The Golden Age: 1950s

Leah Colvin, Lauren Tidwell, Kasyn Ryan & Damon Melton

Entertainment • The Disneyland amusement park

in California opened on July 17, 1955 .

• Marilyn Monroe was very popular, as she was an amazing model and actress. She starred in numerous famous movies such as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953).

• The board game Scrabble was a huge hit in the fifties.

• The Western style television shoes were very popular such as, Hopalong Cassidy and Rawhide.

• Barbie was the biggest fad and entertainment for children in the fifties.

• The “Boeling Boom” was coined. • Dr. Seuss published The Cat in the

Hat in 1957.

Music • The 1950s saw the emergence

and rise of what would come to be known as Rock ‘n Roll.

• The King of Rock and Roll was Elvis Presley.

• “They would literary tear his clothes off they were so crazed by him” (66)

• Major hit song was “Blue Suede Shoes”

• His first movie was Love Me Tender (69).

• In 1957 Graceland was purchased by Presley. It is located on the outskirts of Memphis.

• On Dec. 20,1957 he was drafted into the war.

• Frank Sinatra produced songs like “I've Got The World On A String”, “I Get A Kick Out Of You” and “In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning”.

• In 1954, Johnny Cash was signed to the Sun Records label owned by Sam Phillips, who had also discovered rock 'n rollers Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis. Philips was impressed with the song "Hey Porter" Cash had written when he was returning home from the Air Force. When Phillips wanted a ballad for the b-side of "Hey Porter," Cash wrote "Cry, Cry, Cry" overnight.

Natural Disasters • 1950 marked the first public

tornado warning and use of radar to track storms.

• A deadly outbreak occurred between February 11 and 13 across southern states. 19 tornadoes touched down including F4’s in Louisiana.

• The Red River Flood was a devastating flood that took place along the Red River in the Dakotas and Manitoba in early 1950. Winnipeg, Manitoba was inundated on May 5, also known as Black Friday to some residents and was to be partially evacuated.

• Hurricane Abel or Hurricane Hiki hit the Hawaiian island which formed on August 12, 1950.

• Hurricane Dog was the strongest hurricane of the season.

50s FashionMen

• Clean cut and preservative• “The grey flannel suit” was

referred to by the American men.• Penny loafers were also very

popular for the guys. • Hats became less and less

popular• Men’s hair was kept cut clean

and short, typically a crew cut.• Bill Blass coined the style of blue

jeans, crew cuts and flat tops for guys

Women• After WWII there was a huge push to get the

women back in the home setting as housewives.

• Femininity was produced through the form of soft shoulders, stiletto heels, wrist-length gloves and full billowing skirts

• Pencil slim skirts and hats with feathers were also very popular.

• The “New Look” originated for women with the Christian Dior style.

• Poodle skirts became a popular hit.• Hairstyles were softly curled.

FashionTeenagers

• Teenagers started the age of rock-and-roll type clothing and style.

• For the first time, young people stopped imitating their elders and begin to transform their own style with inventing new styles of music, dress, and expressing themselves.

• Many of these young people were looked at as “hell-raisers”.

• A leather jacket became popular for a rebellious type attitude.

Girls and Boys

• For a boy, his first pair of jeans were a sign of manhood

• Young girls wore cotton dresses, blouses, & cardigan sweaters

Pop Culture• Music and a dance style

known as “the jive” was very popular.

• Model airplanes• Dick Clark was a popular

T.V. dance star.• Diners were known for

many crowd gatherings and social time.

• Jukeboxes came about• Baby Boom • Drive-in movies was the hit

entertainment.

Science Inventions/Technolo

gy• The first colored T.V. and motion pictures were being used.

• 2/3 of all American families owned one

• The first frozen “french fries” were invented by the JR Simplot Company .

• Hydrogen bombs were being created.

• The use of rockets were being experimented.

• Videotapes and recorders were invented in 1956.

• Nuclear power was the new source of energy.

• In 1947 the first transistor was invented

• The very first Polio Vaccine was used

Sports Heroes

• Jackie Robinson- Professional baseball player. Broke the color barrier of the MLB.

• Jim Brown- One of footballs best running backs. Later retired at age 30 and became a movie star.

• Bob Cousy- Played for the Boston Celtics from 1950-1963. • Sugar Ray Robinson- American boxer and 5 time middle

weight champ.

1955•Disneyland opens•Emmet Till murdered•McDonald’s corporation founded•Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat on the bus.

1956•Hungarian Revolution•T.V. remote control was invented

Headlines1950• Credit Cards introduced• Korean War started1951• Color TV introduced• WWII officially ends1952• Polio vaccine created1953• DNA discovered• First Playboy Magazine1954• First Atomic submarine

launched

Headlines1957• Dr. Seuss publishes The Cat

in the Hat. • Soviet Satellite Sputnik

launches space age.1958• Lego toy bricks introduced• NASA founded• Peace symbol created1959• Castro becomes Dictator of

Cuba• Kitchen debate between

Nixon and Khrushchev

Family Roles • Consisted of a bread winner father,

homemaker money, and several children.

• Most lived in the suburbs on the outskirts of a larger city.

• The model family• Simple• Still segregation and racism

50’s Transportation

• Railroads and later long-haul trucking lines were the connection from local markets to the consumers in the cities.

• In 1950 the average cost of a new car was $1,510.00 .

Literature• The main part of Literature in the 1950s was novelists and

poetry.• Literature was a method of communication for the writers. • Hemingway was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.• Other authors were writing novels that dealt on a personal

level.• Many of Hemingway’s works are considered classics of

American Literature.

Communication

• Not everyone had a phone.• Television was not like it is today.• Radio and letters were still considered a primary source of

information.• During this decade the telegram became outdated.

• People wrote letters to everyone they knew.

Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgkNr04VcCA&feature=youtu.be