The 1950s

A Decade in Retrospect

Statistics

Population: World – 2.52 billion U.S. – 152 million

Financial: U.S. National Debt - $257,357,352,351.04  Average U.S. Annual Salary - $2,992 Price of a loaf of bread - $0.14 Minimum Wage - $1.00 (as of 1955)

Life Expectancy Male – 65.6 years Female – 71.1 years

Divorces – 385,144

Food

1950: Jell-O Instant Pudding Dunkin’ Donuts

1952: Pez Sugar Frosted Flakes KFC

1953: Frozen T.V. Dinners

Food, Con’t.

1954: Trix Burger King McDonalds

1957: Sweet’N Low

1958: Jif Peanut Butter Pizza Hut

Party Snack: Chex Mix

Fashion – Male

Hair Ducktail Cut (Duck Butt, D.A.) Grease! Crewcut and Flat-Top Hats were Essential

Clothing Business – dark brown, charcoal, or black suits Casual – conservative, “preppy”

Cardigan Sweaters Pink Clothing (Fad) Cowboy Look

Fashion – Female

Hair Short, Soft, Curly Used Curlers, Rollers, Pins, etc. No Blow Dryers! “Poodle Cut” was a favorite

Clothing Dressed “smartly” – well groomed and

tailored looks were prized Jeans (then, called “dungarees”) were

only worn in very casual circumstances Sailor look was popular in teens Gloves were part of all proper attire

Fashion – Shoes

Men Wore saddle and regular dress shoes

Women Stiletto heels to be fashionable Flats for school and daily wear

Makeup

“Peaches and cream” complexion Foundation applied as liquid or as pressed powder Eyebrows

Usually narrowed Minimal blush and eyeshadow, creating natural look

Dramatic look was OK, especially in evenings Lipstick

Pastels were favored colors, especially in younger women

Slang

“Cruisin’ for a bruisin’” “Back seat bingo” “Greaser” “Jets” “Like, crazy” “Like, wow” “Passion pit” “Razz my berries”

Music

Notable artists of the time: Elvis Presley Bill Haley

“Shake, Rattle, and Roll” “Rock Around the Clock”

Jerry Lee Lewis “Great Balls of Fire”

Buddy Holly “Peggy Sue”

Frank Sinatra “Love and Marriage” “I’ve Got the World On a String”

The Rise of Rock and Roll

1950 - - 1952 - - 1954 - - 1956 - - 1958 - - 1960|

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1951: 1st rock and roll record released – Ike Turner’s Rocket 88.

1953: Elvis Presley makes first private recordings.

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1954: Bill Haley’s “Rock Around the Clock” is first rock song used in movie soundtrack.

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1956: “Heartbreak Hotel” by Elvis; Love Me Tender – his 1st film – is released.

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1959: Market share of Rock and Roll increases to 42.7% - up from 14.7% In 1955.

Elvis Presley

Born: January 8, 1935 Died: August 16, 1977 Career took of in 1956 with the release of “Heartbreak Hotel” In the Army from 1958-1959 Greatest Hits:

“Heartbreak Hotel” “Love Me Tender” “Hound Dog” “All Shook Up” “Don’t Be Cruel” “Jailhouse Rock”

“The Day the Music Died”

February 3, 1959 23 year-old Buddy Holly, 17 year-old Ritchie Valens, and

28 year-old J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson die in plane crash near Fargo, North Dakota Referenced to in Don McLean’s 1971 song, “American

Pie.”

Fads

3-D Movies Chlorophyll

Believed it eliminated bad smells Put in everything

Hula Hoops Developed by Richard Knerr and Arthur “Spud” Melin,

founders of the Wham-O company Sold 25 million in less than two months, with 100 million

international orders.

Fads, Con’t.

Poodles Ceramic poodles, plastic poodles, colored poodles,

wearable poodles, etc. Poodle haircut (i.e. Lucille Ball)

Telephone Booth “Cramming” Tried to fit as many people as possible in a telephone

booth 25 people is record, set in South Africa

Silly Putty

Television

8 million sets in households by 1950 Huge revenues

Largely due to cigarette advertising and sponsorship

Shows

I Love Lucy (CBS – 1951) Lassie (CBS – 1954) Mickey Mouse Club (ABC – 1955) The Honeymooners (CBS – 1955) Leave It to Beaver (CBS – 1957) The Twilight Zone (CBS – 1959)

Advertisements – Television

Advertisements – Print

Saturated with: Cigarette brands Cars Television sets Various material goods

Computer Systems

UNIVAC (Universal Automatic Computer) – 1951 Cost in almost $1 million Used in government and exclusive commercial

applications (first was at the GE Appliance Park in

Louisville, KY)

Computer Systems, Con’t.

IBM 701 Computer – 1953 First commercially available scientific

computer Commissioned by government for military

applications in Korean War Microchip (Integrated Circuit) is Developed

- 1958 Robert Noyce (later founder of Intel Corp.)

and Jack Kilby

Satellites

Sputnik I– October 4, 1957 U.S.S.R. First satellite ever Unmanned Followed by Sputnik 2 (November 3,

1957) and Sputnik 3 (May 15, 1958)

and later missions in the 1960s Explorer I – 1958

United States Designed by California

Institute of Technology

Sputnik

Advances in Medicine

Polio Vaccine – 1952 Jonas Salk

DNA Structure – 1953 Francis Crick and James Watson

Inventions

Xerox Copy Machine – 1950 Chester Carlton

Videotape – 1952 VERA (Vision Electronic Recording Apparatus)

Frisbee – 1957 Made successful by Wham-O

Pantyhose – 1959 Barbie Dolls – 1959

Named after Ruth Handler’s daughter, Barbara Produced by Mattel

Nuclear Warfare

Rosenberg Trial – 1951 Ethel and Julius Rosenberg prosecuted for leaking

secrets of atomic bomb to Russia Executed on June 19, 1953

Nuclear Ballistic Missile is Invented – 1956

The Hydrogen Bomb

Test of First Hydrogen Bomb – 1956 Developed by Edward Teller “Mike”; weighed 82 tons Over 800 times the power of the

bomb that leveled Hiroshima Leveled the island of Elugelab in the Eniwetok Atoll, Pacific Ocean, and blew 80 million tons of radioactive

waste into the sky

The Hydrogen Bomb – Video

Politics

Presidents: Harry S. Truman (1945-1953)

Atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 Truman Doctrine Fight against communism

Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961) Ended Korean War Civil rights

Politics

McCarthyism Senator Joseph McCarthy accused the State Department

of having been infiltrated by communists Blacklisted celebrities Joseph Welch: “Have you no sense of decency?” Died in 1957, age 48

States Alaska and Hawaii become 49th and 50th states in 1959

Korean War - Overview

On June 25, 1950, North Korea invaded United States occupied South Korea in hopes of thwarting America and democracy

President Truman sought to give help to South Korea through the United Nations

Victory by General Douglas MacArthur when he pushed the North Koreans back across the 38th parallel (dividing line between countries)

Ended in 1953

Korean War - Entry

President Truman was under pressure for being too “soft” on Communism

The Truman Doctrine Initiated to stop spread of communism; if President

Truman didn’t act against the communism in Korea, he

would be going back on his word and his beliefs

Korean War - Reaction

Known as “The Forgotten War” or “Unknown War” because it followed WWII and was before the Vietnam War

Changed America’s view of Third World countries Before: Criticized countries trying to help After: Full support of trying to help those less fortunate

Helped the civil rights movement First time America had fought with an integrated army

Civil Rights

Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1952 Removes racial and ethnic barriers to

becoming a U.S. citizen May 17, 1954 - Brown v. Board of

Education Declares segregation in public schools

unconstitutional Victory for NAACP attorney Thurgood

Marshall, who would later become the first

black Supreme Court Justice

Civil Rights, Con’t.

August 1955 - 14-year-old Emmett Till is kidnapped, brutally beaten, shot, and dumped in the Tallahatchi River Two white men are arrested and subsequently acquitted

by an all-white jury December 1, 1955 - Rosa Parks refuses to give up bus

seat, spurs bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama 1957 - The Southern Christian Leadership Conference is

established by Martin Luther King Jr., Charles K. Steele, and Fred L. Shuttlesworth

A Tribute to Rosa Parks – 12/01/55

Civil Rights, Con’t.

1957 – Nine black students are blocked from entering previously all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas by orders of Governor Orval Faubus Federal troops and national guard are sent by Eisenhower

to intervene Group became known as the “Little Rock Nine”

Cold War

Jaunuary 12, 1951 – Federal Civil Defense Administration is established Response to Soviet’s first atomic explosion and Korean War At first, only had small budget and limited power After 1958, spending was increased, and civil defense was

made a top priority By October 25, 1962, there were over 112,000 fallout

shelters providing possible protection for over 60 million

U.S. citizens

Cold War, Con’t.

March 1954 – the KGB is established Original name, CHEKA (Russian acronym meaning “All

Russian Extraordinary Commission for Combating

Counter-Revolution and Sabotage) altered and changed

until it became the komitet gosudarstvennoi bezopasnosti

(Committee of State Security), or the KGB Five main directorates:

1. Intelligence in other nations

2. Counterintelligence and the secret police

3. The KGB military corps and the Border Guards

4. Suppression of internal resistance

5. Electronic espionage

Literature

Focused on topics such as: Individual control over one’s fate

Bishop Fulton J. Sheen Conformity

David Riesman, The Lonely Crowd Views of American life

Chinua Achebe Anti-establishment movement

Neal Cassady

Novels

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe – C.S. Lewis (1950)

I, Robot – Isaac Asimov (1950) The Martian Chronicles – Ray Bradbury (1950) Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger (1951) Charlotte’s Web – E.B. White (1952) Casino Royale – Ian Fleming (1953) Fahrenheit 451 – Ray Bradbury (1953) Lord of the Flies – William Golding (1954) The Lord of the Rings – J.R.R. Tolkien (1954-1955) Atlas Shrugged – Ayn Rand (1957)

Drama

A Raisin in the Sun – Lorraine Hansbury (1950) The Crucible – Arthur Miller (1953) Cat on a Hot Tin Roof – Tennessee Williams (Produced,

1955) The Diary of Anne Frank - Frances Goodrich and Albert

Hackett (1956) Long Day’s Journey Into Night – Eugene O’Neill (1957)

Magazines

MAD Magazine (October-November 1952) The National Enquirer is Reborn (1952) Playboy Magazine (1953) TV Guide (April 3, 1953) Sports Illustrated (August 16, 1954)

Comics

DC Comics revives superheroes “Silver Age of Comic Books” The Flash – 1956

Peanuts – Charles Schulz (1950) Dennis the Menace – Hank Ketcham (1951)

Philosophical Movements

Draws on a number of approaches to criticize western

thought, including historicism and psychoanalytic theory Most famous postmodernist is Richard Rorty

Postmodern Philosophy “Started” in the 1950s A rejection of doctrines such as positivism,

Darwinism, materialism, and objective idealism Emphasizes importance of power

relationships, personalization, and discourse

in the “construction” of truth and worldviews

The Beat Generation

Relatively small group of struggling writers, students, hustlers, and drug addicts

Advocated nonconformity Eventually gave way to the “hippie” generation in the 60s

The End