1. A Time of Peace and Conflict
THE 1950s:
A Time of Peace and Conflict

2. Postwar Politics: Readjustments and Challenges
A Rocky Transition to Peace
Truman’s “Fair Deal”
Tried to help society by increasing minimum wage, aid to farmers and education
Inflation
War contracts are over, unemployment rises
Price controls are over, prices rise

3. Postwar Politics: Readjustments and Challenges
Truman battles the Republican Congress
22nd Amendment: presidential term limits
Taft-Hartley Act: reduced the power of labor unions
Congress resists civil rights changes
Truman fights back by desegregating the military
Election of 1948
Truman narrowly wins (huge surprise)

5. Eisenhower’s “modern Republicanism”

6. Economic Growth Creates an Age of Affluence
Americans saved a lot of money during WWII, leads to:
Consumer demand ↑
Production ↑
Advertising ↑
Buying on Credit ↑
“Planned Obsolescence”
Ex. Seasonal fashions
The Economy Begins to Shift from Goods to Services
New Vocab: Service Sector
Ex. Motels and Fast food franchises

7. “Planned Obsolescence”

8. 1950  Introduction of the Diner’s Card
Consumerism
1950  Introduction of the Diner’s Card
All babies were potential consumers who spearheaded a brand-new market for food, clothing, and shelter Life Magazine (May, 1958)

9. Consumerism

10. A Changing Workplace New Corporate Culture:
Blue Collar to White Collar Jobs
“The Company Man”
1956  Sloan Wilson’s The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit

11. Marriage, Families, and a Baby Boom
Increase in marriages (Decrease in marriage age)
“Baby Boom”
Results:
↑ in consumer spending
↑ in home sales
↑ in schools

12. Average age of first marriages

13. 1957  1 baby born every 7 seconds
Baby Boom
It seems to me that every other young housewife I see is pregnant British visitor to America, 1958
1957  1 baby born every 7 seconds

14. Well-Defined Gender Roles
The ideal modern woman married, cooked and cared for her family, and kept herself busy by joining the local PTA and leading a troop of Campfire Girls. She entertained guests in her family’s suburban house and worked out on the trampoline to keep her size 12 figure Life magazine, 1956
The ideal 1950s man was the provider, protector, and the boss of the house Life magazine, 1955
1956  William H. Whyte, Jr.  The Organization Man
a middle-class, white suburban male is the ideal.

15. $7,990 or $60/month with no down payment.
Suburbia
Levittown, L. I.: “The American Dream”
1949  William Levitt produced houses per week.
$7,990 or $60/month with no down payment.

16. Suburban Living: The New “American Dream”
1 story high
12’x19’ living room
2 bedrooms
tiled bathroom
garage
small backyard
front lawn
By 1960  1/3 of the U. S. population in the suburbs.

17. SHIFTS IN POPULATION DISTRIBUTION, 1940-1970
Suburban Living
SHIFTS IN POPULATION DISTRIBUTION,
Central Cities % % % %
Suburbs % % % %
Rural Areas/ % % % %
Small Towns
*Population also shifts to the “Sunbelt” states.

18. SHIFTS IN POPULATION DISTRIBUTION, 1940-1970
Suburban Living
SHIFTS IN POPULATION DISTRIBUTION,
Central Cities % % % %
Suburbs % % % %
Rural Areas/ % % % %
Small Towns
*Population also shifts to the “Sunbelt” states. Like California

20. White Flight (from the city to the burbs)
Houses were only sold to whites
Blockbusting of City Neighborhoods
Whites sold houses at a loss when neighborhood changed

22. Suburban Living: The Typical TV Suburban Families
The Donna Reed Show
Leave It to Beaver
Father Knows Best
The Ozzie & Harriet Show

23. Juvenile Delinquency? Rock and Roll, Greasers,
James Dean “Rebel without a Cause”

24. The Culture of the Car
America became a more homogeneous nation because of the automobile.
First McDonald’s (1955)
Drive-In Movies
Howard Johnson’s

25. 1950’s Gender Roles

26. Think about it What do you think caused the conformity of the 1950s
How is the 1950s like the 1920s?

27. To sum up
We haven’t even gotten to civil rights yet!