1. A Comparison of the 1920s & 1950s

2. Dynamic Economy 1920s & 1950s Post WWI America was prosperous. The 20s offered plentiful jobs & soaring incomes. Post WWII America was prosperous as well. Because of rationing during the war, workers saved their money rather than spend it.

3. Consumerism 1920s Higher wages & more leisure time Radio Advertising Installment purchase plans Unprecedented growth in industrial output & business expansion Assembly line production Scientific Management (Taylor) Margin buying & Stock Market Crash 1950s Advertising & mass marketing Television New markets Baby Boom Teenagers (Movies, Music, Comic books) Expansion of Interstate Highway system Shopping centers Levittown Higher educated work-force

4. Literature 1920s Lost Generation (Fitzgerald, Hemmingway, Faulkner) Disillusioned by the hopeful optimism before the war. Disgusted by the prevalent materialism of Americans after the war 1950s Beat Movement (Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsburg) Sense of alienation with the consumer society, explored their sexuality, mind-altering drugs, Far Eastern religions

5. Roles of Women 1920s Advances for women Right to vote More opportunity for work “New Woman” (Flappers) Short dresses, smoked in public, dances, a lot of makeup More independent Margaret Sanger, National Birth Control League Divorce rate rose 1950s Conformity toward more traditional gender roles More child centered with the baby boom Women left the work force for returning veterans Workplace inequalities 1950s Cult of Domesticity Divorce rate drops The problem that has no name (Is this all?)

6. Religion 1920s Fundamentalist believed in the literal truth of the Bible Scopes trial 1950s Attended church more regularly Evangelical ministers used television to reach more people Government promoted religion (a belief in God made Americans different from soviets

7. Race Relations 1920s Re-emergence of the KKK Growing opposition to Jim Crowism Marcus Garvey Great Migration(black population more than doubles in the North) Anti-immigration laws (Emergency Quota Act, 1921; National Origins Act, 1924) Sacco & Vanzetti Harlem Renaissance Segregated schools 1950s Integrated military Brown v Board of Education Rosa Parks, MLK, Jr. & the Montgomery Bus Boycott Civil Rights Voting Act, 1957 SCLC White Citizens Councils & KKK defend segregation as a way of life Eisenhower sends troops to Little Rock (Gov. Faubus) Malcolm X, Nation of Islam Sports