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Section 3

Popular CultureMainstream Americans, as well as the nation’s

subcultures, embrace new forms of entertainment

during the 1950s.

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New Era of the Mass Media

The Rise of Television

• Mass media—means of communication that reach

large audiences

• TV first widely available 1948; in almost 90% of

homes in 1960

• Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

regulates communications

• By 1956, FCC allows 500 stations to broadcast

• Programs: comedies, news, dramas, variety shows,

children’s shows

• Lifestyle changes: TV Guide is popular magazine;

TV dinners

Popular Culture3

SECTION

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continued New Era of the Mass Media

Stereotypes and Gunslingers

• Women, minorities on TV are stereotypes; few

blacks, Latinos

• Westerns glorify historical frontier conflicts

• Raise concerns about effect of violence on children

3

SECTION

Radio and Movies

• Television cuts into radio, movie markets

• Radio turns to local news, weather, music,

community affairs

• Movies capitalize on size, color, sound advantages;

try gimmicks

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3

SECTION

The Beat Movement

• Beat movement—writers, artists

express social, literary nonconformity

• Poets, writers use free, open form;

read works aloud in coffeehouses

• Beatnik attitudes, way of life attract

media attention, students

A Subculture Emerges

Teen Culture

Behavioral Rules of the 1950s:

U Obey Authority.

U Control Your Emotions.

U Don’t Make Waves Fit in with the Group.

U Don’t Even Think About Sex!!!

Teen Culture“Juvenile Delinquency” ???

Marlon Brando inThe Wild One

(1953)

James Dean inRebel Without a Cause (1955)

1951 J. D. Salinger’sA Catcher in the Rye

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3

SECTION

Rock ‘n’ Roll

• Black musicians add electric instruments to

blues—rhythm and blues

• Rock ‘n’ roll—mix of rhythm and blues,

country, pop

• Has heavy rhythm, simple melodies, lyrics about

teenage concerns

• Music appeals to newly affluent teens who can

buy records

• Many adults concerned music will lead to

delinquency, immorality

African Americans and Rock ‘n’ Roll

Teen CultureIn the 1950s the word “teenager” entered

the American language.

By 1956 13 mil. teens with $7 bil. to spenda year.

1951 “race music” “ROCK ‘N ROLL”

Elvis Presley “The King”

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3

SECTION

The Racial Gap

• African-American singers like Nat “King”

Cole, Lena Horne popular

• Many black artists play jazz, music

characterized by improvisation

• African-American shows mostly broadcast on

black radio stations

- content, advertising target black audiences

• Important to black audiences with fewer TV

sets, no presence on TV

continued African Americans and Rock ‘n’ Roll

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Section 4

The Other AmericaAmidst the prosperity of the 1950s, millions of

Americans live in poverty.

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The Urban Poor

White Flight

• 1962, 25% of Americans below poverty

level

• Post WW II–1960, 5 million blacks go from

rural South to urban North

• White flight results in loss of businesses,

tax payers to cities

• Cities can no longer afford to maintain or

improve:

- schools, public transportation, police and

fire departments

The Other America4

SECTION

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4

SECTION

The Inner Cities

• Poverty grows rapidly in decaying inner cities

• Poor economic conditions lead to illness and

terrible conditions

continued The Urban Poor

Urban Renewal

• Urban renewal—replace rundown buildings with

new low-income housing

• Housing and Urban Development Dept. created to

improve conditions

• Not enough housing built for displaced people

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4

SECTION

Mexicans Seek Employment• Many Southwest Mexicans become U.S. citizens after Mexican

War

• 1942–47, Mexican braceros, hired hands, allowed into U.S. to

work

• After war, many remain illegally; many others enter to look for

work

Poverty Leads to Activism

The Longoria Incident• Undertaker refuses funeral services to Felix Longoria, WW II

veteran

• Outraged Mexican-American veterans organize G.I. Forum

• Unity League of CA registers voters, promotes responsive

candidates

Continued . . .

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4

SECTION

Native Americans Continue their Struggle• During Depression, U.S. policy of Native American autonomy

• National Congress of American Indians: civil rights, maintain

customs

• U.S. stops family allotments, wages; outsiders take tribal lands

continued Poverty Leads to Activism

The Termination Policy• Termination policy cuts economic support, gives land to

individuals

• Bureau of Indian Affairs helps resettlement in cities

• Termination policy is a failure; abandoned in 1963

Religious RevivalToday in the U. S., the Christian faith is back in the center of things. -- Time magazine, 1954

Church membership: 1940 64,000,0001960 114,000,000

Television Preachers:

1. Catholic Bishop Fulton J. Sheen “Life is Worth Living”

2. Methodist Minister Norman Vincent Peale The Power of Positive Thinking

3. Reverend Billy Graham ecumenical message;warned against the evils of Communism.

Well-Defined Gender Roles

The ideal modern woman married, cooked and cared for her family, and kept herself busy by joining the local PTA and leading a troop of Campfire Girls. She entertained guests in her family’s suburban house and worked out on the trampoline to keep her size 12 figure.

-- Life magazine, 1956MarilynMonroe

The ideal 1950s man was the provider, protector, and the boss of the house. -- Life magazine, 1955

Well-Defined Gender RolesChanging Sexual Behavior:

Alfred Kinsey:1948 Sexual Behavior in the Human

Male1953 Sexual Behavior in the Human

Female

v Premarital sex was common.

v Extramarital affairs were frequent among married couples.

Kinsey’s results are an assault on the family as a basic unit of society, a negation of moral law, and a celebration of licentiousness.

-- Life magazine, early 1950s

Progress Through Science

1951 -- First IBM Mainframe Computer

1952 -- Hydrogen Bomb Test

1953 -- DNA Structure Discovered

1954 -- Salk Vaccine Tested for Polio

1957 -- First Commercial U. S. NuclearPower Plant

1958 -- NASA Created

1959 -- Press Conference of the First 7American Astronauts

10B. Progress Through

Science1957 Russians launch SPUTNIK I

1958 National Defense Education Act

10C. Progress Through

Science

UFO Sightings skyrocketed in the 1950s.

War of the Worlds

Progress Through Science

Atomic Anxieties:

“Duck-and-Cover

Generation”

Atomic Testing:

1946-1962 U. S. exploded 217 nuclear weapons over thePacific and in Nevada.

THE 1950s:

“Anxiety, Alienation, and Social Unrest” ??

“Conservatism, Complacency, and Contentment”

OR

The postwar era witnessed tremendous economic growth and rising social contentment and conformity. Yet in the midst of such increasing affluence and comfortable domesticity, social critics expressed a growing sense of unease with American culture in the 1950s.

Assess the validity of the above statement and explain how the decade of the 1950s laid the groundwork for the social and political turbulence of the 1960s.

Class Discussion

Topic: