1. American Culture in the 1950s
US History Standards:
SSUSH21 The student will explain economic growth and its impact on the United States,
a. Describe the baby boom and its impact as shown by Levittown and the Interstate Highway Act.
b. Describe the impact television has had on American culture; include the presidential debates (Kennedy/Nixon,1960) and news coverage of the Civil Rights Movement.
c. Analyze the impact of technology on American life.

2. Why do so many people buy homes in the suburbs in the 1950s?
Easy to get a loan through the FHA (Federal Housing Administration) and VA (Veterans Administration) for a home in the suburbs
Tax deductions for interest paid on mortgages
Government built highways to make it easy to get into the city
By 1960, 1 out of every 4 lives in the suburbs
By century’s end, half of all Americans live in the suburbs

3. Baby Boom
Men and women get married in record numbers after the war ends
this will lead to the Baby boom – more than 50 million babies are born by the end of the 1950s
In its peak year of 1957, the birthrate soared to more than 125 births per
1,000 – this creates the largest generation in American history (in comparison the 2009 birth rate was per 1,000)
US Birth rate

4. Levittown
You have 7 minutes to complete the activity about Levittown with ONE partner.

5. The Interstate Highway System

6. Facts about the Interstate Highway System
Distance: 46,837 miles
Largest public works project
in history
Cost: Estimated $25 billion over
12 years
Total Cost was $114 billion
over 35 years
Numbering System:
North/South routes have odd numbers
East/West routes have even numbers
Why did Eisenhower want to build it? Would be useful in a nuclear attack

7. What were some of the downsides of the Interstate Highway System?

8. Women in the 1950s
You have 10 minutes to complete the activity about Women in the 1950s with ONE partner.

9. Consumer Culture in the 1950s
The 1950s witnessed a huge expansion of the middle class with disposable income and a desire for the American dream
Americans had access to easy credit and new forms of recreation with which to spend their ample leisure time

10. Examples of Consumer Culture in the 1950s

11. Television in the 1950s

12. Television in the 1950s In the 1940s, tvs were for rich people
By 1960, nearly every American home had one
Attendance at movies dropped
Advertisers spent $10 billion per year by the mid 1950s
In addition to sitcoms, people also watched game shows, televangelists, and sports

13. The Television Revolution, 1950–1994

14. Television in the 1950s

15. The Rise of the Teenager
By 1950s middle class youths were expect to finish high school
The economic prosperity of the time period allowed more kids to enroll in college
Teenagers had more free time and more independence (cars)
Generation gap develops between teens and their parents
One of the sources of conflict was Rock and Roll – music which blended black rhythm and blues with white bluegrass and country styles to create a new style of music
Cleveland DJ Alan Freed called the new style of music Rock and Roll

16. Elvis Presley

17. Teenage Rebellion in Rebel Without a Cause
Rebellion among teens was marked with the release of Rebel Without a Cause

18. Advertising in the 1950s
As you’ve just seen, advertising was key in getting consumers to buy all of the products, services, and entertainment in the 1950s