In 1951, the U.S. ratified the 22nd Amendment, making
a president ineligible to be elected for a third time, or
to be elected for a second time after having served
more than two years of a previous president's term.
The latter clause would have applied to Truman in
1952, except that a grandfather clause in the
amendment explicitly excluded the current president
from this provision. However, Truman decided not
to run for reelection.
At the time of the 1952 New Hampshire primary,
no candidate had won Truman's backing. His
first choice, Chief Justice Fred M. Vinson, had
declined to run; Illinois Governor Adlai
Stevenson had also turned Truman down; Vice
President Barkley was considered too old; and
Truman distrusted and disliked Senator Estes
Kefauver, whom he privately called
"Cowfever."
Truman's name was on the New
Hampshire primary ballot but
Kefauver won. On March 29
Truman announced his decision
not to run for re-election.
Stevenson, having reconsidered
his presidential ambitions,
received Truman's backing and
won the Democratic nomination.
Dwight D. Eisenhower, now a Republican
and the nominee of his party,
campaigned against what he
denounced as Truman's failures
regarding "Korea, Communism and
Corruption" and the "mess in
Washington,“ and promised to "go to
Korea."Eisenhower defeated Stevenson
decisively in the general election,
ending 20 years of Democratic rule.
While Truman and Eisenhower had
previously been good friends, Truman
felt betrayed that Eisenhower did not
denounce Joseph McCarthy during the
campaign.
In American memory, the postwar 1950s
have acquired an idyllic luster. Reruns of
1950s TV shows such as Leave It to
Beaver and Father Knows Best leave
today's viewers with an impression of
unadulterated family bliss. The baby
boomers look back nostalgically to these
years that marked their early childhood
experiences.
The president for many of these years was war hero
Dwight Eisenhower. Ike, as he was nicknamed,
walked a middle road between the two major parties.
This strategy, called Modern Republicanism,
simultaneously restrained Democrats from
expanding the New Deal while stopping
conservative Republicans from reversing popular
programs such as Social Security. As a result, no
major reform initiatives emerged from a decade
many would describe as politically dead. Perhaps
freedom from controversy was the prize most
American voters were seeking after World War II
and the Korean War.
A booming economy helped shape the blissful
retrospective view of the 1950s. A rebuilding
Europe was hungry for American goods,
fueling the consumer-oriented sector of the
American economy. Conveniences that had
been toys for the upper classes such as fancy
refrigerators, range-top ovens, convertible
automobiles, and televisions became middleclass staples.
The pent-up demand for consumer
goods unleashed after the Great
Depression and World War II
sustained itself through the 1950s.
Homes became affordable to many
apartment dwellers for the first
time. Consequently, the population
of the suburbs exploded. The huge
youth market had a music all of its
own called rock and roll, complete
with parent-detested icons such as
Elvis Presley.

Levittown is the name of some large suburban
developments created in the United States of
America by William Levitt and his company Levitt &
Sons. They featured large numbers of similar houses
that could be built easily and quickly, allowing rapid
recovery of costs. This is the
beginning of the suburbs and
the decline of urban centers.
Of course, not everything was as rosy as it
seemed. Beneath the pristine exterior, a small
group of critics and nonconformists pointed
out the flaws in a suburbia they believed had
no soul, a government they believed was
growing dangerously powerful, and a lifestyle
they believed was fundamentally repressed.
And much of America was still segregated.
"Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the
Communist party?"
In the 1950s, thousands of Americans who toiled in the
government, served in the army, worked in the
movie industry, or came from various walks of life
had to answer that question before a congressional
panel.
Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin rose to
national prominence by initiating a probe to
ferret out communists holding prominent
positions. During his investigations, safeguards
promised by the Constitution were trampled.
In 1947, President Truman had ordered
background checks of every civilian in service
to the government. When Alger Hiss, a highranking State Department official was
convicted on espionage charges, fear of
communists intensified.
McCarthy capitalized on national paranoia by
proclaiming that communist spies were
omnipresent and that he was America's only
salvation.
An atmosphere of fear of world domination by
communists hung over America in the postwar
years.
There were fears of a nuclear holocaust based on
the knowledge that the Soviet Union exploded
its first A-bomb in 1949. That same year, China,
the world's most populous nation, became
communist. Half of Europe was under Joseph
Stalin's influence, and every time Americans
read their newspapers there seemed to be a
new atomic threat.
At a speech in Wheeling, West Virginia, on
February 9, 1950, McCarthy launched his first
salvo. He proclaimed that he was aware of 205
card-carrying members of the Communist
Party who worked for the United States
Department of State. A few days later, he
repeated the charges at a speech in Salt Lake
City. McCarthy soon began to attract headlines,
and the Senate asked him to make his case.
On February 20, 1950, McCarthy addressed the
Senate and made a list of dubious claims
against suspected communists. He cited 81
cases that day. He skipped several numbers,
and for some cases repeated the same flimsy
information. He proved nothing, but the Senate
called for a full investigation. McCarthy was in
the national spotlight.
Staying in the headlines was a full-time job. After
accusing low-level officials, McCarthy went for
the big guns, even questioning the loyalty of
Dean Acheson and George Marshall. Some
Republicans in the Senate were aghast and
disavowed McCarthy.
Others such as Robert Taft and Richard Nixon,
saw him as an asset. The public rewarded the
witch-hunters by sending red-baiters
(communist accusers) before the Senate and the
House in 1950.
When Dwight Eisenhower became president, he
had no love for McCarthy. Ike was reluctant to
condemn McCarthy for fear of splitting the
Republican Party. McCarthy's accusations went
on into 1954, when the Wisconsin senator
focused on the United States Army. For eight
weeks, in televised hearings, McCarthy
interrogated army officials, including many
decorated war heroes.
But this was his tragic
mistake. Television
illustrated the meanspiritedness of
McCarthy's campaign.
The army then went on
the attack, questioning
McCarthy's methods and
credibility. In one
memorable fusillade, the
Council for the Army
simply asked McCarthy,
"At long last, have you no
sense of decency left?"
The final downfall occurred when CBS News Reporter
Edward R. Murrow spent an entire episode of his show
“See It Now” on McCarthy. By using mostly
recordings of McCarthy himself in action interrogating
witnesses and making speeches, Murrow displayed
what he felt was the key danger to the democracy: not
suspected Communists, but McCarthy's actions
themselves. As Murrow said in his tailpiece:
“No one familiar with the history of his country can deny that
Congressional committees are useful. It is necessary to
investigate before legislating. But the line between
investigating and persecuting is a very fine one, and the
junior senator from Wisconsin has stepped over it
repeatedly.”
Poll after poll showed the American people
thought McCarthy unscrupulous in his attack
of the army.
Fed up, McCarthy's colleagues censured him for
dishonoring the Senate, and the hearings came
to a close. Plagued with poor health and
alcoholism, McCarthy himself died three years
later.
McCarthy was not the only individual to seek out
potential communists.
The House Committee on Un-American Activities
(HUAC) targeted the Hollywood film industry.
Actors, writers, and producers alike were
summoned to appear before the committee and
provide names of colleagues who may have
been members of the Communist Party.
Those who repented and named names of
suspected communists were allowed to return
to business as usual. Those who refused to
address the committee were cited for contempt.
Uncooperative artists were blacklisted from
jobs in the entertainment industry. Years
passed until many had their reputations
restored.
Were there in fact communists in America?
The answer is undoubtedly yes. But many of the
accused had attended party rallies 15 or more
years before the hearings — it had been
fashionable to do so in the 1930s.
Although the Soviet spy ring did penetrate the
highest levels of the American government, the
vast majority of the accused were innocent
victims. All across America, state legislatures
and school boards mimicked McCarthy and
HUAC. Thousands of people lost their jobs and
had their reputations tarnished.
Unions were special target of communist hunters.
Sensing an unfavorable environment, the AFL
(American Federation of Labor) and the CIO
(Congress of Industrial Organizations) merged
in 1955 to close ranks. Books were pulled from
library shelves, including Robin Hood, which
was deemed communist-like for suggesting
stealing from the rich to give to the poor.
No politician could consider opening trade with
China or withdrawing from Southeast Asia
without being branded a communist. Although
McCarthyism was dead by the mid-1950s, its
effects lasted for decades.
Above all, several messages became crystal clear
to the average American: Don't criticize the
United States. Don't be different. Just conform.
For millions of Americans in the 1950s, the
American Dream became a reality. Within their
reach was the chance to have a house on their
own land, a car, a dog, and 2.3 kids.
Postwar affluence redefined the American Dream.
Gone was the poverty borne of the Great
Depression, and the years of wartime sacrifice
were over.
Automobiles once again rolled off the assembly
lines of the Big Three: Ford, General Motors,
and Chrysler. The Interstate Highway Act
authorized the construction of thousands of
miles of high-speed roads that made living
farther from work a possibility.
Families that had delayed having additional
children for years no longer waited, and the
nation enjoyed a postwar baby boom.
With the ability to own a detached home,
thousands of Americans soon surpassed the
standard of living enjoyed by their parents.
Homeowners struggled to keep their
communities looking uniform. Residents had
to pledge to mow their lawns on a weekly
basis. African Americans were excluded by
practice. The irrational need to "keep up with
the Joneses" was born in the American suburb.
A generation of Americans loved the chance to avoid
rent and the dirtiness of the city to live in their own
homes on their own land. Soon, shopping centers
and fast food restaurants added to the convenience
of suburban life. Thousands and thousands migrated
to suburbia.
America and the American Dream would never be the
same.
Perhaps no phenomenon shaped American life in the
1950s more than television. At the end of World War
II, the television was a toy for only a few thousand
wealthy Americans. Just 10 years later, nearly twothirds of American households had a television.
The biggest-selling periodical of the decade was TV
Guide. In a nation once marked by strong regional
differences, network television programming blurred
these distinctions and helped forge a national
popular culture.
Television forever changed changed politics. The first
president to be televised was Harry Truman. When
Estes Kefauver prosecuted mob boss Frank Costello
on television, the Tennessee senator became a
national hero and a vice presidential candidate.
It did not take long for political advertisers to
understand the power of the new medium. Dwight
Eisenhower's campaign staff generated sound bites
— short, powerful statements from a candidate —
rather than air an entire speech.
Americans loved situation comedies — sitcoms.
In the 1950s, I Love Lucy topped the ratings
charts. The show broke new ground by
including a Cuban American character (Ricky
Ricardo, played by bandleader Desi Arnaz)
and dealing with Lucille Ball's pregnancy,
though Lucy was never filmed from the waist
down while she was pregnant. Forty-four
million Americans tuned in to welcome her
newborn son to the show.
Through shows such as Leave It to Beaver, The Donna Reed
Show, and Father Knows Best, television created an
idyllic view of what the perfect family life should look
like, though few actual families could live up to the ideal.
Television's idea of a perfect family was a briefcase-toting
professional father who left daily for work, and a pearlswearing, nurturing housewife who raised their
mischievous boys and obedient girls.
With rare exceptions (such as Desi Arnaz) members of
minorities rarely appeared on television in the 1950s.
America's fascination with the Wild West was
nothing new, but television brought Western
heroes into American homes and turned that
fascination into a love affair. Cowboys and
lawmen such as Hopalong Cassidy, Wyatt
Earp, and the Cisco Kid galloped across
televisions every night.
The Roy Rogers Show and Rin Tin Tin brought
the West to children on Saturday mornings,
and Davy Crockett coonskin caps became
popular fashion items. Long running horse
operas, such as Bonanza and Rawhide,
attracted viewers week after week.
One Western, Gunsmoke, ran for 20 years —
longer than any other prime-time drama in
television history. At the decade's close, 30
Westerns aired on prime time each week, and
Westerns occupied 7 spots in the Nielsen Top10.
Like The Lone Ranger or Zorro, most programs of the
early 1950s drew a clear line between the good guys
and the bad guys. There was very little danger of
injury or death, and good always triumphed in the
end.
By the late '50s, though, the genre had become more
complicated and the lines between good and evil was
blurred. America entered the more turbulent '60s
with heroes such as the black-clad mercenary Paladin
and the gambling Maverick brothers who would do
anything to earn a buck.
Because most early television was live, the producers of
major networks found their talent among people
already had experience with live performance:
vaudeville. Television and vaudeville combined to
created the form of entertainment known as the
variety show. Variety shows were made up of short
acts — musical numbers, comedy sketches, animal
tricks, etc. — usually centered around an engaging
host. Former vaudevillians Bob Hope, Milton Berle,
and Ed Wynn all hosted popular programs. The
influence of vaudeville on television was so strong
that television critics called the shows "Vaudeo."
Sid Caesar had two popular variety programs in
'50s, Your Show of Shows and Caesar's Hour.
These shows featured the writing talents of
Carl Reiner, Mel Brooks, Larry Gelbart, and
Woody Allen. Nat "King" Cole became the first
African American host of a television series
when his variety show appeared in 1956.
But perhaps no variety program had a greater effect
on American culture than The Ed Sullivan Show,
which ran for 23 years beginning in 1948 and was
for a while America's most popular show.
Combining highbrow and popular entertainment,
Sullivan's "really big shew" became a major stop
for both established performers and young, upand-coming artists.
Although Elvis Presley had appeared on other shows
in the past, it was his performance on The Ed
Sullivan Show that grabbed the headlines. By
securing rock-and-roll acts, Sullivan won the
adolescent market, truly making the variety show
a whole-family event.
With more and more American families owning
televisions, manufacturers now had a new way
to sell their products, and the television
commercial was born. By late 1948, over 900
companies had bought television broadcast
time for advertising. By 1950, sponsors were
leaving radio for television at an unstoppable
rate.
Television sponsors ranged from greeting cards to
automobiles, but perhaps the most advertised
product was tobacco. TV Guide voted Lucky Strike's
"Be Happy, Go Lucky" ad commercial of the year for
1950, and Phillip Morris sponsored I Love Lucy for
years, inserting cartoon cigarette packs in the show's
opening animation. Cartoon characters were
common in '50s commercials, representing
everything from lightbulbs to beer. In 1950, CocaCola launched its first television ad campaign using a
combination of animation and celebrity
endorsement.
Most Americans still got their news from
newspapers in the 1950s, but the foundations
for the modern television newscast were
established as early as 1951 with Edward R.
Murrow's See it Now, the first coast-to-coast
live show. Many consider Murrow's 1953
Person to Person interview with Joseph
McCarthy to be a major step toward
McCarthy's downfall.
Two major developments in the 1950s that set up
television as the news medium of the future
were the establishment of coaxial cable linking
the East and West coasts, which enabled
footage to be moved electronically instead of
physically, and the invention of videotape,
which allowed the use of prerecorded footage
(such as studio interviews).
Understanding that the population of children was in
greater numbers than in previous generations,
television producers developed a host of children's
programs. Shows such as The Mickey Mouse Club
and Howdy Doody, entertained millions of
American kids.
During the 1950s, few households owned more than
one television, so viewing became a shared family
event. Even the American diet was transformed with
the advent of the TV dinner, first introduced in 1954.
Top TV Shows
Year
Show
Network
1950-51
Texaco Star Theater
NBC
1951-52
Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts
CBS
1952-55
I Love Lucy
CBS
1955-56
The $64,000.00 Question
CBS
1956 - 57
I Love Lucy
CBS
1958-60
Gunsmoke
CBS
Rock and roll was everything the suburban 1950s
were not. While parents of the decade were
listening to Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, and big
bands, their children were moving to a new
beat.
In fact, to the horror of the older generation, their
children were twisting, thrusting, bumping,
and grinding to the sounds of rock and roll.
This generation of youth was
much larger than any in recent
memory, and the prosperity of
the era gave them money to
spend on records and
phonographs. By the end of the
decade, the phenomenon of rock
and roll helped define the
difference between youth and
adulthood.
Disc jockey Alan Freed began a rhythm-and-blues
(R&B) show on a Cleveland radio station. Soon
the audience grew and grew, and Freed coined
the term "rock and roll."
Early attempts by white artists to cover R&B
songs resulted in weaker renditions that bled
the heart and soul out of the originals. Record
producers saw the market potential and began
to search for a white artist who could capture
the African American sound.
Sam Phillips, a Memphis record producer, found
the answer in Elvis Presley. With a deep
Southern sound, pouty lips, and gyrating hips,
Elvis took an old style and made it his own.
From Memphis, the sound spread to other cities,
and demand for Elvis records skyrocketed.
Within two years, Elvis was the most popular
name in the entertainment business.
After the door to rock and roll acceptance was
opened, African American performers such as
Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, and Little Richard
began to enjoy broad success, as well. White
performers such as Buddy Holly and Jerry Lee
Lewis also found artistic freedom and
commercial success.
Rock and roll sent shockwaves across America. A
generation of young teenagers collectively
rebelled against the music their parents loved.
In general, the older generation loathed rock
and roll. Appalled by the new styles of dance
the movement evoked, churches proclaimed it
Satan's music.
Because rock and roll originated among the lower
classes and a segregated ethnic group, many
middle-class whites thought it was tasteless.
Rock and roll records were banned from many
radio stations and hundreds of schools.
But the masses spoke louder. When Elvis
appeared on TV's The Ed Sullivan Show, the
show's ratings soared.
The commercial possibilities were limitless. As a
generation of young adults finished military
service, bought houses in suburbia, and longed
for stability and conformity, their children
seemed to take comfort for granted. They
wanted to release the tensions that bubbled
beneath the smooth surface of postwar
America.
Above all, they wanted to shake, rattle, and roll
and rock around the clock.
Most requested songs 1945 - 1959
Year
Song
Artist
1945
Sentimental Journey
Les Brown
1946
Christmas Song
Nat "King" Cole
1947
Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah
Doris Day
1948
I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover
Art Mooney
1949
(Ghost) Riders In The Sky
Vaughn Monroe
1950
Daddy's Little Girl
Mills Brothers
1951
Too Young
Nat King Cole
Most requested songs 1945 - 1959
Year
Song
Artist
1952
Unforgettable
Nat King Cole
1953
Dragnet
Ray Anthony & His Orchestra
1954
Shake Rattle and Roll
Bill Haley and The Comets
1955
Rock Around The Clock
Bill Haley & The Comets
1956
Love Me Tender
Elvis Presley
1957
Jailhouse Rock
Elvis Presley
1958
Tequila
The Champs
1959
Mack The Knife
Bobby Darin
Year
Title
1945
The Lost Weekend
1946
The Best Years of Our Lives
1947
Gentleman's Agreement
1948
Hamlet
1949
All the King's Men
1950
All About Eve
1951
An American in Paris
1952
The Greatest Show on Earth
1953
From Here to Eternity
1954
On the Waterfront
1955
Marty
1956
Around the World in 80 Days
1957
The Bridge on the River Kwai
1958
Gigi
1959
Ben-Hur
Year
Baseball
Football
Basketball
Hockey
1950
New York Yankees
Cleveland Browns
Minneapolis Lakers
Detroit Red Wings
1951
New York Yankees
Los Angeles Rams
Rochester Royals
Toronto Maple Leafs
1952
New York Yankees
Detroit Lions
Minneapolis Lakers
Detroit Red Wings
1953
New York Yankees
Detroit Lions
Minneapolis Lakers
Montreal Canadiens
1954
New York Giants
Cleveland Browns
Minneapolis Lakers
Detroit Red Wings
1955
Brooklyn Dodgers
Cleveland Browns
Syracuse Nationals
Detroit Red Wings
1956
New York Yankees
New York Giants
Philadelphia Warriors
Montreal Canadiens
1957
Milwaukee Braves
Detroit Lions
Boston Celtics
Montreal Canadiens
1958
New York Yankees
Baltimore Colts
St. Louis Hawks
Montreal Canadiens
1959
Los Angeles Dodgers
Baltimore Colts
Boston Celtics
Montreal Canadiens
The end of the Korean War in 1953 by no means
brought an end to global hostilities.
As the British and French Empires slowly yielded
to independence movements, a new Third
World emerged. This became the major
battleground of the Cold War as the United
States and the Soviet Union struggled to bring
new nations into their respective orbits. Across
the Third World, the two superpowers squared
off through proxy armies.
The United States' recognition of Israel in 1948 created a
strong new ally, but created many enemies. Arab
nations, enraged by American support for the new
Jewish state, found supportive ears in the Soviet
Union.
When Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser sought
to strengthen ties with the Soviet bloc, the United
States withdrew its pledge to help Nasser construct
the all-important Aswan Dam. Nasser responded by
nationalizing the Suez Canal, an action that
compelled British, French, and Israeli armies to
invade Egypt.
The Western alliance was threatened as President
Dwight Eisenhower called upon Britain and
France to show restraint. With Soviet influence
growing in the oil-rich region, Ike issued the
Eisenhower Doctrine, which pledged American
support to any governments fighting
communist insurgencies in the Middle East.
Making good on that promise, he sent over
5,000 marines to Lebanon to forestall an antiWestern takeover.
Asia provided more challenges for American
containment policy. China was flexing its muscles on
Taiwan by threatening the takeover of the Taiwanese
islands of Quemoy and Matsu. United States
Secretary of State John Foster Dulles chose to follow
a strategy of brinkmanship. He told China that any
aggressive actions toward the islands would be met
by force from the United States.
In a grown-up version of the children's game of
chicken, Dulles hoped to avoid war by threatening
war. The Chinese shelled the islands to save face, but
no takeover occurred.
To the south, communist revolutionary Ho Chi
Minh successfully defeated the French colonial
army to create the new nation of Vietnam.
American commitment to the containment of
communism led to a protracted involvement
that would become the Vietnam War.
One 1950s Cold War catalyst of
fear was the capture and
conviction of Ethel and Julius
Rosenberg for selling nuclear
secrets to the Soviet Union.
Although the FBI advised
sparing Ethel Rosenberg's life
(she had two children), Judge
Irving Kaufman refused to do
so and sentenced her to death
with her husband. The trial
and sentencing were
controversial, partly due to
charges of anti-Semitism.
In the aftermath of World War II, the United
States created a new weapon to assist in
fighting the Cold War: the Central Intelligence
Agency. In addition to gathering information on
Soviet plans and maneuvers, the CIA also involved
itself in covert operations designed to prevent
communist dictators from rising to power.
The first such instance occurred in Iran, when Iranian
Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh nationalized
British Petroleum. Fearing Soviet influence in the
powerful oil nation, the CIA recruited a phony mob
to drive off Mossadegh and return the Americanbacked Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi to power.
When Jacobo Arbenz came to power in Guatemala, he
promised to relieve the nation's impoverished
farmers by seizing land held by the American-owned
United Fruit Company and redistributing it to the
peasants. With the support of American air power, a
CIA-backed band of mercenaries overthrew Arbenz
and established a military dictatorship.
Throughout Latin America, the United States was seen
as a brutal defender of thuggish autocrats at the
expense of popularly elected leaders. Fidel Castro
capitalized on this sentiment by overthrowing U.S.backed dictator Fulgencio Batista from power in
Cuba in January 1959.
Relations remained icy between the United States and
the Soviet Union. Relying on the knowledge that the
United States had a much larger nuclear arsenal than
the Soviet Union, Eisenhower and Dulles announced
a policy of massive retaliation. Any attack by the
Soviets on the United States or its allies would be
met with nuclear force.
The Soviet crackdown on the Hungarian Uprising of
1956 further strained relations. In an effort to reduce
tensions, Eisenhower offered an "open skies"
proposal to Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev. Planes
from each nation would be permitted to fly over the
other to inspect nuclear sites. But Khrushchev
declined the offer. A summit conference between
Eisenhower and Khrushchev was canceled in 1960
when the Soviets shot down an American U-2 spy
plane piloted by Gary Powers.
Despite the passing of Joseph Stalin, Americans
continued to view the Soviet Union as the Great Red
Menace.
When the USSR put Sputnik into orbit in 1957, panic
struck the American heartland. Thousands rushed to
Sears and Roebuck to purchase bomb shelter kits,
and Congress responded by creating the National
Aeronautical and Space Administration and by
appropriating funds for science education.
In the artistic world, dozens of beat writers reviled
middle-class materialism, racism, and uniformity.
Other intellectuals were able to detach themselves
enough from the American mainstream to review it
critically.
The writers of the Beat Generation refused to submit to
the conformity of the 1950s. Greenwich Village in
New York City was the center of the beat universe.
Epitomized by such Columbia University students
such Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, the beats
lived a bohemian lifestyle.
In 1957, Kerouac published On
the Road, the definitive Beat
Generation novel. The beats
were a subculture of young
people dissatisfied with the
blandness of American
culture and its shallow,
rampant consumerism.
While mainstream America seemed to ignore
African American culture, the beats celebrated
it by frequenting jazz clubs and romanticizing
their poverty. The use of alcohol and drugs
foreshadowed the counterculture of the
following decade. Believing that American
society was unspeakably repressed, the beats
experimented with new sexual lifestyles.
In ‘On the Road’, Kerouac's hero travels around the nation,
delving into America's fast-living underside. In "Howl,"
Allen Ginsberg assails materialism and conformity and
calls for the unleashing of basic human needs and
desires.
As the media helped create a single notion of an idyllic
American lifestyle, a vocal minority of social critics
registered their dissenting voices. The notion of the
white-collar, executive-track, male employee was
condemned in fiction in Sloan Wilson's The Man in the
Gray Flannel Suit and in commentary in William Whyte's
The Organization Man.
The booming postwar defense industry came
under fire in C. Wright Mills' The Power Elite.
Mills feared that an alliance between military
leaders and munitions manufacturers held an
unhealthy proportion of power that could
ultimately endanger American democracy — a
sentiment echoed in President Eisenhower's
Farewell Address.
While the 1950s silver screen lit up mostly with the
typical Hollywood fare of Westerns and romances, a
handful of films shocked audiences by uncovering
the dark side of America's youth. Marlon Brando
played the leather-clad leader of a motorcycle gang
that ransacks a small town. In 1953's The Wild One.
The film terrified adults but fascinated kids, who
emulated Brando's style. 1955 saw the release of
Blackboard Jungle, a film about juvenile delinquency
in an urban high school. It was the first major release
to use a rock-and-roll soundtrack and was banned in
many areas both for its violent take on high school
life and its use of multiracial cast of lead actors.
Perhaps the most controversial and
influential of these films is 1955's
Rebel without a Cause. Another
film about teenage delinquency
(the main characters meet at the
police station) Rebel is not set
amid urban decay, but rather in
an affluent suburb. "And they
both come from 'good' families!"
the film's tagline screamed.
Ironically, the film made it clear that the failure of those
very families was to blame for the main characters'
troubles. Juvenile delinquency was no longer a
problem for the lower classes; it was lurking in the
supposedly perfect suburbs. Once again parents
were outraged, but the message could no longer be
ignored. The film earned three Academy Award
nominations and propelled James Dean to
posthumous but eternal stardom.
Civil Rights During the 1950’s
1950 CADILLAC
1950 Nash Statesman 2-door Sedan
1950 Ford Coupe
1957 Chevrolet Bel Air Convertible
1959 Oldsmobile Ninety Eight
Ford Edsel
Officially recognized as the birthplace of US
Route 66, it was in Springfield, Missouri on
April 30, 1926 that officials first proposed the
name of the new Chicago-to-Los Angeles
highway. A placard in Park Central Square was
dedicated to the city by the Route 66
Association of Missouri, and traces of the
"Mother Road" are still visible in downtown
Springfield along Kearney Street, Glenstone
Avenue, College and St. Louis streets and on
Missouri 266 to Halltown.
After the new federal highway system was officially
created, Clayton Avery called for the establishment
of the U.S. Highway 66 Association to promote the
complete paving of the highway from end to end and
to promote travel down the highway. The association
went on to serve as a voice for businesses along the
highway until it disbanded in 1976.
Traffic grew on the highway because of the geography
through which it passed. Much of the highway was
essentially flat and this made the highway a popular
truck route. The Dust Bowl of the 1930s saw many
farming families (mainly from Oklahoma, Arkansas,
Kansas, and Texas) heading west for agricultural jobs in
California. Route 66 became the main road of travel for
these people, often derogatorily called "Okies" or
"Arkies". And during the Depression, it gave some relief
to communities located on the highway. The route
passed through numerous small towns, and with the
growing traffic on the highway, helped create the rise of
mom-and-pop businesses, such as service stations,
restaurants, and motor courts, all readily accessible to
passing motorists.
Much of the early highway, like all the other early
highways, was gravel or graded dirt. Due to the efforts of
the US Highway 66 Association, Route 66 became the
first highway to be completely paved in 1938. Several
places were dangerous: more than one part of the
highway was nicknamed "Bloody 66" and gradually
work was done to realign these segments to remove
dangerous curves. However, one section just outside
Oatman, Arizona (through the Black Mountains) was
fraught with hairpin turns and was the steepest along the
entire route, so much so that some early travelers, too
frightened at the prospect of driving such a potentially
dangerous road, hired locals to navigate the winding
grade. The section remained as Route 66 until 1953, and
is still open to traffic today as the Oatman
HighwayDespite such hazards in some areas, Route 66
continued to be a popular route.
Notable buildings include the art deco-styled U-Drop
Inn, constructed in 1936 in Shamrock in Wheeler
County east of Amarillo, Texas, listed on the
National Register of Historic Places. A restored
Magnolia fuel station is also located in Shamrock as
well as Vega in Oldham County west of Amarillo.
In the 1950s, Route 66 became the main highway for vacationers
heading to Los Angeles. The road passed through the Painted
Desert and near the Grand Canyon. Meteor Crater in Arizona
was another popular stop. This sharp increase in tourism in
turn gave rise to a burgeoning trade in all manner of roadside
attractions, including teepee-shaped motels, frozen custard
stands, Indian curio shops, and reptile farms. Meramec
Caverns near St. Louis began advertising on barns, billing
itself as the "Jesse James hideout". The Big Texan advertised a
free 72-ounce (2 kg) steak dinner to anyone who could
consume the entire meal in one hour. It also marked the birth
of the fast-food industry: Red's Giant Hamburgs in
Springfield, Missouri, site of the first drive-through
restaurant, and the first McDonald's in San Bernardino,
California. Changes like these to the landscape further
cemented 66's reputation as a near-perfect microcosm of the
culture of America, now linked by the automobile.
The beginning of the end for Route 66 came in 1956
with the signing of the Interstate Highway Act by
President Dwight Eisenhower who was influenced
by his experiences in 1919 as a young Army officer
crossing the country in a truck convoy (following the
route of the Lincoln Highway), and his appreciation
of the German Autobahn network as a necessary
component of a national defense system.
Eisenhower's support of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of
1956 can be directly attributed to his experiences in 1919
as a participant in the U.S. Army's first Transcontinental
Motor Convoy across the United States on the historic
Lincoln Highway, which was the first paved highway
across America. The highly publicized 1919 convoy was
intended, in part, to dramatize the need for better main
highways and continued federal aid. The convoy left the
Ellipse south of the White House in Washington D.C. on
July 7, 1919, and headed for Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
From there, it followed the Lincoln Highway to San
Francisco. Bridges cracked and were rebuilt, vehicles
became stuck in mud, and equipment broke, but the
convoy was greeted warmly by communities across the
country. The convoy reached San Francisco on
September 6, 1919.
The convoy was memorable enough for a young Army
officer, Lt. Col. Dwight David Eisenhower, to include a
chapter about the trip, titled "Through Darkest America
With Truck and Tank," in his book At Ease: Stories I Tell
to Friends (Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1967). "The
trip had been difficult, tiring, and fun," he said. That
experience on the Lincoln Highway, plus his
observations of the German autobahn network during
World War II, convinced him to support construction of
the Interstate System when he became President. "The
old convoy had started me thinking about good, twolane highways, but Germany had made me see the
wisdom of broader ribbons across the land." His "Grand
Plan" for highways, announced in 1954, led to the 1956
legislative breakthrough that created the Highway Trust
Fund to accelerate construction of the Interstate System.
Eisenhower argued for the highways for the purpose of
national defense. In the event of an ground invasion
by a foreign power, the U.S. Army would need good
highways to be able to transport troops across the
country efficiently. Following completion of the
highways the cross-country journey that took the
convoy two months in 1919 was cut down to two
weeks.
The Interstate
Highway System
was authorized by
the Federal-Aid
Highway Act of
1956 – popularly
known as the
National Interstate
and Defense
Highways Act of
1956 – on June 29.
The opening of I-70 through Glenwood
Canyon in 1992 is often cited as the
completion of the originally planned
system. The initial cost estimate for the
system was $25 billion over 12 years; it
ended up costing $114 billion (adjusted
for inflation, $425 billion in 2006 dollars)
and took 35 years.