Boomers and Bomb Shelters - The Nifty Fifties
1
The decade of the Fifties was a funny time in U.S. history. It was as if the
culture as a whole was engaged in a massive role-play. The Forties, with their
dark clouds of war, had at long last departed. Now, Americans wanted more than
anything just to live without drama. They wanted to live in a stable, forwardlooking nation with no problems. They wanted prosperous families with nothing
more warlike to worry about than the kids playing "Cowboys and Indians" in the
back yard.
2
The happy event of soldiers returning from war had already taken care of the
family department. The explosion of post-war babies was called a "boom." (Now,
over fifty years later, people born in the post-war boom are nearing retirement
age. They are still known as the "baby boomers!")
3
Many of these Fifties families found that post-war life was settling into some
pretty comfortable patterns. They'd lived through the hardships of the Great
Depression and the rationing and sacrifice of WWII. Now, many families were
enjoying a steady paycheck. At the same time, industry was producing a
bountiful supply of goods to buy.
4
A major focus of Fifties culture was material. The "stuff is good" mentality
was reflected in the newest form of entertainment—television. The number of TV
sets owned by households in the U.S skyrocketed during the decade. In 1950,
there were ten and a half million TVs. By 1958 there were 45 million.
5
TV programs of the day showed Americans a pleasant, rosy picture of
themselves. Shows like Leave It to Beaver, Father Knows Best, and Ozzie and
Harriet were about middle American families who lived in nice homes and solved
all their problems by the end of each 30-minute episode. Whether it really
panned out that way or not, families at least thought they should look like the
ones on TV, with Dad going off to work and Mom in the housewife role. The
male-female employment rate was 5-1 at the time.
6
Homes—preferably located outside the busy, smoggy cities—were an
important purchase for Fifties families. The decade saw a mass migration of city
dwellers to a new Utopia—the suburbs. There were some nagging problems in
Paradise, however. While many white families acquired mortgages and bought
homes in Suburbia, families of other races weren't so fortunate. A higher
percentage of mortgage requests from black and Hispanic families were denied
by banks. They ran into trouble in the course of pursuing the American Dream of
home ownership.
7
Federal funds had been set aside to make it easier for low-income families to
own homes. Non-white applicants were approved for these loans more frequently
than they were for regular bank loans. But there were often only certain areas of
a city in which a non-white family could purchase a home with the loaned funds.
The dreams non-whites had of moving their families out of crowded ghettos often
went unfulfilled.
8
Investigators discovered that banks and some government housing officials
had actually taken maps of their cities and marked off certain areas, sometimes
with red pencil. These were usually poor, non-white neighborhoods. No money
would be loaned for purchases within the marked areas. This practice came to be
called "redlining." Eventually, discrimination in lending was outlawed. In the
Fifties, however, it intensified segregation and poverty in cities.
9
Many civic governments in the Fifties era took action to "clean up" the inner
cities. The Federal Highway Department began building roadways through the
heart of urban areas. Older, shabbier sectors were demolished to make space for
new freeways and sparkling new cityscapes. This process of "urban renewal"
displaced thousands of residents. Many were turned out of what had been
thriving—if somewhat down at the heels—ethnic neighborhoods.
10
Relations between blacks and whites was a problem simmering below the
surface of the Fifties culture. The struggle for civil rights was not new. In the
Fifties, however, America saw the first effective stirrings of the Civil Rights
Movement that would ultimately change the nation. It began with individual black
people refusing to bow to segregation in schools and buses. Leaders like Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. arose during the Fifties to give focus and structure to civil
rights efforts.
11
For the most part, rural and small-town America lived the idyllic Fifties
image. They didn't have to worry about urban renewal or race riots. There was
another problem lurking in the depths of the nation's consciousness, however—
one that touched farm and city dweller alike. A potent fear had invaded the
country. Communism and the atomic bomb had become the stuff of which
nightmares are made.
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People feared China and/or Russia would launch a nuclear attack against
the U.S. Many families built some type of shelter in their backyards. They hoped
the bunkers would protect them in case of a nuclear explosion. In addition to
nuclear worries, a major panic took place in the U.S. over the elusive "enemy
within." Were Communist sympathizers in the U.S. on a covert mission to
undermine the system? Suspected Communists were blacklisted and harassed.
As weary of war as they were, Americans answered the trumpet call again as the
UN battled Communism in Korea.
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In the Fifties, America was caught between what it wanted to be and what it
was. Like a child trying to look confident and dignified, dressed up in Mother's
heels or Father's business suit, it kept tripping on the carpet.
Directions: Please answer the following questions on a separate sheet of paper.
1. What factors brought about the cultural climate of the Fifties?
2. Judging from general trends of the era, what would you say people of the
Fifties wanted their lives to be like?
3. How were the lives of non-white families different from whites in the Fifties?
4. Who are "Baby boomers?
5. What was one of the most popular consumer items in the Fifties?
6. What did television programming of the Fifties tend to portray?
7. How were "Redlining" and urban renewal related?
8. The article is written from the point of view that the Fifties was a time when
American culture was trying to be something that it never quite achieved. Do you
agree with this view? Why or why not?
Give an example of how individuals and families are influenced by the times in
which they live. Use at least two different generations of people to illustrate your
example.
Interview at least two people of the "baby boomer" generation. Ask them to
describe the Fifties and Sixties, the era in which they grew up. Ask them to
compare the cultural climate of today to that of their growing-up years. Write a
paragraph or two summing up what you learn from them.