the culture of consumerism

“I was in third grade at the time. Suddenly, the next day, everybody in my class but me was Davy Crockett. And because I didn’t have my coonskin cap and my powder horn, or Old Betsy, my rifle, and my chaps, I was deemed the Mexican leader, Santa Anna. And they chased me home from school until I got my parents to buy me a coonskin cap.” Steven Spielberg, recalling the Davy Crocket craze of 1955What does this quote suggest about the power of fads?

The culture of Consumerism

• “A penny saved is a penny earned”– That is what Americans

had been taught• However, US economy

began a boom in the 1950s

• Americans were caught up in a wave of consumerism, buying as much as they could, much of it on credit

• What accounted for this spending spree?– Median Income:

• Rose from $3319-$5417

• Consumer oriented companies found new and innovative ways to encourage buying on credit

•Diner’s Club introduced the first credit card

Buying New Conveniences• Home appliances topped

the list of the goods– Washing machines,

dryers, refrigerators and ranges

– Transformed housework• Money to spend, easy

credit, and new goods shopping became a new pastime– Record number T.V. sets

sold 1946=6,000, 1953=7 mill

Family Life in the Fifties• Portraying the “Ideal”

family• NUCLEAR FAMILY

– Mother, Father, Children– Children-backbone– Women accepted role of

homemaker• “A Woman isn’t a woman

unless she’s been married and had children”

– But, by 1960, women held 1/3 of the nation’s jobs

Children are the Focus• Best selling book

of the era was Common Sense book of Baby and Child Care

• Another sign of the degree to which family revolved around their children– Amount of money

parents spent on their teens

Celebrating a Religious Revival

• Regular church attendance rose from 50 million to 80 million from 1940-1958

• Billy Graham attracted millions to revivals held around the nation

• During the 1950s, Congress added – “In God we trust” to the

dollar bill– “under God” to the Pledge

of Allegiance

Billy Graham

Improved Healthcare Benefits Baby Boomers

• Numerous advances in medicine – 1954-Jonas Salk

developed a vaccine against polio

– Penicillin-controlled numerous infectious diseases

• These advances and better understanding of diet, children born after 1946 had a higher life expectancy

Television takes Center Stage

Reflection on T.V.• T.V. shows reflected and

reinforced the ideal of the 1950s family– None had important

African American characters

– None got divorced– None had real-life

problems like alcoholism, depression

– No family problem was so great it couldn’t be cleared up within the allotted twenty minutes

• Nationally broadcast radio programs, Hollywood films and TV shows eroded distinct regional and ethnic cultures

• Television changed political campaigns.– During the 1952

presidential campaign, Americans could see candidates in action

– The impact of television on elections continues today

Rock-and-Roll Shakes the Nation

• Drawing on African-American roots– Rock originated in the

rhythm and blues tradition of African Americans

– Rock borrowed heavily from rhythm and blues

– “It used to be called boogie-woogie, it used to be called blues, used to be called rhythm and blues…It’s called rock now.” Chuck Berry

Attracting a Wider Audience• Elvis, who was from the south,

set off a new rock craze.• Effects:

– Generation gaps– Many parents objected to his

gyrating hips and tight pants– Ministers complained that

rock music seemed to unleash many youngsters

– Congress held hearings on the subversive nature of rock music

– Nonetheless, it became a symbol of the emerging youth culture and the growing power of youth on mass culture