Chapter 19: The Postwar Boom
Unit 5 Life in the 1950s
...A Changing Political and Social Climate After World War II
 Essential Question: How did economic and social changes transform American
society in the 1950's?

Standard 9-12.2.6: Analyze the economic boom and social transformation of post
WWII America (e.g., popular culture, changing women’s roles, technological
developments)
Focus Questions:
1. How did economic prosperity encourage the development of a strong middle class?
2. What technological advances influenced Americans in the 1950's?
I can statements:
1. I can explain the development of suburbia America.
2. I can explain the impact of television on American culture.
Chapter 19: The Postwar Boom
Section 1: Postwar America
I.
Readjustment and Recovery
A. By the summer of 1946, about 10 million men and women were released
from the armed forces, and over $35 billion in gov’t contracts had been
cancelled
1. GI Bill of Rights/Servicemen’s Readjustment Act (1944): paid
for part of the veteran’s tuition, guaranteed them a year’s worth
of unemployment benefits, and offered low interest, federally
guaranteed loans to help veterans buy homes, businesses, and
farms
B. A severe housing shortage existed b/w 1945 and 1946, forcing extended
families to reemerge
1. William Levitt and Henry Kaiser used efficient assembly-line
methods to mass produce houses in small residential
communities surrounding the cities call suburbs (rent was $65 a
month and cost less than $7,000)
a. Zoning laws ensured rigid conformity, ensuring that houses
were all alike
C. Changes in men’s and women’s roles caused an increase in the divorce
rate
1. About 8 million women, 75% of whom were married had entered
the paid work force
a. Women were unwilling to give up their new-found
independence when their husbands returned, which caused
more than 1 million was marriages to end in divorce by
1950
D. B/c the gov’t canceled over $35 billion in gov’t contracts, almost 3
million people were unemployed by March 1946
1. The Office of Price Administration (OPA) ended its price
controls on June 30, 1946, which caused prices to skyrocket
a. Consumer goods increased by 25% until supply caught up with
demand
2. As prices increased, many American workers were earning
less than what they were making during WW II
a. Eventually, Congress reestablished the familiar wartime price
controls
E. Over $135 billion in savings was waiting to be spent by Americans on
goods they did without for years
1. The postwar depression never occurred and an economic
boom transpired
2. Demand quickly outpaced supply, which forced an increase in
production, which created jobs
II.
III.
3. Concern over the expansion of the S.U. kept the American gov’t
spending massive amounts of money on defense
4. Foreign aid programs such as the Marshall Plan and the
Truman Doctrine increased exports for the U.S., which
created jobs
Meeting Economic Challenges
A. Truman was thrown into the Presidency on April 12, 1945 when FDR
died
1. Although unprepared, Truman made the tough decisions and
took full credit for each one
a. Truman had a plaque on his desk stating, “The Buck Stops
Here.”
2. Truman faced two challenges:
a. He had to deal with the threat of communism
b. He needed to restore America’s economy after WW II
B. Labor unrest
1. 4.5 million discontent workers wanted their wartime wages
back and demanded wartime price controls remain in effect
2. Truman opposed strikes by labor unions for fear that they would
destroy the economy (pro-labor, but anti-strike)
a. In 1946, coal miners went on strike and Truman established the
armies control over the mines
b. The courts slapped fines on the United Mine Workers forcing
John Lewis to order the miners back to work
c. Truman threatened to draft striking railway workers into the
army and order them, as soldiers, to stay on the job
C. Disgusted Americans went to the polls in the 1946 congressional
election and gave the Republicans control of both the House and the
Senate
1. Taft-Hartley Act (1947): allowed the courts to end some strikes,
outlawed closed-shop agreements, restricted unions’ political
contributions, and union officers had to swear they were not
communists
a. Truman vetoed the bill, but the Republican controlled Congress
decided to override Truman’s veto
b. Conservative/Republicans supporters said it made up for the
Wagner-Connery Act/National Labor Relations Act (1935):
guaranteed labor’s right to organize unions and to bargain for
better wages and working conditions
Social Unrest Persists
A. The Committee on Civil Rights: a 15 member committee investigated
unfair treatment of African Americans and other minorities
1. The committees report, “To Secure These Rights” was released
in October 1947
a. The report revealed that discrimination toward black veterans
existed and the KKK has become more active
b. The committee urged Congress to pass anti-lynching laws,
anti-poll-tax measure, end discrimination in military and
federal agencies
2. A. Philip Randolph was displeased with Truman’s lack of
action and planned to launch a march if the military
remained segregated
a. Congress refused to pass any of these measures, so Truman
acted
3. In July 1948, Truman responded by issuing an executive order
banning racial segregation in the military and in federal hiring
a. The Supreme Court also ruled that the lower courts could
not bar African Americans from residential neighborhoods
b. Southern Democrats were outraged
B. The Democratic convention and the Republican shoe-in during the 1948
Presidential election
1. Truman hoped to gain support from former New Deal
supporters such as farmers, unionized workers, ethnic groups,
and African Americans (approval rating was 35%)
a. Many Americans blamed him for the nation’s high inflation
and labor unrest
2. The States’ Rights Party/Dixiecrats: formed by Southern
Democrats that wanted continued racial segregation
a. Nominated Governor J. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina
3. Progressive Party: formed by former vice president Henry
Wallace (one of FDR’s vice presidents) and other liberal New
Dealers
a. Disliked Truman’s anti-labor actions in 1946, wanted an
extension of the New Deal, and wanted friendly relations
with the S.U.
b. American Communist party supported them the liberal
Progressive Party
4. Republicans were confident they would win the White House b/c
of the Democratic three-way split
a. Governor Thomas Dewey of New York was the
Republican presidential candidate
b. He was the Governor of California and Earl Warren was his
running mate
C. Truman called the Republican-dominated Congress into a special session
challenging them to pass laws supporting by Truman’s Democratic Party
(public housing, federal aid to education, a higher minimum wage, and
extended Social Security coverage)
1. Congress did nothing to promote the Democratic Party’s
agenda, which made the Republican controlled Congress a
do-nothing Congress
IV.
2. Truman took his campaign directly to the people by traveling
31,000 miles by train in 33 days giving speeches throughout
America
a. Truman denounced the, “do-nothing, 80th Congress.”
b. Crowds began to yell, “Give ‘em hell Harry.”
3. Chicago Daily Tribune mistakenly announced Dewey as the
winner on election night (Truman won the election)
a. The Democrats also gained control of Congress
D. The Fair Deal: an extension of FDR’s New Deal reforms
1. Congress extended social security benefits, raised the minimum
wage to $.75 cents an hour, approved aid for the clearing of
slums, and approved programs for water management
a. Most Republicans and conservative Democrats opposed
the Fair Deal
b. Congress failed to repeal the Taft-Hartley Act or pass a
civil rights bill
2. A prosperous economy and concern over the Cold War
created a lack of support for the Fair Deal
Republicans Take the Middle Road
A. By 1951, Truman’s approval rating had dropped to 23% and he chose
not to run for reelection b/c of the following issues:
1. The Korean War was at a stalemate
2. Peace talks were not progressing in Korea
3. Fear over the rise of McCarthyism
4. Both the Democrats and the Republicans lost confidence in
Truman
B. Candidates in the 1952 election
1. The Republican candidate was General Dwight D.
Eisenhower
a. Popular WW II hero in North Africa (Operation Torch)
b. Assured voters the U.S. would remain strong throughout
Cold War (talked about China and Eastern Europe)
c. Criticized creeping socialism and the rise of power in the
federal gov’t (corruption within the gov’t)
d. Promised to make a personal visit to Korea and end the war
2. The Democratic candidate was Adlai E. Stevenson, who was
referred to as the “egghead”
a. The intellectual and articulate governor of Illinois
b. Supported Truman’s Fair Deal and foreign policies
c. Many believed he was too intelligent and out of touch with
the common person
C. Eisenhower’s running mate, California Senator Richard Nixon, was
accused of profiting from a secret slush fund set up by wealthy supporters
1. Nixon addressed the nation on TV explaining the only gift he
accepted from a supporter was a black and white cocker spaniel
dog named Checkers
a. Nixon saved his place on the Republican ticket and
Eisenhower won 55% of the popular vote and a majority of
the electoral votes
2. Modern Republicanism/Dynamic Conservatism: the gov’t
should be “conservative when it comes to money and liberal
when it comes to human beings.”
3. Eisenhower tried to avoid many of the controversial issues,
but he couldn’t avoid civil rights issues
a. Brown v. Board of Education Topeka (1954): separate
but equal is inherently unequal in the context of public
education, which overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
b. Rosa Parks (1955) refused to give up her seat on a bus to
white man in Montgomery, Alabama
4. Eisenhower worked hard to balance the budget, reduce taxes,
and put an end to the “creeping socialism” of the New Deal
(won reelection in 1956)
a. Cut thousands of gov’t jobs in an effort to reduce the
federal budget (actually grew to $291 billion-9%), and cut
gov’t farm subsidies, etc
b. Increased educational spending, expanded social security,
unemployment benefits, wages increased, and created the
Department of Health, Education, and Welfare
Section 2: The American Dream in the Fifties
I.
The Organization and the Organization Man
A. By 1956, the majority of Americans held white-collar jobs instead of
blue-collar jobs, which meant higher pay and a middle-class lifestyle
1. Conglomerates: a major corporation that includes a number of
smaller companies in unrelated industries
a. Other huge parent companies included Xerox and General
Electric
b. These huge companies invested in other companies in an effort
to diversify its holdings/investments to protect itself from
dips in the economy
B. Franchise: a company that offers similar products or services in many
location and franchise can also refer to the right to do business using the
parent company’s name
1. McDonald’s started when the McDonald brothers developed
assembly-line methods at their restaurant
2. Salesman Ray Kroc paid the McDonalds $2.7 million for the
franchise rights to their hamburger drive-in
a. In April 1955, the first McDonalds opened in Des Plaines,
Illinois
II.
C. Many employees thrived in the numerous companies, but, in general,
businesses didn’t want creative thinkers, rebels, or anyone who would
rock the corporate boat
1. A book written by William H. Whyte, The Organization Man, he
described how large organizations created “company people.”
a. Companies promoted conformity and rewarded those for
conforming, which some felt destroyed individuality
The Suburban Lifestyle
A. Most Americans worked in cities, but many of them could afford to
live in suburbs
1. New highways, automobiles, and gasoline made commuting
possible
2. Over 13 million home were built in the 1950s, 85% were built in
the suburbs
B. Baby boom: soldiers returning home after WW II settled back into family
life and started creating a family
1. At the height of the baby boom, in 1957, on American infant was
born every seven seconds (4,308,000 born in 1957)
a. Economic prosperity, a decrease in the marriage age, and the
reunion of husbands and wives after WW II caused the jump in
the birth rate
C. Medical advances saved hundreds of thousands of children in the 1950s
1. Dr. Jonas Salk developed a vaccine for polio
2. Dr. Benjamin Spock wrote the Common Sense Book of Baby
and Child Care that was published in 1946 (10 million copies
sold during the 1950s)
a. He advised parents to not spank kids, encouraged having
family meetings, and believed the gov’t should pay women to
stay at home with their kids
b. Toy sales reached $1.25 billion by 1958, 10 million new
students entered elementary school
D. The role of homemaker and mother was glorified on TV programs
such as Father Knows Best and The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet
1. Time magazine described the homemaker as the, “…keeper of
the suburban dream.”
a. Based on one survey conducted in the 1950s, more than
20% of suburban wives were dissatisfied with their lives
b. Betty Friedan, author of the Feminine Mystique (1964), talked
about the identity crisis that existed amongst women
2. A women’s career opportunities were limited to fields such as
nursing, teaching, and office support, which were all lower
paying than other jobs
a. Women were paid less for completing the same work as men,
and received little encouragement to pursue their careers
E. Many Americans had more leisure time than ever before, working
only 40 hours a week and earning vacation every year
III.
IV.
1. Labor saving devices such as washing machines, cloths dryers,
dishwashers, and powered lawn mowers were introduced
a. Fortune magazine reported that over $30 billion was being
spent on leisure goods and activities
2. Many Americans enjoyed a variety of recreational activities
a. Sports (especially baseball), hunting and fishing, and watching
sports on TV
3. Many Americans became avid readers
a. Reading fiction by Ernest Hemingway and John Steinbeck
became common, and popular magazines such as Reader’s
Digest and Sports Illustrated were read
b. Comic book sales peaked in the 1950s
The Automobile Culture
A. After WW II, an abundance of both imported and domestically
produced petroleum led to inexpensive, plentiful fuel for consumers
1. Easy credit and advertising persuaded Americans to buy cars
2. Suburban living demanded that those individuals own cars
a. Facilities were no longer in walking distance
B. Interstate Highway Act (1956): authorized the building of a nationwide
highway network amounting to more than 41,000 miles of paved roads
1. The new roads encouraged mass development
2. Interstate highways also led to the decline of the use of railroads
and increased the use of long-hall trucks
a. Disneyland, which opened in July 1955, attracted 3 million
visitors in 1956
C. Although the Automobile fueled economic prosperity, it created
societal and environmental concerns
1. Noise and exhaust polluted the air
2. Auto accidents and traffic jams increased
3. Upper-class and middle-class whites left the crowded cities for
the suburbs
a. Jobs, businesses, and transportation also relocated to the
suburbs leaving the poor in the inner cities jobless and
without vital services (fewer tax dollars generated in the
inner cities)
b. The income gap b/w the lower-class, middle-class, and upperclass increased
Consumerism Unbound
A. 60% of Americans were earning middle-class incomes ($3,000–
$10,000 a year)
1. Consumerism: buying material goods, came to be equated with
success
a. Newsweek magazine reported that hundreds of items became
common place in American homes (electric appliances)
b. Bought televisions, hi-fi record players, swimming pools, etc
B. Planned obsolescence: to encourage consumers to purchase more goods,
manufactures purposely designed products to become obsolete (wear out)
and outdated in a short period of time
1. Carmakers introduce new models every year
a. Think of computers in today’s day an age
2. America was referred to as a “throwaway society.”
C. Buying on credit: purchasing an item, but not directly paying for the item
1. Diner’s Club: issued the first credit card in 1950 and the
American Express card was introduced in 1958
a. Installment plan: making regular payments over a fixed
period of time (mortgages and automobiles)
b. Private debt grew from $73 billion to $179 billion in one
decade
D. Advertisers spent about $6 billion in 1950, the figure increased to $9
billion by 1955
1. Advertising executives turned to psychology to create new
strategies for selling products
a. Advertisers tried to relate their product to status and belonging
2. The first 10 second TV commercial was produced in 1941 at
a cost of $9.00 ($1.6 billion was spent on ads)
a. Bulova, a New York based corporation that makes clocks and
watches, paid for the commercial so it would air during a
baseball game b/w the Brooklyn Dodgers and Philadelphia
Phillies
3. In 2001, a 30-seond commercial during the Superbowl cost $2.2
million
Section 3: Popular Culture
I.
New Era of the Mass Media
A. Mass media: means of communication that reach large audiences
1. In 1948 television reached 9% of homes and by 1960 almost
90% of American homes had TV sets
a. The first TV broadcast, in 1949, offered only two hours of
programs per week
b. Federal Communications Commission (FCC-1956): the
gov’t agency that regulates and licenses television, telephone,
telegraph, radio, and other communications industries
(microwave relays revolutionized TV)
2. The “golden age” of TV started in the 1950s (TV Guide in
1953)
a. Milton Berle and The Texaco Star Theater, and Lucille Ball
and Desi Arnaz in I Love Lucy in 1951
b. The Mickey Mouse Club and The Howdy Doody Show
attracted young fans
B. Advertising played an important role in television programming
1. Advertisers spent $170 million in 1950 and almost $2 billion
was spent by 1960 to convince the public to buy their goods
a. Businesses would sponsor programs (good show = good
company)
b. Companies had great control over program content (sponsors
fired people because of political beliefs)
C. Critics objected to TV’s impact of children and its stereotypical
portrayal of women and minorities
1. White, middle-class suburban experiences were always
depicted on TV
a. TV programs made it appear as if poverty & discrimination
was not an issue
b. Male characters outnumbered female characters 3 to 1,
while African Americans and Latinos rarely appeared on
TV
2. Historical conflicts of the Western frontier were glorified by hit
shows like Gunsmoke and Have Gun Will Travel
a. Concerns grew over the increasing level of violence on TV
3. Amos ‘n’ Andy show: comedy about black urban life
a. Two white men created the voices of the two black
characters when the show was only on the radio
b. Once the show was aired on TV, black actors portrayed
white stereotypes of black community
c. NAACP protested and show left the air and reruns were
banned
D. The game show named Twenty-One (FCC regulated show)
1. Drew 85% of audience in its time slot
2. A Congressional investigation found that show was rigged
a. Popular contestants were given answers beforehand and
were coached on how to answer questions to add tension to
show
3. English professor Charles Van Doren was given the correct
answer to a question, while the returning champion, Herbert
Stempel, was informed to give the wrong answer
a. The question was: "What film won the Academy Award for
Best Picture in 1955?"
b. Stempel legitimately knew the real answer, but followed
orders and gave the wrong answer so Doren could win
c. B/w Nov 28, 1956 and March 11, 1957, Doren won
$129,000 before losing to a woman named Vivian Nearing
E. Radio stations switched their focus choosing not to compete with TV and
aired news, weather, music, and community issues
1. Radio advertising rose by 35%, and the number of radio
stations increased by 50%
II.
III.
2. As TV became popular, the number of movie goers decreased
by nearly half (decreased from 90 million to about 45 million
a week)
a. The movie industry stayed alive by offering stereophonic
sound in 1952 (sound that surrounded the viewer), 50% of
their movies in color, CinemaScope (wide-angle images on
the big screen, Smell-O-Vision and Aroma-Rama (piped in
smells to coincide with events on the screen, and 3-D
images on the big screen
A Subculture Emerges
A. The Beat movement in literature and Rock ‘n’ Roll music clashed with the
tidy suburban life portrayed on TV
1. Beat (beat means weary) movement: expressed the social and
literary nonconformity of artists, poets, and writers
a. Beats lived a life of nonconformity, through the use of Zen
Buddhism, music, and sometimes drugs
b. Many beats would read the poems and other writing in
coffeehouses and other gathering places (what the beats
created often lacked structure)
2. The beatnik’s attracted media attention and fired the
imaginations of many college students
a. A precursor to the Hippie movement in the 1960s
African Americans and Rock ‘n’ Roll
A. Rock ‘n’ Roll: the name has come to mean music that’s both black and
white evolving from rhythm and blues, country, jazz, gospel, and pop
1. Disc jockey Alan Freed coined the term rock ‘n’ roll when he
played the music for the first time and started a show aimed at
teens
2. Elvis Presley was discovered by rhythm-and-blues producer
Sam Phillips (Phillips sold Presley’s contract to RCA for
$35,000)
3. Parents felt rock was immoral, noisy, and led to teenage
delinquency
B. African-American music inspired the birth of rock ‘n’ roll
1. Broke down the walls of racial segregation to a degree(blacks
and whites liked rock)
a. Jazz: a style of music characterized by the use of
improvisation
b. In the 1950’s, African-American shows were mostly
broadcast on separate stations
Section 4: The Other America
I.
The Urban Poor
A. In 1962, nearly one out of every four (40 million) Americans was
living below the poverty level
II.
III.
1. Million of white middle-class Americans packed for the
suburbs taking with them economic resources (tax dollars),
while the rural poor migrated to inner cities
a. The cities lost businesses, people, property, and income taxes
b. Local gov’ts could no longer afford to maintain and improve
facilities
B. Many white suburban Americans didn’t recognize that poverty could
exist in the U.S.
1. In 1959, the poverty line for a family of four was $2,973
a. For a family of three living in North Dakota (single mom)
in 2000, it would take an income of about $33,660 a year to
make ends meet, which amounts to $17.42 an hour
2. After living in the poorest parts of America, Michael Harrington,
published The Other America: Poverty in the United States in
1962
C. Urban renewal: gov’t program to replace old buildings with new ones
1. The National Housing Act of 1949: provide “a decent home
and a suitable living environment for every American family.”
a. Rundown neighborhoods were torn down and replaced by lowincome housing
b. Housing and Urban Development (HUD): cabinet position
that aids in improving conditions in the inner city
2. There was seldom enough new housing built to accommodate
all the displaced people
a. An area was torn down in Los Angeles to make way for
Dodgers Stadium, but no new homes were created for those
that wer forced to relocate (urban removal)
Poverty Leads to Activism
A. Many Mexicans became U.S. citizens when the U.S. annexed the
Southwest after the War with Mexico
1. Large numbers of Mexicans crossed the border to work in the
U.S. during an after WW I
2. When WW II erupted, the U.S. gov’t created a program, in 1942,
that allowed Mexican braceros (hired hands) into the U.S. to
harvest crops
a. When their employment ended, it was expected that they would
return to Mexico
B. Felix Longoria was a Mexican American WW II hero who had been
killed in the Philippines
1. The undertakers in his hometown of Texas would not provide
funeral services to his family
a. In response, Mexican-American veterans organized the G.I.
Forum and Ignacio Lopz founded the Unity League of
California to register Mexican-American voters
Native American Life (Federal Indian Policy)
A. Dawes Act (1887-1935): attempted to Americanize Indians by dividing the
tribal land into individual plots.
1. Native Americans must farm land for 25 years before they can take
complete ownership of the land (could sell it if they wanted)
2. The government gave them the unproductive land so farming (raising
crops) was almost impossible.
-They asked if they could run range cattle and were told no.
3. Used to separate Indians form their land and cash.
B. Native American leaders stopped the Harding administration’s attempt to
buy back all tribal land
1. Bursum Bill: designed to legalize non-Native American claims to
Pueblo land
a. Bill would limit the power of tribal gov’t
2. 1924 Congress granted citizenship to all Native Americans (Efforts in
WW I)
C. Curtis Act (1898): BIA decided if Indians were competent in regards to
taxes, loans, etc so they could sell their land before the 25 year time frame.
1. Sent our paperwork to find out if they were competent.
D. Burke Act (1906): interview Indians in order to determine if they were
competent so they could sell their land before the 25 year time frame.
1. They interviewers never really did their job (may just sign off for no real
reason).
2. Often Indians lost their land because they didn’t know they were expected
to pay taxes on their land (back taxes owed and couldn’t pay them, so lost
land).
E. Decleration of Policy (1917): automatically competent if ½ white, so they
could sell their land before the 25 year time frame.
2. Again didn’t understand the concept of taxation and lost their land.
F. Snyder Act (1924): granted citizenship to all Native Americans, but they
remained second-class citizens
1. 65,000 Native Americans left their reservations for military service and
war work
G. Indians Reorganization Act (1934): moved U.S. policy away from
assimilation and toward NA autonomy
1. B/c the gov’t was suffering from the Great Depression, it wanted to stop
subsidizing the Native Americans
2. Native Americans formed the National Congress of American Indians,
which had the following goals:
a. To ensure for NA the same civil rights that white Americans had
b. To enable NA on reservations to retain their own customs
3. Also, Tribes had the opportunity to continue functioning under the Dawes
Act or the IRA
a. Most didn’t know what they were voting for
G. Termination and Relocation Act (1953): null and void all federal and tribal
treaties and made reservations just part of the state (federal gov’t gave up its
responsibility for NA tribes)
1. Relocation part of the act: Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) began a
voluntary relocation program to help NA resettle in cities and assimilate
a. The act failed b/c many relocated NA were poorly trained and couldn’t
find jobs (the termination policy was canceled in 1963)
H. Great Society Program (1960s-LBJ): War on Poverty created, but Vietnam
caused the War on Poverty to come to an end
1. Indians receive prenatal care and meals
I. Self Determination (1973-Nixon): get ideas from tribal leaders to help
reservations recover (feds got out of the way)
1. Gov’t finally leaves Native Americans alone