David Peltz
From War to Peace
16 million+ serve during WWII Demobilization=the dismantling of U.S.
war machines Active duty dropped from 12 mill in 1946
to 1.6 by mid 1947 Open jobs at industries being taken and
were converting to peacetime industry from wartime
Economic Growth
2 mill cars produced in 1946, nearly twice as many in 1955
975,000 TV's bought in 1948 and 2 years later 7.5 mill sold
1960 75% of people owned at least 1 car and 87 % owned at least 1 TV set
Gross National Product “GNP” (the total value of countries goods and services)
Economic Growth Cont.
GNP rose from 100 billion to 300 billion in 1950
Real Income=the amount of income earned taking into account an increase in prices increased more than 20%durning the same period
Discretionary Income=money to buy what they wanted as well as what they needed
Persuading the Consumer Advertisement
was one of the fastest growingindustries help grow bigger
○ color TVThey would make false statement
○ s to make you buy there product over others make there item seem better.
ex: a second car was a status symbol, mouthwash was the key to immediate social success
Movie
Impact of the GI bill
It was passed by congress in 1944. Using mass production the housing
industry built 13 million new homes during the 1950s
House ownership went from 44 to 62% from 1940 to 1960
The new world of business Bigger the Better The ibm jumped from 119.4 million in
1946 to 1.7 billion in 1961 General motors doubled its net assets
during the 1950s from 1.5 billion in 1951 to 2.8 billion in 1960
Farming Farm populations (in millions)
1940=30.51960=13.5Average acreage per farm
1940=1751960-297
Persons supplied per farm 1940=10.71960=25.8
Automobile Culture
Auto dealers sold a record of 58 million cars during the 1950s
New kind of car more power made of chrome and steel and many colors to choose from
Drive-ins Fast food drive-ins Drive-in movie theatres Waiters and waitresses on roller-skates
Highways
The highway act 1956 32 billion for construction of more
than 40,000 miles of federal highway
This section by:
William Bahureksa
Growth of Suburbia Suburbia- Residential areas outside the
city Suburbia grew during the 1950’s due to
various reasons including: Whites wanting to escape congestion of cities, minorities wanted to escape prejudice, and some just wanted a better life, as it was considered going up in the social chain by going to a suburb.
Modern
American Dream America now a steady and more or less
even lifestyle for most white Americans, however some felt like it was monotonous and was filled with conformity
However, because of this new living style and the closeness you have with your neighborhood, people became more social and often joined social groups or clubs to become part of the community
Currency Eisenhower started printing “In God We
Trust” on currency and stated, “everybody should have religious faith, and I don’t care what it is.”
Inventions
Billy Graham, Fulton J. Sheen, and Norman Vincent Peale were all people using the inventions, such as television, to broadcast religious messages and families began flocking to the churches
Baby Boom
According to statistics of the 1950’s, every 7 seconds, a baby was born
During the 1940’s to 60’s, birthrate for 3rd and 4th children doubled.
Because of the growth of more people, bigger houses were needed and more schools were built
More stuff
After school activities began, Girl scouts and brownies doubled, as well as Little leagues going from 800, to 6,000
Many TV programs were added,TV heroes for kids clubs.
Medical sciences
Antibiotics and vaccines diphtheriaInfluenza typhoid feverDr. Jones Salk
○ vaccine for polioDr. Albert Sabin
○ made an oral version, virtually wiping out polio
Woman’s place Dr. Benjamin Spock
encouraged women to stop beating their children
Women were discouraged from going to college and some studies were done saying that they don’t mind not succeeding personally
It was also stated by one professor that women should stay home and give comfort and warmth to the husband
Anderson Quintuplets
More on Women John Cheever
wrote a passage describing the women's role as hard and tiring
The education system encouraged the girls in school to lead the lives of their mothers, survey done in 1962 by Gallup Poll, 90% of
mothers did not want them to lead the same lives.
Women Questions their roles Women were left unsatisfied with their
lives at home and were also pushed out of their old jobs they had in WWII
However because of the women in lower economic ranks, they began working other jobs, in which from 1940 to 1960, working wives went up from 17% to 32%, 1.5 million to 6.6 million
Women keep going
Women filled many clerical and secretarial positions
Women often worked to help pay for the children or vacations
However, because of the working class of women was growing so much, the government began making restrictions.
Restrictions In 1960, census indicated that any
families making over $15,000 would have their income cut in half
Women faced this problem, as well as neglect and sexism in their jobs and social environments
They received about %40 less pay then men, so their American dreams and rights were undermined.
By: Adam Brito
Poverty and Plenty
Culture of poverty, the poor largely invisible members of a generally affluent American society
Hidden Poverty
The “invisible poor” were so well hidden the Fortune magazine stated that less than 1 million poor people were in the U.S.
Reasons for Invisibility
The population of midtown Manhattan dropped from 1.5 million during the day to 2,000 at night
The poor seemed invisible because they had no effective political voice
The urban poor in the 1950s included whites, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Native Americans
The Culture of Poverty
The poor after the war had no relief programs to help them out of poverty
Americans lived on about $2.10 Reasons for poverty were varied
such as racial inequality towards native Americans and Mexican Americans, as well the elderly
Young and Old
Half of the poor was made of children, and many of the others were citizens over 65
Because of all the modern technology, many older folks were found without jobs
Rural and Urban Poverty
The new technologies made it easy for big farms to rule out small farms
Drop in coal demand put 70% of coal workers out of business
The poor crowded into the rural areas, making living conditions harsh
African Americans
African American farmers in the south shared their poverty with their white counterparts, however, in the cities they lived there with the fear of the KKK and their harsh racial terrorism.
Made about half as much as whites, schools still segregated
Hispanic
Made of nations second largest minority
Women generally found jobs more than men, flipping the husband-wife relationship
Were politically insecure
Agricultural workers
Mexicans made up most of this group, however there were Puerto Ricans, poor whites, and African Americans
Worked 10 to 12 hour days, were not helped by the labor laws, children worked along side parents
Displaced Native Americans Native Americans were one of the
poorest, smallest and ignored groups
Generally, only 15%-20% of Native Americans were employed
Those that moved to the cities faced the same discrimination as Hispanic Americans and African Americans
Termination policy
In 1953, Federal government adopted a policy to end the reservations system and terminate Federal services to Native American groups
This resulted in the loss of thousands of acres of Native American land
Lacking political power, any protests were ignored, and they were left unnoticed
Top Related