Recent and Contemporary America

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The Cold War

Demographic Patterns

Social Stability

Science and Technology

Economic Abundance

The Cold War

Any questions?

Demographic Patterns

What did stuff cost in 1957?

Postage Stamp $0.03Loaf of bread $0.19Sports Illustrated $0.25Movie ticket $0.35Gallon of milk $0.50Average hourly wage $2.05New car $2,845Median income for family of four $5,234Median price of a home $19,500

The Baby Boom

The “Baby Boom” refers to the dramatic increase in post-war births during the 50s

• Young couples had delayed families until after the war(s)

• The GI Bill encouraged/financed home ownership

• Popular culture celebrated pregnancy, parenthood, and large families

U.S. Births, 1949-1961

1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 19613200000

3400000

3600000

3800000

4000000

4200000

4400000

U.S. Births, 1930-2008

1930

1933

1936

1939

1942

1945

1948

1951

1954

1957

1960

1963

1966

1969

1972

1975

1978

1981

1984

1987

1990

1993

1996

1999

2002

2005

2008

0

500000

1000000

1500000

2000000

2500000

3000000

3500000

4000000

4500000

5000000

1957 – 4,308,000

2007 – 4,317,000

U.S. Birth Rates, 1949-1961

1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 196122

22.5

23

23.5

24

24.5

25

25.5

Birth rate: number of children being born related to the total population; usually based on births per 1,000

U.S. Birth Rate, 1930-2008

1930

1933

1936

1939

1942

1945

1948

1951

1954

1957

1960

1963

1966

1969

1972

1975

1978

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1984

1987

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1996

1999

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2005

2008

0

5

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30

http://crimelab.uchicago.edu/i/report_figure1.png

Population Shifts

People migrated to the south and the west – to the “Sunbelt”

• Warmer climate

• Better jobs

• Lower taxes

• “Right to work” laws; fewer unions

• Depopulation of the countryside

-2-2-1 -1-1

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Population Shifts

People vacated the inner cities – growth of “suburbia”

• Need for more space

• Wanted their own, free-standing home

• Transfer by employer

• Moving from parent’s home

• Affordability

• Escape crime and conditions of the city

Population Shifts

Urban renewal (programs to eliminate poverty by tearing down slums and erecting new high-rise buildings for poor residents) contributed to the decline of the inner city

• Created an atmosphere of violence (the projects)

• Encouraged people to remain poor by evicting them as soon as they began earning a higher income

• Racial separation“chocolate cities and vanilla suburbs”

Economic Abundance

The war spending of the 1940s began a period of sustained economic growth, bringing to an end the depression of the 1930s. Government spending on infrastructure stimulated further growth in the post war years.

Employment was plentiful (unemployment averaged around 4%)

In the 1950s median wage rose 60% with an average inflation rate of 2%. These wage increases led to increased purchasing power and standards of living.

Increased availability of credit led to further spending

New technology

“The Age of the Automobile”

A car culture develops around the burgeoning highway system

1958 – Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz1958 – Cadillac Eldorado Brougham

1959 – Dodge Custom Royal Convertible

Businesses Reorganize

More Americans working in offices“white-collar” vs. “blue-collar”

Beginnings of conglomerates

large corporations that own many

smaller companies that produce entirely

different goods or services

Businesses Reorganize

Beginning of franchises The right to open a restaurant — or business— using a parent company’s brand name and system

Ray Kroc, who sold milkshake machines, bought out a family owned business to create the first hamburger franchise

Growth of multi-national corporations

Expansion of companies overseas to

closer proximity of natural/raw

materials

Growth Industries

Growth of the “new” industries

AutomobilesChemicals – (Dow, Du Pont) – aerosols, plastics, teflonAerospace & air travelBusiness machines – copiers, computers

Decline of the “old” industriesCoalCotton & TextilesRailroadsAgribusiness overwhelms the small farm

Science and Technology

TelevisionVisualized the radio programs of the 1920s & 30sNews and entertainment into people’s homesFinanced through commercial advertisementsPresented the image of a common US culture

Comedy – Bob Hope, Lucille Ball, Jack Benny Variety – Ed Sullivan

Action and Westerns – The Lone Ranger, Dragnet, Gunsmoke

Science and Technology

“If the television craze continues with the

present level of programs, we are destined to have a nation of morons.”

Daniel MarshPresident, Boston University

(1950)

Science and Technology

“When television is good, nothing -- not the theater, not the magazines or newspapers --

nothing is better.

But when television is bad, nothing is worse. I invite each of you to sit down in front of your

television set when your station goes on the air and stay there, for a day, without a book, without a magazine, without a newspaper,

without a profit and loss sheet or a rating book to distract you. Keep your eyes glued to that set

until the station signs off. I can assure you that what you will observe is a vast wasteland.

You will see a procession of game shows, formula comedies about totally unbelievable families,

blood and thunder, mayhem, violence, sadism, murder, western bad men, western good men,

private eyes, gangsters, more violence, and cartoons. And endlessly commercials -- many

screaming, cajoling, and offending. And most of all, boredom. True, you'll see a few things you

will enjoy. But they will be very, very few. And if you think I exaggerate, I only ask you to try it.”

Newton Minow“Television and the Public Interest”

9 May 1961Former FCC Chairman

Science and Technology

RadioLost listeners, and advertisers,

to televisionFocused marketing on the

automobile industry

Number of radio stations doubled

between 1948 &1957The development of the

transistor (as a replacement for the

vacuum tube) made miniature and

mobile radios possible

Science and Technology

Computers• The binary computer introduced in the 1930s

• The first digital computer? The ABC (Atanasoff-Berry Computer) has the patent, but the ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator) was the first functional digital computer (1946)1,800 square feet

18,000 vacuum tubes50 tons

Science and Technology

Computers• Grace Hopper, programmer, coined the term “debugging”; developed the first arithmetic language

• Computers become available for personal and business use

• IBM becomes an industry leader in computer research and development

Science and Technology

Computers•MIT introduces the Whirlwind (8 Mar 1955) – the first digital computer with magnetic core RAM and real-time graphics

• Transistors replace vacuum tubes

Science and Technology

Movies• Decline of films with the popularity of television

• Introduction of 3-D glasses

Science and Technology

Movies• Cinemascope – large screen, panoramic views

Science and Technology

Medicine• Radiation and chemotherapy for cancer treatment• First successful kidney transplant• Pacemakers

Science and Technology

Medicine

• Polio vaccine – Jonas Salk

• Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation based on the ABC’s of resuscitation (airway, breathing, circulation)

Social Stability

Class and Status• Postwar economic growth enabled millions of Americans to increase their incomes, advance their occupational statuses and improve their standards of living•Wealth remained concentrated in the hands of a relatively small number of families at the top• Society stratified based on wealth, status, political clout, legal protections, education, health, and patterns of recreation and leisure

Social Stability

Class and Status, cont’d

• Defenders of the “affluent society” argued America had become a nation of the middle class

• The poor, about 25% of the population, were primarily non-white, elderly, urbanites, and women

Social Stability

Men’s and Women’s Roles

Public Private

Support family Support husband

Provider Nurturer

Judged by wealth and possessions

Judged based on perspective of and relation

to husband

Social Stability

Men’s and Women’s Roles, cont’d

Dr. Benjamin SpockBaby and Child Care

1946

Women should make child-rearing

their primary task in order to have well-adjusted children

Betty FriedanThe Feminine Mystique

1963

“It was unquestioned gospel [in the 1950s] that women could identify with nothing beyond the home..unless it

could be approached through female experience

as a wife or mother or translated into domestic

detail.”

Social Stability

Men’s and Women’s Roles, cont’d

The 1950s transition to a “togetherness” concept in which a happy family melded into a team as family life was oriented around shared activities

The husband, however, remained the dominant team member; the wife, though not second-class, was secondary

Social Stability

A Resurgence in Religion

• Partially in response to the cold-war struggle against “godless communism”

• A new-found commitment to religion (1954 the addition of “under God” to pledge; 1955 “in God we trust” added to currency)

Social Stability

A Resurgence in Religion, cont’d

• Commercialization and de-personalization of religion (e.g “Dial a Prayer”)

• Rise of radio and television personalities (e.g. Billy Graham)

• Religion became less concerned with doctrine, with a greater emphasis on religious affiliation for identity and socialization

Social Stability

Growing Youth Culture

•The “silent generation” had little interest in the world at large

•School instead of work

•More leisure time

Social Stability

Growing Youth Culture, cont’d

•An increase in juvenile delinquency (anti-social or criminal behavior of young people)

•Beginnings of a “counter-culture”

TelevisionMovies

Comic booksRacism

Busy parents

Rising crime rate

Lack of genuine religionAnxiety over the draft

Rebellion against conformity to parental ideals

Poverty

Social Stability

Rock and Roll

Suburb picnichttp://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTbxXVSiP5FVJ5qr1Br2o9yzev2Edrf435Vu3qIFqfzKvRJQXNz

Suburb familyhttp://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTRLxAnoW1cyqjwDutRHO-3aVZRfCbGLWI3BqCy87nfRogzlBVM

Ohio Historical Societyhttp://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/images/1504.jpg

Colored Baltimorehttp://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRP9X9nY8OBqK5G5uDE2qbRhrmDipGNpxEsQtrENCez5P1eMl8I

Kroc’s First Restauranthttp://www.ushistory.org/us/images/00037797.jpg

Retro Car Adshttp://www.beautifullife.info/advertisment/retro-car-ads/

Regency TR1http://thegreatgeekmanual.com/images/geekhistory/november/regency-tr-1-transistor-radio.jpg

Grace Hopperhttp://www.cs.bris.ac.uk/admissions/what_is_cs/images/GraceHopper.jpg

ENIAChttp://www.computerhope.com/jargon/e/eniac.gif

Whirlwindhttp://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/images/1951_whirlwind_large.jpg

Cinemascopehttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b5/Anamorphose_cinemascope_desert_sens_defilement.jpeg/600px-Anamorphose_cinemascope_desert_sens_defilement.jpeg

Pacemakerhttp://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/images/ency/fullsize/19566.jpg

Jonas Salkhttp://www.acurator.com/blog/Salk-Dr-Jonas-19xx.jpg

http://www.computerhope.com/