1. Chapter 27: The Postwar Boom

2. Section 1: Postwar America
-The Truman & Eisenhower administration led the nation to make social, economic, & political adjustments following WWII.
Readjustment and Recovery
-GI Bill
guaranteed one year of unemployment benefits
guaranteed low interest loans
-There was a severe housing shortage. ( )
-Led to more production of houses in small residential communities surrounding cities, called suburbs, for less than $7,000.
-Divorce rate increased because of the tension created by men & women’s roles.

3. Readjustment and Recovery
-Within 10 days of Japan’s surrender, more than a million workers were laid-off.
-For the next two years prices continued to rise until the supply of goods caught up with the demand.
-Many Americans were also earning less than they had during the war.

4. -They snatched up everything from automobiles to houses.
Remarkable Recovery
-Most economists forecasted a postwar depression.
-During the war people had gone without many goods, by the 1950’s Americans suddenly had money to spend.
-They snatched up everything from automobiles to houses.

5. Truman Supports Civil Rights
-Summer 1946: Truman met with African-Americans leaders who proposed:
-federal anti-lynching law
-abolition of the poll tax
-establishment of a permanent body to prevent racial discrimination in hiring.
-Congress failed to pass these measures.
-July 1948: Armed forces integration begins

6. President Eisenhower
-1954 Brown v Board- public school must be racially integrated.
-1955 Rosa Parks is arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white man while riding a bus.
-Ike’s second term resulted in:
-raise in minimum wage
-extended Soc. Sec. & unemployment benefits
-increased funding for public housing
-backed the creation of interstate highways

7. Section 2: The American Dream in the Fifties
-During the 1950’s, the economy boomed & many Americans enjoyed material comfort.
-More people worked in higher-paid, white-collar positions.
-Conglomerates: major corporations that include smaller companies in unrelated industries.
-Franchise: company that offers similar products of services in many locations.

8. Advances in Medicine & Childcare
-Baby Boom: late 1940’s & through the early 1960’s.
-At the peak in 1957, 1 American infant was born every 7 seconds.
-Dr. Jonas Salk- developed a vaccine for polio.
-Baby boom had a tremendous impact on childcare, the American economy, & the educational system.

10. Women’s Role
-Homemaker & mother glorified in popular culture.
-Women working outside the home rose steadily during the decade.
-By 1960’s, almost 40% of mothers’ w/ children b/t ages 6-17 held jobs.
Leisure in the Fifties
-Labor saving devices allowed more time for leisure activities.
-Sports…
-Americans became avid readers.

11. The Automobile Culture
-New car sales rose in the 1950’s.
-Easy credit & extensive advertising…
-Suburban living made cars a necessity.
The Interstate Highway System
-The Interstate Highway Act 1956 authorized miles of expressways.
-Decline of RRs…
-Public transportation declined; jobs & businesses left the inner city.
-Result: economic gap b/t middle & poor class widened.

12. -Consumerism: buying material goods came to be equated with success.
Age of Consumerism
-Consumerism: buying material goods came to be equated with success.
-Planned obsolescence: designing products to wear out quickly so people will feel a need to replace their possessions often.
-Instead of saving $, Americans were spending it, confident that prosperity would continue.
A Word to the Wives (1955) - YouTube

13. Section 3: Popular Culture
-Americans embraced new forms of entertainment during the 1950’s.
-Mass Media: means of communication that reach large audiences.
-TV developed w/ lightning speed.
-1st regular broadcasts began in (Showed 2 hours a week).
-By 1956 the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) had allowed 500 new stations to broadcast.
-The 1950’s TV portrayed an idealized white America.
Mickey Mouse Club with Annette Funicello - Davy Crockett - YouTube
-Radio & movies survived.
-Radio switched to news, weather, local issues…
-Color, size, and stereophonic sound…

14. 1950's & 60's TV Commercials – YouTube

15. A Subculture Emerges
-Beat Movement: centered in San Francisco, LA, & NYC’s Greenwich Village
-Beatniks
-expressed the social & literary nonconformity of artists, poets, & writers.
-tended to shun regular work & sought a higher consciousness through Zen Buddhism, music, & sometimes drugs.

16. The Racial Gap
-Throughout the 1950’s, AA’s shows were mostly broadcast on separate stations.
-By 1954, there were 250 radio stations nationwide aimed specifically at AA listeners.
-This ongoing segregation, & the racial tensions it fed, would become a powerful force for change in the turbulent 1960’s.

17. -Alan Freed: DJ among the first to play Rock n Roll music. (1951)
-Listeners responded enthusiastically, & Freed began promoting the new music that grew out of rhythm and blues, country, & pop.
-Elvis Presley = unofficial “King of Rock.”
-rebellious style captivated young audiences.
-Many adults condemned Rock n Roll & believed that it would lead to teenage delinquency & immorality.
Chuck Berry - Johnny B. Goode [HQ] - YouTube

18. Section 4: The Other America
-Amidst the prosperity of the 1950’s, millions of Americans lived in poverty.
White Flight
-Millions of middle-class white Americans left for the suburbs, taking precious economic resources & isolating themselves from other races & classes.
-City governments could no longer afford to properly maintain or improve its facilities & the urban poor suffered.
-Urban Renewal: the tearing down & rebuilding of buildings in rundown inner-city neighborhoods.
-The National Housing Act of 1949: passed to provide “a decent home & a suitable living environment for every American family.”

19. Increased Mexican Immigration
-Large numbers of Mexicans had crossed the border to work in the US during and after WWII.
-WWII spurred the federal government to initiate a program in which Mexican Braceros (hired hands) were allowed into the country to harvest crops.
-After employment ended they were expected to return to Mexico, however, many remained in the U.S. illegally.

20. On a blank sheet of paper, create Your image of the 1950’s
On a blank sheet of paper, create Your image of the 1950’s. Your image should include reference to one or more of the following, or something else you feel defined the 1950’s
Some things to consider:
Consumerism Cold War
The suburbs Baby Boom
Integration Gender roles
The rise of television automobile culture
Rock ‘n Roll social conformity
Communism space race