1950’s America: pop culture

Economic prosperity & Consumerism.

Unlike other Western countries the US didn’t have to pay
much money to rebuild after the war; since the only battle
fought on US soil was the Battle of Attu. Therefore, the
American government used some of their government
spending to provide subsidies to veterans. This manifested in
the form of the G.I Bill. This G.I Bill was created in 1944 and
provided a number of benefits to veterans such as: low cost
mortgages, loans, life insurance payouts and a year of
unemployment compensation. The money given to US
veterans through this bill improved the quality of life for the
families of veterans, enabling them to purchase cheap homes
in the suburbs of big cities.

In addition, developers were beginning to purchase large

portions of land out in the suburbs. These developers then
cheaply developed new homes and gave out low-cost
mortgages. This meant that many Americans migrated from the city to the suburbs; now it was cheaper to
live in the suburbs than an apartment in the city.

Overall, during the 1950’s there was a 30% increase in the purchasing power of the ‘average’ American.
The economy is estimated to have grown by about 37% and unemployment was only 4.5%. This
economic growth is evidenced by the fact that by 1950 4.4 million American families owned televisions.

The rise of the teenager

The term “teenager” was originally coined in the 1940’s but “teen culture” really started to become
established in the 1950’s. For the first time ever, teens were distinct from adults; they dressed differently
to their parents and developed their own tastes in music and fashion.
Teen fashion was mainly directed by the two main
stereotypes: Greasers and preppies. In this Boys life, Jack
becomes a ‘Greaser’ himself during his friendship with
Terry Silver and also during his friendship with Chuck.
Greasers usually had slick back hair, black shirts, jeans
and leather jackets. The fashion used by Greasers was
heavily inspired by motorcycle gangs, which had become
popular at the time. Contrastingly, preppies aimed to dress
studiously, often wearing long pleated skirts and sweaters.
The fashion of the 1950’s for teens was heavily inspired
by the style of Elvis Presley and James Dean. Their music
and films were highly marketed towards teens, hence why
the fashion sense of teenagers began to mirror these
stars.
Television
By 1950, 4.4 million American families owned a television. These
televisions were often from brands that we still recognise today such as
motorola. The 1950’s was known as the ‘golden age of television’ due to
the number of live broadcasts. Mainly, most of the shows on television
were sitcoms. Many sitcoms at the time tried to push the idea of the
nuclear family, an example of this is the popular sitcom ‘Father Knows
Best’. This show was also a radio show in addition to a television show.
One of the reviews of Father Knows Best taken from a review website
illustrates how the show tried to push traditional gender stereotypes and
the idea of a nuclear family:
“Everyone gets along and tries to do the right thing. Dad is recognized
as the head of the household. "Good" women are characterized as
being feminine and not "like men"; the Anderson children are raised
according to this standard. One episode features a dishonest "Spanish"
gardener.”

Films & Hollywood

After the second world war, over 300 Hollywood actors were blacklisted from the film industry due to
being suspected of being communists. In addition, there was a case called “the united states versus
paramount pictures” in 1948. This case set out new regulations on how film studios could distribute their
films. Both of these events could lead us to believe that film studios would have struggled during the
1950’s, however by targeting the new core demographic the “teenager”; film studio’s managed to evade
collapse.

Most of the films in the 1950’s aimed to appeal to teenagers. This was achieved by often including
popular musicians such as Elvis Presley in movies, furthermore more films under the romcom and horror
genre were produced during this time. There were also some major developments in the production of
films during this time, an example is the development of 3D cinematography and the fact that widescreen
pictures started to become the norm in cinema.

Music
In 1950’s America there was a huge decline in the popularity of the pop genre, in its place the ‘Rock n’
roll’ genre took over. This genre took influence from Blues and country music. Elvis Presley was seen as
a leading figure in the Rock n’ roll genre during this time.
Elvis became controversial amongst adults at the time for his
provocative dance moves.

At the time, parents greatly feared “juvenile delinquency”;

many parents disliked Rock n’ roll music because they felt it
had rebellious messaging that would lead their children to
become juvenile delinquents.
Some parents even called for Rock n’ roll music to be
banned.