1. POST-wWII Canada: suburbia & baby boom

2. What are the cultural values that characterized the 1950- 1960’s
What are the cultural values that characterized the ’s? What values, needs did people think suburbia would fulfill? Did it succeed? How did television and marketing influence consumption patterns and what are the consequences today?

3. suburbia
“The place of wide lawns and narrow minds” (Ernest Hemingway) Stereotypes of Suburbia: Repression Whiteness Patriarchal Conformity Suburbia ‘covering up’ a twisted, dark reality underneath: Edward Scissorhands, American Beauty, The Stepford Wives (1975/2004), Pleasantville, Blue Velvet
(minorities excluded from mortgages, housing projects)

4. Soldiers returning home Strong economy, high consumer confidence
POST-WWII CANADA:
The “Baby Boom”
Soldiers returning home
Strong economy, high consumer confidence
Family allowances (“baby bonuses”)
Social security, unemployment insurance act

6. 12 million in 1946  18 million 1961 (50% growth in 15 years)
Population growth
12 million in 1946  18 million (50% growth in 15 years)
Immigration: 1952 limited by ethnic origin
Demand for labour  more open policies
2.5 million new immigrants between : many refugees and displaced persons from Europe
Pre-WWI immigrants settled in western prairies/farmlands
Post-WWII immigrants mostly settling in cities

7. Construction boom: housing, schools, factories
urbanization
Construction boom: housing, schools, factories
Growth of cities: immigrants, where most new jobs are
Urbanization: the movement of people from rural to urban
~1900, 2/3 of people live in rural areas
~1970, 2/3 of people live in urban areas
Cities become more crowded, dirty
Those who want (need) to work in city, but also want to have more space, a detached single family home, a garden
Large housing developments built just outside cities: Suburbs

9. Traditional family, family focused
suburbia
Traditional family, family focused
Some women lose jobs to returning veterans, some still work
Emphasis of traditional femininity, domestic goddess (advertising)
Big homes need stuff: household appliances, gadgets, furniture, décor
Environment: low density housing, large lots, pesticide use for perfect lawns/gardens, individual automobile commute to work and services
Dependency on cars: more affordable, more access made suburbs possible

11. Optimism, consumer confidence
materialism
Optimism, consumer confidence
The good life = the latest technology and products (status)
Competition with neighbours (“Keeping up with the Joneses”)
Conspicuous consumption:
The spending of money on and the acquiring of luxury goods and services to publicly display economic power
Not to satisfy any physical need, but rather to gratify the psychological craving for status or the esteem of others.

15. Boomer generation: purchasing goods for kids
advertising
Boomer generation: purchasing goods for kids
Shopping as a past time, shopping mall as cultural gathering place
1950’s: most families have a TV in the home
Growth of advertising industry
Less regulation on truth of claims (safety, health risks, promised results)
Increased rate of new products, versions (planned obsolescence)

20. 60’s/70’s: protest generation Echo boom (Gen Y, 1982-1995)
Legacy of the baby boom
60’s/70’s: protest generation
Echo boom (Gen Y, )
Demand for social services as they age through the system

21. Today: 2/3rds of Canadians live in suburbs
Legacy of the suburbs
Today: 2/3rds of Canadians live in suburbs
How they are known, remembered, parodied in culture – what they have come to symbolize in national memory
Environmental impact: patterns that persist today (car culture)
Urban sprawl and loss of farmland
Building on sensitive lands: erosion, groundwater contamination
Consumerism: waste, planned obsolescence
Suburbs today: more ethnically diverse