America in the 1950s Domestic Life • Post-war dreams: middle-class life, home in the suburbs, new car, big yard, family • Made possible in part thanks to the GI Bill which gave veterans of WWII low-interest mortgages to buy new homes and tuition assistance for college. • Baby boom: time when there was a large increase in the number of children born each year (1946-1964) – Birth rate had fallen during the Depression and WWII. – During the baby boom years it rose significantly. 1940 2,559,000 births per year 1946 3,311,000 births per year 1957 4,300,000 births per year 1964 4,027,000 births per year • By the 1950s, thanks to rising income and economic growth, 60% of Americans were in the middle class. • Economicimprovements – Average income per person nearly doubled • Pent-up demand – WHY? – People were not able to buy during the Depression because they were poor 1950s Economy • Beforethewar,mostAmericans worked in blue collar jobs -> After the war, new machines performed jobs that used to be done by people. By 1956, majority of all American workers held white collar jobs. – Up-side to white collar jobs: Better pay, shorter hours, less dangerous – Down-side to white collar jobs: impersonal (don’t see the product being produced), employers put pressure on employees to dress, think, & act alike, sacrifice individuality for the sake of the corporation • Wages and working conditions also improved in 1940s & 1950s for blue collar workers. – Not able to buy during WWII because of rationing and b/c companies stopped making consumer goods in order to make military goods • Inthe1950s,Americans willingly went into debt after years of economic depression • Demand increased for luxury items (much like in the 1920s!) William J. Levitt & Levittown • Applied skills he had used in building barracks for the Army in WWII • Levitt’s contribution to the 1950s: Introduced mass production techniques to home building – HOW? (What was ONE way that Levitt made home construction cheaper and quicker?) • Built affordable houses in weeks as opposed to months: – Average builder built 5 houses a year – Levitt built 17,450 houses a year • Simple model (Cape Cod) - house could be expanded upwards & outwards (unfinished attic.) No basement (concrete foundation) • Bathroom directly behind the kitchen on one side (all major plumbing served double duty) – Inconvenient location -- far from the master bedroom – Avoid double plumbing, reorientation of closets and rooms, etc. – Result = more open, informal social life, decreased privacy and increased contact in intimate moments. Construction & Design • Orientationofrooms, entrances, and house in relation to front yard & street, back yard & play area: – Design kitchen & living room to look out on the street (mother could watch children playing whether she was doing housework or relaxing in the living room.) – Underlying assumption that the street was the center, the playground, the focus. • Later changed orientation to the backyard in his ranch style homes – Difficult to watch children in the back yard and common areas Life in Levittown was not without its restrictions... • All houses were equal in size and style: – Kitchenoutfittedw/aGE stove & refrigerator, stainless steel sink & cabinets, the latest Bendix washer, & a York oil burner – Only differences were color, roof line, and window placement • Homeowner could add their personal touch, but there were strict rules about making changes to the home’s design, decoration, etc. Restrictions (cont.) BEFORE AFTER Downsides to Life in Suburbia • Everything was the same (uniform) • Pressure to conform to the norm – HOW SO? • People were discouraged from being different • Reinforced gender stereotypes – MEANING? – Because all women were stay-at-home mothers and all men were the sole providers, it was expected that everyone would follow the same norms. Those who didn’t follow the norm stood out like a sore thumb. • All white – legal documents actually barred homeowners from selling to non-white families. The growth of suburbia was made possible by... • The rapid production of cars: – 70,000 cars made in 1945; 8 million in 1955 • Development of a national highway system. – The Interstate Highway Act (1956) provided $26 billion to build a national highway system more than 40 thousand miles long! • The boom in car ownership and growth of highways also led to the development of a new phenomenon...fast food! The birth of mass production in food service – McDonalds! • The first McDonalds drive-up restaurant was opened in San Bernadino, CA in 1939. At first it was run as a drive-up – attracted a younger crowd; it was a fun place to hang out! • Brothers realized restaurant could be run more efficiently and profitably. So they closed the restaurant down for a month in 1948 and made some changes – LIST 2: – Fired the carhops and added a drive-thru window (no seating in restaurants) – Changed the menu (too many items) + found that 80% of sales were hamburgers • Cut menu from 25 items to 9 (featured hamburgers and chose condiments – ketchup, mustard, onions and pickles – and found a machine to make the patties) – Started preparing the food in an assembly line – Replaced small grill with two 6 foot grills and replaced plates and silverware with disposable paper goods (eliminated need for a dishwasher) • New and improved restaurant was designed to attract families rather than singles and teens. It was successful! Families came for low prices & restaurant food. Ordered and ate in the car. McDonalds – like “Levittown on a Bun...” • The McDonald brothers had done for hamburgers what Henry Ford had done for cars. MEANING WHAT? • In1954,the2brotherspartnered with Ray Kroc, a former Multimixer salesman, who made McDonalds what it is today. – By 1954, the brothers already had nine franchises (DEFINE) but the brothers were less ambitious than Kroc. – Kroc had a vision...saw the potential for franchising – he was responsible for developing McDonalds into the first national chain. • In 1961, Kroc bought out the McDonald brothers, who he thought were holding him back with their laziness and lack of ambition. – The brothers got $1 million each for the sale of the name and the company (some estimate that Kroc made $600 million the time he died in 1984!!) • Once Kroc had control, he forced the McDonalds brothers to remove the name - their own name - from the original restaurant. They renamed it Big M. Kroc didn’t stop there; he opened a brand new McDonalds one block away! • By1984,McDonaldswasserving17millioncustomersaday.If McDonald’s lined up all the hamburgers sold since 1955, they would circle the equator 103.75 times and reach to the moon and back 5 times. Popular Culture in the 1950s Fashion, Fads, Inventions, etc. In 1950... • The population of the U.S. is 150,697,361. (In 2009, the population was 305,529,237.) • 64% of Americans in 1950 lived in cities. • There are 1,667,231 marriages (23% of which ended in divorce). (In 2009 there were 2,162,000 marriages (50% of which ended in divorce).) – Median age for 1st marriage is 22.8 years old for men and 20.3 for women. (In 2010, it was 28 years old for men and 26 for women.) • 21.6 percent of wives worked outside the home. By 1960, that number hit 30.5 percent. The reason for the jump? There was simply so much to buy. (Today, women account for 49.9% of all workers.) • FBI institutes the 10 Most Wanted list. • Smokey the Bear gains national popularity. • Silly Putty is introduced! • Haloid Corporation (later renamed Xerox) develops the first xerographic copy machine. • Walt Disney's “Cinderella” opens in theaters. • Cartoonist Hank Ketcham created "Dennis the Menace.” • The first self-service elevator is installed in Dallas. • Food: – Pillsbury and General Mills introduce prepared cake mixes. – Sugar Pops are introduced. – KRAFT® Deluxe processed cheese slices - the first commercially packaged sliced process cheese - are introduced. – Minute Rice is launched. – The Open Kettle, a coffee and donut shop in Quincy Mass. is renamed Dunkin' Donuts. The first franchise is offered in 1955. Inventions and Innovations of the 1950s • Mr. Potato Head made his debut in 1952. • The original Mr. Potato Head toy consists entirely of pieces – children used a real potato for the body! • The Mr. Potato Head toy was the first toy ever advertised on network TV. Other Inventions and Innovations • 1954: • 1950: – Zenith introduces "lazy bones" tuning. Hand held device plugs into TV. – Answering Machine created. • 1951: – UNIVAC1becomesthefirst commercial computer. – Atomic Energy Commission produces electricity from atomic energy. – Super glue invented. – Chrysler introduces power steering – First videotape recorder invented. – Still camera gets built-in flash units. • 1952: – Mr. Potato Head patented. – Sony, a brand new Japanese company, introduces the first pocket-sized transistor radio • 1953: – The first 3-D movie is shown – Dow Chemical creates Saran Wrap – TV color broadcasting began in 1953 – Thefirstsuccessfulkidneytransplant was performed in the U.S.. The patient survived for seven more years. • 1955: – Zenith invented the "Flashmatic," the first wireless TV remote. – GregoryPincusdevelopsthefirstoral contraceptive – The first home microwave ovens are manufactured. They cost $1300 which really slows sales! • 1956: – Thefirstcomputerharddiskused. – Secretary Bette Nesmith Graham invented "Mistake Out” (White Out). • 1957: – Fortran (computer lang.) invented. – Velcro is patented. – "AA" size alkaline batteries invented • 1958: – The modem invented. • 1959: – The internal pacemaker invented. Fads of the 1950s • Hula hoops • Telephone cramming • 3-D movies • Coonskin caps • Chlorophyll • Poodles • Pink • Poodle skirts & saddle shoes • Panty raids • Yo-yos • Barbie and GI Joes • Bikinis • Frisbees Fashion of the 1950s Television in the 1950s • Developed in the 1930s but not popular until after WWII. Prior to the 1950s, people relied on radio and newspaper for entertainment. • 1950s saw a boom in TV sales – 1947, RCA mass-produced a 7-inch TV and sold 170 thousand of them – 1950,therewereabout10millionTVsetsin the U.S. – By 1953, 2/3 of all American families owned TVs • In1955,theaverageAmericanfamilywatched TV for 4-5 hours a day • 1950s TV was black and white, mostly on in the afternoons and evenings, relied on an antenna for reception (no remote controls) • Change to color TVs by the early to mid-1960s (too expensive to purchase in the 1950s and many had only just bought their TVs) 1950s Television http://www.iec.ch http://www.iec.ch