The Postwar Boom
What is the American Dream of the
1950?
Examine the Issues
 How does pressure to conform affect the
American dream?
 Who might be excluded from the new
prosperity?
 How does advertising promote certain
lifestyles and ideals?
Postwar America
Main Idea
The Truman and Eisenhower
administrations led the nation to make
social, economic, and political
adjustments following World War II.
Why it Matter Today
In the years after WW II, the U.S. became
the economic and military power that it
still is today
Readjustment and Recovery
 By the summer of 1946, about 10 million men and women had been

released from the armed forces.
Impact of the GI Bill


Encouraged veterans to get an education
Loans for housing
 Housing Crisis



1945-1946- housing shortage
William Levitt & Henry Kaiser
Suburbs- small communities surrounding cities.

Leviitown
 Redefining the Family

Women were reluctant to give up their jobs
 Economic Readjustment



Unemployment on the rise
June 30, 1946- prices skyrocketed
Congress reestablished controls similar to the wartime controls on prices,
wages, and rents.
 Remarkable Recovery

The demand for goods and services outstripped the supply and increased
production, which created new jobs.
Meeting Economic Challenges
 Despite and
impressive recovery,
Americans faced a
number of economic
problems.
Truman’s
Inheritance
Economic
Challenges
“Had Enough”
Truman
Faces Strikes
Social Unrest Persists
 Problems arose not only in the economy but in the very fabric of
society
 After WW II, a wave of racial violence erupted in the South.
Social Unrest
Truman
Civil Rights
1948 Election
The Fair Deal
July 1948
Integration of
Armed Forces
Dixiecrats
Gov. Strom Thurmond
Thomas Dewey
Ext. of Roosevelt’s New Deal
Min. wage raised
Social Security
Republicans Take the Middle
Road
 Despite these social and economic victories, Truman’s
approval rating sank to an all-time low of 23 % in 1951.
 Dem. Adlai Stevenson
 Rep. General Dwight D. Eisenhower
 I Like Ike!


Running mate- Richard Nixon
“Checkers Speech”
 1st speech delivered on television
 Walking the Middle of the Road
 “Dynamic Conservatism”- conservative when it comes to money
and liberal when it comes to human beings.
 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka
 Public schools to be integrated
 Rosa Parks
 Refused to give up her seat to a white man (Montgomery, AL)
Postwar America
Review
 How did the GI Bill of Rights help World War II
veterans?

Tuition reimbursements provided an incentive for
education; a year’s unemployment benefits gave
financial support for job searches; loans helped them
buy homes or farms or establish businesses.
 What domestic and foreign issues concerned
voters during the 1952 presidential election?

The Korean War stalemate, the rise of McCarthyism,
the threat of communism, the expanding power of the
federal government, alleged corruption among
Truman’s political allies, inflation, and labor unrest.
The American Dream in the
Fifties
Main Idea
During the 1950’s, the economy boomed,
and many Americans enjoyed material
comfort.
Why it Matters Today
The “American dream” a notion that was
largely shaped by the fifties, is still
pursued today.
The Organization and the
Organization Man
 During the 1950’s,
businesses expanded
rapidly.
 More people began to
work in higher-paid,
white-collar positionsclerical, managerial,
or professional
occupations.
Social
Conformity
Conglomerates
Franchises
The Suburban Lifestyle
 Most Americans worked in cities, but
fewer and fewer of them lived there.
 New highways, affordable cars, and
gasoline made it easy to commute to the
city.
 13 millions homes built in the 1950’s,
85% were built in the suburbs.
Suburban Lifestyles
 The Baby Boom


1957- 1 infant born every 7
seconds
1957- 4,308,000
 Advances in Medicine & Childcare


Dr. Jonas Salk
 Cure for Polio
Dr. Benjamin Spock

Common Sense Book of Baby &
Child Care
 Women’s Roles

Betty Frieden- The Feminine
Mystique
 Leisure in the 50’s


Fishing, Hunting, Bowling,
attended baseball, football games.
Magazines- Sport Illustrated,
Reader’s Digest
The Automobile Culture
Consumerism Unbound
 By the mid-1950’s, nearly 60% of Americans were members of the middle
class.
 More money to buy and more products on the market.

Consumerism- buying material goods.
 New Products


Appliances- washing machines, dishwashers, blenders, etc.
Recreational items- televisions, tape recorders, hi-fi’s
 Planned Obsolescence

Manufacturers purposely designed products to become obsolete-that is,
to wear out or become outdated.
 Buy now, Pay later
 The Advertising Age



Newspapers, magazines, billboards, radio, and television
1941- $9 for a 30 second spot
2001 Superbowl- $2.2 million
The American Dream in the Fifties
Review
 What shift in employment trends had occurred by
the mid-1950’s?

By 1956, the majority of Americans held white-collar
jobs.
 How did life in the suburbs provide the model for
the American dream?

Suburbia offered affordable single-family houses, good
schools, a safe environment for children, and
neighbors like themselves.
Popular Culture
Main Idea
Mainstream Americans, as well as the nation’s
subcultures, embraced new forms of
entertainment during the 1950’s
Why it Matters Today
Television and rock ‘n’ roll, integral parts of the
nation’s culture today, emerged during the postwar
era.
New Era of the Mass Media
 Compared with other mass media-means of communication that
reach large audiences-television developed with lightning speed.
 1948- 9% had television
 1950- 55% had television
 1960- 90% had television
Mass Media
Rise of T.V.
Sterotypes
Radio & Movies
1949- 1st broadcast
FCC
Father Knows Best
Mainly White Actors
Westerns
Radio Advertising
1954- Color
1953- CinemaScope
A Subculture Emerges
 Although the mass media found a wide audience
for their portrayals of mostly white popular culture.
 The Beat Movement


Expressed the social and literary nonconformity of
artists, poets, and writers.
“Beatniks”
African Americans and Rock
‘n’ Roll
 Musicians in the 1950’s added
electronic instruments to traditional
blues music, creating rhythm and
blues.
 The audience was mostly white was
usually produced by AfricanAmerican musicians.
 Alan Freed- combination of rhythm
and blues and country and pop,
called Rock ‘n’ Roll.
 Rock ‘n’ Roll

Chuck Berry, Bill Haley & the
Comets, Elvis Presley
 The Racial Gap


Nat “King” Cole, Lena Horne
Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Dizzy
Popular Culture
Review
 What strategies did radio stations use to
counteract the mass popularity of television?

Local programming of news, weather, music, ad
conformity issues; targeting specific audiences,
such as African Americans.
 How did African-Americans performers influence
American popular culture in the 1950’s?

African-American music and performers greatly
influenced rock ‘n’ roll.
The Other America
Main Idea
Amidst the prosperity of the 1950’s, millions of
Americans lived in poverty.
Why it Matters Today
America today continues to experience a marked
income gap between affluent and nonaffluent
people.
The Urban Poor
 Despite the portrait painted by popular culture, life in
postwar America did not live up to the “American dream.”
 1962- 1 out of 4 Americans was living below the poverty
line.
Urban Poor
White Flight
Inner Cities
Urban Renewal
Suburbs
Rural poor-Inner Cities
African Ams- Urban Areas
1959- $2,973
2000- $17,601
Michael Harrington
Nat’l Housing Act
Housing & Urban Devel.
(HUD)
Poverty Leads to Activism
 Despite ongoing poverty, during the 1950’s, African Americans began
to make significant strides toward the reduction of racial
discrimination and segregation.
 Mexicans Seek Employment


Braceros- hired hands
1942 allowed to enter the U.S. on a short term basis
 The Longoria Incident



Felix Longoria- WW II Hero killed in the Philippines
Refused burial services
GI Forum & Unity League of California
 Native Americans Continue Their Struggle


1944- National Congress of American Indians
Congress’ Two Main Goals:


Ensure for Native Americans equal rights
Enable Native Americans on reservations to retain their own customs
Poverty Leads to Activism
 The Termination Policy




1953- Government will give up responsibility for
Native American tribes.
Termination Policy- eliminated federal economic
support, discontinued the reservation system, and
distributed tribal land among individual Native
Americans.
Failure
1963- Termination Policy was abandoned.
The Other America
Review
 How did many major cities change in the
1950’s?

Many white families moved to the suburbs and the
rural poor moved into the cities, which contributed
to the economic decline of many large cities.
 What obstacles to improving their lives did
Native Americans face in the 1950’s?

Racial prejudice, inadequate education, lack of
jobs, and poor access to medical care.