. the hard working, competing, good provider, dependable husband/father dedicated to the family; the thrifty domestically minded housewife, whose happiness consisted in the material comfort of the family home. Sexual/erotic life was an unmentionable. Women depended economically on their husbands. Read Allen Ginsbergs Howl (1955/1956) for youth using drugs to face the Eisenhower age of endeavor to gain material comfort and middle class respectabilityTOGETHERNESS AND DO IT YOURSELF The collective spiritual messages of the day reflected moral complacency, not a call to action. One's concern should be with individual salvation, not social problems. In the nation's quest for some kind of spiritual certainty, writers like Catherine Marshall (A Man Called Peter, 1952) and Jim Bishop (The Day Christ Died, 1957) obliged. Not to be outdone in the spirituality department, Hollywood released an unprecedented number of quasi-religious films: The Robe (1953), The Silver Chalice (1954), The Ten Commandments (1956), and Ben-Hur (1959). These drew record crowds and prospered at the box office. Civil Rights Movement Definition: plural noun ( often initial capital letters )1.rights to personal liberty established by the 13th and 14th Amendments to the U.S. constitution and certain Congressional acts, especially as applied to an individual or a minority group.2. the rights to full legal, social, and economic equality extended to blacks.Origin: 171525

Civil Rights Movement For much of the decade, white Americans remained blissfully ignorant about racism. suburbs were often almost one hundred percent white, and likewise their schools and country clubsnetwork television series or the movies promoted the same whiteness. the era continued however to see lynchings in the South and increasing segregation in the public realm. Civil Rights Movement In1954 civil rights developed into a widespread issu: The Supreme Court ruled against the Topeka Board of Education, saying that racially segregated schools and facilities were not necessarily equal. In 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white man. Bus boycotts followed, accompanied by the elevation of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., into the national limelight. The country slowly realized that racial segregation could not remain a part of the fabric of American life.Civil Rights Movement A few facts (source: Library of Congress Website)The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and its legal offspring, the Legal Defense and Educational Fund, developed a systematic attack against the doctrine of separate but equal. The campaign started at the graduate and professional educational levels. The attack culminated in five separate cases gathered together under the name of one of themOliver Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas.Aware of the gravity of the issue and concerned with the possible political and social repercussions, the U.S. Supreme Court heard the case argued on three separate occasions in as many years. The Supreme Court announced its unanimous decision on May 17, 1954. It held that school segregation violated the Equal Protection and Due Process clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. The following year the Court ordered desegregation with all deliberate speed. Civil Rights Movement In 1957, Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus refused to protect black students attempting to integrate Little Rock High School, compelling President Eisenhower to call out federal troops. Television cameras had already arrived on the scene, and the national nightly news detailed the unfolding stories of rage and repression. American mass media had become a witness. Dr. Martin Luther King (1929 1968, see biographic clip at http://www.biography.com/people/martin-luther-king-jr-9365086) emerged as a spokesman for expanding civil rights, and also became the conscience of the country.

Civil Rights Movement Read Ralph Ellisons Invisible Man (1952) for the Civil Rights Movement roots and backgroundSee DVD American Experience PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) series: Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years 19541985. Henry Hampton, Blackside, Inc., 1987-1990.

Technological Change The 1950s witnessed significant technological change. In order to accomplish high-speed computations, a machine called UNIVAC (Universal Automatic Computer, 1951) succeeded a previous calculator called ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer, 1946). The ENIAC and its variations (about 20 different models) might be called the first real computers, but UNIVAC, because it could store memory, came on the scene as a marked improvement. Remington Rand, which owned the rights to UNIVAC, convinced the U.S. Census Bureau that its computer was the best for calculations and tabulating. Put into service in 1951 in Philadelphia, UNIVAC ushered in the Information Age, although no one at the time foresaw the dimensions of change computers would have on everyday life.For American computer technology evolution and the Cold War from the 1950s to the first half of the 1960s, read John Barths metafictional novel Giles Goat-Boy (1966)Women and the Imagery of Housework Throughout the fifties, popular media portrayed American women as possibly the best-dressed housekeepers ever seen.In television situation comedies and countless advertisements, women don elegant dresses, high heels, jewelry (the pearl necklace seems almost de rigueur), and smile as they dust and vacuum. Three leading TV examples would be Donna Reed as Donna Stone in The Donna Reed Show, Jane Wyatt as Margaret Anderson in Father Knows Best, and Barbara Billingsley as June Cleaver in Leave It to Beaver.

Donna Reed as Donna Stone in The Donna Reed Show (1958 1966)

Women and the Imagery of Housework In the ads, some even wear crownswomen as queens of domesticity. It mattered little that many American women chose employment and careers over homemaking; the image perpetuated throughout the 1950s was one of inequality: a woman's role consisted of making her family happy by serving them, providing them all the best consumer goods, and then taking her pleasure in their happiness.Working Women The media image of the American woman had her staying at home and raising a family. Widely accepted in the popular mind, this comforting and stereotypical picture got challenged in real life as the fifties moved along. Also, while numerous television shows featured stay-at-home moms in their plots, large-circulation magazines countered with articles that extolled the extra earning power of a second income. Statistics suggest that increasing numbers of women chose a paying job over being full-time housewives.

Working Women The 1950s female college student was more likely to marry, start a family, and put an end to her educational aspirations. As a result, although an unexpectedly large proportion of American women worked, they were conspicuously absent from high-level jobs. They instead settled for the traditional employment outlets: secretarial, clerical, nursing, teaching, assembly lines, and domestic service. Just over ten percent of working women entered a profession, and a minuscule six percent had management positions.Read Vladimir Nabokov,s Lolita (1955), John Barths The Floating Opera (1956) and The End of the Road (1958) for the ironical, critical perception of the rebellious artist of middle class America misconceptions about erotic life via, clichs about women roles and family values.

Nuclear Anxiety In August of 1949, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics exploded its first atomic bomb. This blast would cast a pall over the entire upcoming decade. A fear of nuclear annihilation, an underlying anxiety that ran counter to the rampant consumerism that many equate with the time, became a part of the American scene. Popular culture, always sensitive to the many moods of the nation, quickly picked up on this uneasiness, and capitalized on it in a variety of ways.Nuclear Anxiety With the news that Russia also had the Bomb, President Truman announced in January of 1950 that the United States would continue to develop a hydrogen bomb, a much more destructive version of the atomic bomb. Shortly thereafter, the Russians also commenced working on such a weapon. By 1953, both nations possessed H-bombs, and the threat of total war and mutual annihilation loomed ever larger.Nuclear Anxiety and the Space RaceThroughout the decade, the United States and Russia frequently tested their stockpiles of nuclear weapons, and news of growing amounts of radioactive materials in the air became more common.By mid-decade, ominous reports of huge Russian intercontinental missiles circulated, and it all came to a head when the USSR launched Sputnik in October of 1957. The Russian name means little traveling companion, and Sputnik shook the U.S. out of any technological complacency. No one had expected the Soviets to be the first into space; it served as a disquieting moment for any lingering notions of inherent American superiority. Nuclear Anxiety and the Space RacePart of the American response to Sputnik involved spending vast sums of government money to catch up. In the spring of 1958, a reluctant President Eisenhower asked Congress to create the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and a new component to the ongoing arms racethe space racewas officially on.Instead of having their fears alleviated by these moves, Americans found their anxieties compounded by other steps taken by the government. Officials put into place a civil defense system that included aircraft spotters and buildings designated as fallout shelters for protection from deadly radiation. Bright yellow-and-black triangular signs were attached to the entrances of stout public buildings, with the instructions to take shelter in the event of an attack. Nuclear Anxiety and the Space RaceEven the public schools had their Duck and Cover drills. At the news of approaching planes, students were to duck (under whatever is close by) and cover (arms over the head for additional protection). A generation of 1950s students practiced the exercisean exercise in futility had there been an actual attack. The government also printed many pamphlets and posters that purported to show how to survive a nuclear explosion.Nuclear Anxiety and the Space RaceThey encouraged building backyard bomb shelters, but suggested a reinforced basement room, suitably stocked with emergency items, might suffice. For those unfortunate to be caught outdoors when disaster struck, the instructions were succinct: because most men wore hats when outdoors in those days, they urged tilting the head so the brim will shield the eyes from heat flash; for women, they advised wearing hosiery and long sleeves at all times for a similar level of protection. Lacking a hat or hose, jumping face first into nearby ditches and gutters might also provide a modicum of security. Nuclear Anxiety and the Space RaceIn a series of movies that ranged from the trite Invasion, U.S.A. (1952), to the modest Magnetic Monster (1953), to the terrifying Them! (1954), Hollywood played on fears of mutations, atomic war, domestic spying, and Communist infiltration.See DVD movie Great Memories of the 1950s the Atomic Bomb part (II)The Korean War On June 25, 1950, North Korean forces attacked South Korea, prompting an immediate military response from both the United Nations and the United States. Many U.N. member nations shipped troops to the distant peninsula, all under a unified command. By far the largest contingent came from the United States. For the next few years, a bloody war raged throughout Korea, and the government employed the disingenuous term police action to describe the free world's attempt to hold back Communism. The Korean War In 1953, the parties agreed to an armistice, and peace negotiations dragged on for years thereafter. This war boasted neither victors nor losers, an unsettling fact for Americans used to winning all their encounters with foreign adversaries. During the decade, over 1.8 million U.S. troops saw service in Korea, with more than 33,600 losing their lives in combat and some 103,000 sustaining wounds.See DVD movie Great Memories of the 1950s the Korean War part(I)

McCARTHYISMFor many TV fans, the various Congressional hearings that marked the decade served as some of the most engrossing series on the air. They had all the stuff of good popular culture: drama, heroes and villains, sensationalism, and even a few surprises. Most prominent were the McCarthy hearings into Communist infiltration in the national government. In February 1950, Joseph McCarthy, the junior senator from Wisconsin, loudly proclaimed that he had evidence that 205 active Communist agents had been employed at the State Department.

Sen. Joseph McCarthy, 1950sMcCARTHYISMLeading the Senate Investigations Subcommittee, McCarthy launched a campaign based on fears, innuendo, and smears to track down Communists in government. An outright witch-hunt, the subcommittee often used guilt by accusation to besmirch its victims. By 1957, some six million individuals had been investigated by various related agencies and committees because of alleged sympathies to the Communist cause.Out of those six million, only a small handful ever got convicted. McCARTHYISMMcCarthy likewise offered no hard evidence for his ceaseless claims, but many people nevertheless took them at their face value. Reelected in 1952, McCarthy began a full-scale assault on anyone and everyone he deemed subversive. In March of 1954, the esteemed Columbia Broadcasting System newsman Edward R. Murrow aired a special program on his series, See It Now. He titled the special A Report on Senator Joseph P. McCarthy. The senators crude, intimidating attacks on individuals and institutions smacked of a tyrant, a browbeater, a thug. In 1956, the Senate took away his chairmanship of the investigative committee. The Senate eventually censured him and any remaining influence ended. Blacklisting and CensorshipWith a distant war in Korea being waged against Communist adversaries, and McCarthy's claims of Communist infiltration at all levels of government, a climate of fear and suspicion descended on the nation. As McCarthy grew more shrill in his accusations, few would challenge him. He was aided and abetted by an organization calling itself AWARE, which in 1950 commenced publishing a newsletter titled Red Channels; it purported to identify 151 individuals from the performing arts that the organization found subversive. No onefrom networks to studios to sponsorsoffered to stand up and challenge these vicious attacks, and innocent people found themselves blacklisted, unable to work in radio, film, or television.For many, the stigma of the blacklist lingered until well into the 1960s, and the damage proved permanent.Blacklisting and CensorshipThis divisive atmosphere struck Hollywood particularly hard. The House Un-American Activities Committee (or HUAC, for short), an investigative arm of Congress, seized on the issue of dangerous influences corrupting the nation's entertainment center. A number of congressmen, convinced the content of movies had been colored by subversive elements intent upon spreading Communist lies and innuendo, enthusiastically joined the fray. Blacklisting and CensorshipThe media have always been suspect in the eyes of some government agencies and elected representatives, and the chance to denounce what they perceived as treasonous activity proved irresistible. Hearings were held, and many Hollywood personalities received calls to testify. Actors, producers, directors, and writers faced a dilemma: whether or not to inform on their colleagues about possible Communist ties.See Elia Kazin's movie On the Waterfront (1954). Kazin had been deeply involved in the hearings and did indeed offer evidence that proved detrimental to some of his colleagues, and the film indirectly comments on the whole process and its impacts on belief systems.

The Rise of Television Eisenhower, a seasoned military leader, had been elected to the presidency in 1952, and his conservative, patriarchal approach to a dangerous world reassured nervous citizens. He was everybody's grandfather. His golf game, his weekend painting, and even his health problems elicited more popular attention than did his abilities as a leader. For most Americans, he presented an image of calm authority. The decade marked, in fact, the increasing use of public relations and advertising techniques in the political arena. That Eisenhower could project such a picture of fatherly confidence overshadowed the difficulties he had articulating issues, and Americans voted their preference for imagery over content in both the 1952 and 1956 presidential elections.

1956 President Eisenhower throws out the ceremonial first pitch on opening day as Casey Stengel (Major League Baseball outfielder and manager) looks on. Sports Illustrated CNN. The Rise of Television The importance of strong media ties could be seen in the Republican and Democratic national conventions held in July 1952. The first such political conventions to be televised, delegates were aware of cameras and microphones everywhere, and their presence had a clear effect. Little deal making could take place outside the range of the omnipresent cameras, a decided change from the smoke-filled rooms of the past. As Republican enthusiasm for Eisenhower grew, the unblinking gaze of national media helped him win on the first ballot. On the Democratic side, it took three ballots to nominate Adlai Stevenson, but the party did not wish to appear divided to a national television audience. The Rise of Television In the midst of the 1952 campaign, Eisenhower's running mate, California Senator Richard M. Nixon, was accused of improperly using funds and accepting gifts. Alarmists urged Eisenhower to drop Nixon from the ticket. In response, Nixon turned to television and delivered his famous Checkers speech, a moment in television history that illustrates the enormous power the medium could wield. An audience estimated at 58 million heard and saw his denials. Checkers was a cute cocker spaniel, a gift Nixon challenged anyone to take from his daughters. His somewhat melodramatic defense played well; audiences viewed the charges against him as hamhanded attempts by overzealous Democrats to discredit him. In short, popular imagery overrode any reasoned investigation. Eisenhower retained Nixon in his campaign, and the two savored a strong victory.The Cultural Ferment of the 1950s For many American intellectuals, the specter of an undifferentiated mass culture that could lead public opinion seemed far more frightening than any Russian warheads. They saw the nation falling into a kind of mindless conformity, accepting, without question, the nightly offerings of network television, along with Top 40 radio programming and big box-office movies. Those elements, coupled with the paternalistic philosophy of the Eisenhower administration, created undercurrents of dissent and revolt that simmered throughout the decade. Read Ken Kesey, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1962) / watch the eponymous movie directed by Milos Forman. With Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, Michael Berryman, Peter Brocco (1975)The Cultural Ferment of the 1950s Jack Kerouac set out to rewrite the American novelJackson Pollock challenged his fellow artists with abstract drip paintingsthe suspect insolence of Elvis Presley and James Dean bothered many. Marlon Brando sweated and grunted to the delight of adolescents everywhere, and Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie took jazz places it had never been before.

Jackson Pollock, Easter and the Totem, 1953.The Cultural Ferment of the 1950s For a literary representation of this outlook on the everyday life in the 1950s also read: Jack Kerouac, On the Road (1957); William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch (1959)Still, Ernest Hemingway's heroes still adhered to a manly code of behavior, Norman Rockwell's Saturday Evening Post covers continued to captivate millions, Gary Cooper represented all that was good in the Western myth, Perry Como crooned in a reassuring baritone, and good, old traditional Dixieland Jazz enjoyed something of a revival.The Cultural Ferment of the 1950s

Norman Rockwell's Saturday Evening Post coversThe Cultural Ferment of the 1950s Depending on one's focus during the fifties, the decade could seem complacent and conformist, or it could be filled with threatening change and shrill individuals who turned their backs on anything held dear by generations of Americans. (Young 21)For the average American, however, the intellectual debates of the era occurred offstage, unseen and unheard. With the reality of the Cold War intruding into daily lives, the thought of a cultural consensus sounded reassuring, not threatening. Rock 'n' roll seemed far more challenging to worried parents than discussions of cultural hegemony. Added to that were the changes brought about by civil rights legislation, by school integration, and by a sense of rebellion on the part of youth across the nation. Nothing was as it used to be. (Young 21)The Cultural Ferment of the 1950s In the popular mind, people conformed during the 1950s. The sprawling suburbs of ranch and split-level homes (on different levels: describes a house or room built on two levels with steps between them) exemplified this social conformity. The typical suburbanite earned slightly more than his city-dwelling counterpart and differing lifestyles reflected this inequality. The suburbs also quietly exploited other, more unfortunate, kinds of conformity: racial, ethnic, and social. Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, Jews, and a host of others were kept out of most developments. The Cultural Ferment of the 1950s The men in the gray flannel suits were white and Christian, heads of nuclear families, and proudly middle class. Their clothing, their architecture, their jobs, and their leisure all supported this kind of sameness. Hollywood, ever observant of social trends, exploited the move to suburbia in No Down Payment (1957), a melodramatic tale of several families and their problems living in what had been promised to be paradise.The Cultural Ferment of the 1950s

1950s suburbia: Levittown, N.Y.

Read Philip Roths short stories from Goodby, Columbus (1956) for an outspoken reaction to the middle class milieu.1950s in BriefSocial critics identified conformity as the main characteristics of the 1950s and a dedication to the active pursuit of economic and financial success accompanied by an increasing concern with material comfort Increasing number of people attending higher education due to the GI Bill: 50% of population was college educatedGraduates targeted and worked for more sophisticated companies (e.g. IBM)College education ensured higher incomes which gradually triggered the creation of the suburbs = satellite towns at the outskirts of the cities in which middle-class and upper-middle class families lived.

1950s in BriefThe construction of the Interstate Highway started in 1955: increased the mobility of the American population. By the early 1960s, an American family moved to a new place of residence once every five years. The working class benefited from the overall economic boom; it organized itself better into unions. Generally: an affluent, dynamic environment.