US and Popular culture

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• US and Popular culture

Title
Focus

• The USA in early 1950s
• What is popular culture?
• What was it in early 1950s USA

Key Words
Celebrity someone who is famous Mass Production
goods made on conveyor belt so cheaper
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• Describe popular culture in the USA in the early
  1950s.
• Why did Elvis Presley have such an impact on US
  Society in 1956-57?
• In what way did US society attempt to restrict
  the influence of people like Elvis Presley?

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USA - facts

• US formed as a Republic 1776
• when 13 colonies broke away from Britain
• Expanded west frontier mentality
• Millions emigrated from Europe to USA
• Government dominated by two political parties
• Democrats and Republicans
• Harry Truman President 1945-1953 Democrat
• Dwight D Eisenhower President 1953-1961
  Republican
• Entered WWII 1941
• Wealth created from making arms for war.
• 1941-1945 GNP rose by 36
• Exploded first nuclear bomb in August 1945
• Post-war
• Jobs, wages and mass-produced goods plentiful
• 6 world population 40 worlds wealth
• Superpower/Cold War
• USSR communist Russia seen as enemy
• Continued arms spending source of wealth
• Red scare witch hunt

BACKGROUND
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Homework

• Find out and hand in
• When and where was Elvis Presley born?
• Where did he live most of his life?
• Is that in the southern or northern USA?
• How many states are there in the USA?
• What was Presleys first hit song?
• Who was the US President then?
• Was he of the Democrat or Republican Party?
• When did Rosa Parks refuse to give up her seat to
  a white passenger?
• Name two Hollywood films Presley was in.
• 10. Who is a singer young people today admire and
  want to be like.

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Popular Culture means the lifestyle, fashions and
ideas that are common in a society. They are
passed on to the people through, T.V, film,
adverts, magazines, radio etc.
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Popular Culture in US in early 1950s Life in
Suburbia
The new wealth, mass production and advertising
affected life for middle class, white Americans
in a number of ways.
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• Popular Culture i.e. a way of life followed by
  the majority of the population, really began in
  the 1950s.
• It began then for the following reasons
• New wealth USA was very rich after the WW2. A
  lot of people had far more money to spend on
  clothes, entertainment and their homes.
• Mass Production where objects like cars, TVs
  radios fridges etc were made on a conveyor belt
  instead of made individually. This made goods
  much cheaper.
• Advertising this is linked to the previous two.
  More money and cheaper goods meant that companies
  had to compete with each other to get people to
  spend their money on their product. TV and radio
  made it easier to get the message across to
  people and make them want all the latest goods
  and fashion.

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A Levitt Home
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What was Suburbia?
The boost in the Us economy made many Americans
wealthier than they had ever been. This meant
that they had more cash to spend. The invention
of cheap LEVIT homes and the new wealth meant
more people were able to buy homes (This
coincided with the Baby Boom) The word suburb
comes from SUB meaning under or junior to
something AND urban meaning town. Suburbs were
built at the outskirts of towns and cities where
there was plenty of available space. This meant
that a car was vital, in order to commute to the
city for work and to get the shopping etc.
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• The other big change in life was that as the men
  came back from war they needed jobs
• So many woman who had been working had to gotten
  out of the work place and back to work.
• They were encouraged to do this by
• Men earning more money so they didnt need to
  work
• New homes
• New domestic appliances
• New feminine fashions

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A 50's "gas guzzler" car
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Popular Culture means the lifestyle, fashions and
ideas that are common in a society. They are
passed on to the people through, T.V, film,
adverts, magazines, radio etc. These are some of
the people who were very popular in the early 50s

Female singers/actresses Doris Day and Rosemary
Clooney were role models for young women.
Marilyn Munroe was another star who had a
fairytale wedding to the biggest sports star in
America, baseball player, Joe DiMaggio.
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Radio had been around before the war but advances
in electronics meant that they were smaller and
could be put in bedrooms. The range of shows
appealing to all sections of society was
expanding Also for groups like teenagers and
black people who were more likely to own a radio
than a TV set. (TVs were still quite
expensive) This led to a lot of new stations
starting up playing music that would appeal to
teenagers and the black community.
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• Joe DiMaggio was a famous film star
• TRUE/FALSE
• Which country did USA break away from?
• Doris Day was a famous American actress.
• TRUE/FALSE
• Which country was USAs rival in the Cold war?
• Southern USA was no longer segregated society in
  the 1950s
• TRUE/FALSE
• Name a type of American car popular in the 1950s?

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(No Transcript)
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The Phenomenal growth of TV- 1946 7,000 TV sets
existed in the U.S 1948 148,000 sets 1950 4.4
million sets 1955 50 million sets Television
created the biggest consumer market ever.
Advertising grew as companies making all sorts of
products from bubble gum to fridges tried to get
middle class Americans to part with their cash.
They even invented market research and consumer
surveys to try to find out how to sell more
stuff. And what about the TV programmes
themselves? Even some TV shows were just a type
of advert for a new product, e.g. Disneyland
opened in 1955 after months of hype on the
popular TV show called Disneyland! Disneyland
itself blurred the boundaries between TV and
reality by presenting an ideal version of
America no black people, no teenage rebels, no
poverty- just apple pie goodness.
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• TV sitcoms from the 1950s, such as I LOVE LUCY
  upheld ideal lives that were being stretched and
  strained in real life.
• These domestic comedies were popular and
  emphasized the nuclear suburban white family, in
  neighbourhoods where there were no black people
  or poor people and where mothers never needed or
  wanted to work outside the home.
• Westerns were also extremely popular fighting
  the baddies, being brave and doing the right
  thing and looking back into American history
  appealed to many during those rapidly changing
  times.
• It even changes the way Americans ate! Finger
  food! Snacks! TV dinners! Were all invented for
  the family to eat in front of the TV

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• TV sitcoms from the 1950s, such as I LOVE LUCY
  upheld ideal lives that were being stretched and
  strained in real life.
• These domestic comedies were popular and
  emphasized the nuclear suburban white family, in
  neighbourhoods where there were no black people
  or poor people and where mothers never needed or
  wanted to work outside the home.
• Westerns were also extremely popular fighting
  the baddies, being brave and doing the right
  thing and looking back into American history
  appealed to many during those rapidly changing
  times.
• It even changes the way Americans ate! Finger
  food! Snacks! TV dinners! Were all invented for
  the family to eat in front of the TV

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Top rated TV comedy shows such as I Love Lucy
starring a couple who were also married in real
life. This usually involved Lucy doing mad
things to impress her husband.
Another top comedy show was Sergeant Bilko.
This show was about a man in the army and how he
was always trying scams to get rich quick and
sticking up for the boys against the officers.
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Chat show like the Ed Sullivan Show were prime
time TV. Ed invited guests on to his show to
interview and allow to perform. Eventually he
allowed Elvis on to his family show.
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The Western was a very popular type of film. The
biggest western star was John Wayne. Westerns
always showed the Native Americans as baddies.
They were popular because they seemed to show how
tough and strong Americans were and that God was
always on their side! (Sound familiar?) If you
remember Woody from toy story was a 1950s toy.
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The drive in movie was possible because of all
the new cars that were about.
It was basically just a big field for cars to
park in in front of a big screen. It didnt catch
on in the UK because of the weather! It gave
teenagers a lot of freedom.
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The Rat Pack Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and
Sammy Davies Junior- a group of male performers
famed not only for their music but also their
glamorous lifestyle. Seen here singing in a
nightclub. Notice the evening wear clothes worn
very formal.
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Formal dressing was women in dresses matching
shoes and handbag/hats and gloves. No self
respecting women would go out in trousers! She
made sure that she always had a hair-do and her
face on! Men wore a suit and tie for work and
slacks and shirts for weekend casual. Hair was
short back and sides.
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Magazines like Woman's Weekly and Vanity
Fair full of articles on fashion sewing,
knitting patterns, household tips and adverts for
household products and consumer goods like
fridges.