The 1950’s were a true decade of progress. America were prosperous, and the standard of living increased greatly. This was due to the economy. It had gotten much better now that World War 2 was over. Everyone was happy and everyone had a T.V. in their house. The war was over, and everyone was happy. This general feeling of happiness had not prevailed in America for a long time. More and more people were getting jobs, and more and more people actually could afford jobs and they could also afford houses and other amenities. This proves that the 1950’s were a true decade of progress. The technology in the 1950’s advanced greatly. This allowed for many differences in the economy and progress of the United States. For example, the hydrogen bomb, …show more content…
However, the economic power of America compared to the other countries was staggering. Not only did Americans have more money, they also managed to control the money influx coming in from other countries from trade. Many of the money that they received was from Americans buying products in America, allowing for a better economy. It was mostly in part of the commercials on T.V., such as pudding commercials for JELL-O (Document 9). America’s median income was gradually rising, and even with inflation, many people’s salaries got larger (Document 10). The economy, overall, increased by 37% in the 1950’s (shmoop.com) and due to President Eisenhower’s changes to reform America’s economy, the inflation crisis from the end of WW2 no longer affected America's economy. Therefore, America was able to economically improve during the 1950’s. So as some people might say that America went nowhere during the 1950’s as a result of the economic crisis, those few people would be wrong. America’s economy did nothing but gradually improve, and people in America got higher salaries and the inflation percentage dropped and everything was almost back to normal again, except
The 1950s seemed like a perfect decade. The rise of suburbs outside cities led to an expansion of the middle class, thus allowing more Americans to enjoy the luxuries of life. The rise of these suburbs also allowed the middle class to buy houses with land that used to only be owned by more wealthy inhabitants. Towns like Levittown-one of the first suburbs- were divided in such a way that every house looked the same (“Family Structures”). Any imperfections were looked upon as unfavorable to the community as a whole. Due to these values, people today think of the 1950s as a clean cut and model decade. This is a simplistic perception because underneath the surface, events that took place outside the United States actually had a direct effect on our own country’s history. The rise of Communism in Russia struck fear into the hearts of the American people because it seemed to challenge their supposedly superior way of life.
Where american citizens afraid during the 1950’s? From the films we see about this certain time period most would say no because from the looks of the film they had no problems. People had on smiles and families greeted each other happily as they came home from school or work. What you don’t see in those films is what was really happening during the 1950’s movie magic can cover up the parts of the 50’s that were basically pure nightmares to go through. Though it may be true that families in the fifties would still greet each other when they walked through the door but like was all just black and white smiles. When you imagine the fifties after seeing it on tv you don’t bother imagining things like The red scare, Nuclear attack threats, or the Korean war. During the 1950’s you basically had to watch what you say or you’d be considered communist or practice your drill’s in school in case a nuclear attack ever happened (though I seriously don’t believe duck and cover as you hide under your desk would really protect you from a nuclear bomb). The 1950’s weren’t a dream when you think about it.
In conclusion, the 1950s is considered to be a decade of progress by many historians, rather than a period of major conservatism. We can still find signs of progress from the 1950s in our world today, in everything from housing to appliances and popular culture. This period also introduced some new ideas to the American culture by the way of television shows, radios, and newspapers.
During the last 40 years of the nineteenth century the United States became the worlds greatest economic power. The rapid rate of economic growth happened for a
The 1950s in America was a time that was peaceful; five years after winning World War II, America established themselves as a power country. Society was optimistic; soldiers were coming back from war to start their new jobs, families getting new homes and the baby boom is about to begin. American industries expanded and people began to get products that were not available to them during the war. Televisions were coming up in family households and becoming a main staple in America. Coca- Cola was in the golden age of their product. With growth of televisions in homes, Coca- Cola began making advertisements that featured relaxing, and being comfortable on the television, billboards and magazines which appealed to America. Even though America recently came out of war, America was headed into another one called the Cold War against the Soviet Union that lasted until the late 80’s. The 1950’s was a time of feel good in America and there are many reasons why it was including Coca- Cola, sports and breaking down racial barriers.
On the heels of war, new technology caused a decrease in prices of goods in the 1920’s and in the 1950’s the GI Bill increased income. The bureaucratization of business in the 1920’s meant that more people could be employed in higher paying white-collar jobs than before, including, for the first time, housewives. This new income combined with the reduced prices for goods that resulted from mechanized production, assembly lines and a general decrease of the cost of technology created a thriving consumerist middle class that went on to fuel the economy in all sectors, especially the upper classes. Likewise, during World War II Americans saved up around 150 billion dollars, and this sum combined with the income of the GI Bill allowed normal people to buy expensive things, from houses to cars to electronics to educations at a rapid rate, fueling the trademark prosperity of the 1950’s. The new automobile culture of the 50’s spawned new businesses that catered to mobile Americans, such as nicer and more standardized hotels like Holiday Inn, and drive-up restaurants like McDonalds. Just as the culture of the 1920’s was transfo...
This prospering economy led to more wealth in the United States. This put more money in the pockets in the average everyday Americans. Since people had more money to spend they bought more things. One of these was the television becoming a household item in the lives of many Americans. The military during the time of the 1950s was also prospering due to the economy and was trying to invent a military superweapon which late became known as the hydrogen bomb. Although research started in 1949 the project became known as the Manhattan Project and the hydrogen bomb was finally invented and tested on November 1st 1952 (Shmoop Editorial Team). Another prevalent technological advancement of the 1950s was the advancement of rocket science leading to the launch of America’s first satellite Explorer I on February 1st 1958. After this NASA was created on July 29th 1958 which led to even more technological advancements that would be made in the next decade (Virginia and Hugh pg.
During the 1950s, the United States experienced a period of prosperity. Many inventions eased Americans workload and some just made life more enjoyable. One such invention was the color television. Television, in general, allowed people to catch glimpses of the world from their living room sofas. Now, sports fans on one coast to watch sporting events which were occurring across on the other coast in their own home. The sporting world of the 1950s gave viewers a lot to talk about and many great memories.
Aside from national security interests domestic thirst for oil boomed. The war brought us out of the Great Depression. During the Depression a traditionally capitalist American society embraced a kind of socialism with the New Deal. WWII transformed the bear turned in a raging bull. Capitalism was back with a vengeance, charging forward stronger than it had ever been before. The heavy industry built up to sustain the war effort was retooled to meet the demands of the emerging consumerist culture of the 1950s. The new explosion of industrial output became so pervasive that the decade ended with President Eisenhower warning of the dangers of the growing “Military-Industrial Complex.”
People were earning money in many different ways. They didn’t bother to think about how long the good times would last. They spent the money they should have been saving because of wartime shortages (Mike Kubic). More and more people could afford to buy the Model T because it was mass produced which made it cheaper in price. The houses source of light changed “...from coal power to electricity..” like what the world has today (Mike Kubic). America was revised to modernized ideas and methods. The United States went through positive changes for a couple of
During the years between 1920 and 1960, America saw change in many aspects of life. The United States was a part of two major wars and a crash of the banking system that crippled the economy greater than ever seen in this country’s history. Also the country had new insecurities to tackle such as immigration and poor treatment of workers. These events led to the change of America lives socially, economically, and politically. The people of America changed their ideas of what the country’s place in the world should be. The issues challenging America led the country to change from isolation to war, depression to prosperity, and social change. The threats to American way of life, foreign and domestic, were the changing forces to the country in the twenties to the sixties.
The decade after the First World War saw tremendous change. Progressivism was a leading factor of World War I and in the 1920’s the evidence can be seen. Industries were making their products at an increasing rate. Products that were not populous before World War I were now used by millions of Americans. The automobile was only used by less than ten million of Americans and by the end of this post war decade that number has climbed to over thirty million. Also many new inventions were coming through making life for Americans much more comfortable. Radios, vacuum cleaners, irons, washing machines, and refrigerators were among the new necessities Americans just had to have.
The 1950s was a time when American life seemed to be in an ideal model for what family should be. People were portrayed as being happy and content with their lives by the meadia. Women and children were seen as being kind and courteous to the other members of society while when the day ended they were all there to support the man of the house. All of this was just a mirage for what was happening under the surface in the minds of everyone during that time as seen through the women, children, and men of this time struggled to fit into the mold that society had made for them.
Many Americans had enough money to buy not only basic necessities, but also had sufficient funds to splurge on new products that encouraged a social change, like the telephone. The period patented the rising of modern mass-production. An example of this would be, Henry Ford’s assembly line that produced over 4.8 million affordable automobiles in the 20’s, which was later surpassed by General Motors (Foner, 771). Including a mass-consumption economy, which brought revenues to investors, whilst raising the living standard of the urban middle- and working-class. The greater minority of Americans who made their living wages in farming, the decade resounded merely with the distress of a continued depression. Farmers did not share in the economy growth, but instead saw a decline during the 1920’s due to a surplus of crops that weren’t needed after the war. A negative impact was also the cut back of government spending. Due to the heightened consumerism and gap in middle classes and increased incomes, the Stock Market crashed and was also followed by the Great Depression, giving an end to a prosperous economic era, as seen in
“Modern democratic society has made Fashion into a sort of cross subsidising organism, destined to establish an automatic equilibrium between the demand for singularity and the right for all to have it.” Roland Barthes, Dandyism and Fashion