1950’s American Culture

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1950s American Culture
If only the Govt. came up with some dumb way to
protect me.
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1950s American Culture

• Fashion
• Women
• Dresses
• blouses
• Skirts
• Pants
• Hair
• Swimsuits
• Shoes
• Makeup
• Prom and Evening Dresses
• Teenagers
• Men
• Hair
• Suits
• Shirts
• Hats
• Shoes

• Music of the 1950s
• Houses
• Levittowns
• Community Planning
• House Styles
• Floor Plans Plans
• Apartments
• Regulations
• Notable 50s Events
• Inventions
• Fads
• Slang

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Alan Freed and Sam Phillips

• Alan Freed Cleveland DJ coins the term Rock and
  Roll
• Sam Phillips owner of Sun Records in Memphis

Alan Freed
Sam Phillips
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Sun Records

• Owned by Sam Phillips
• Memphis, TN

• Johnny Cash, Elvis, Sam Perkins, and Jerry Lee
  Lewis The Million Dollar Quartet

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1950-1954 Music

• Coined Bubble Gum Music because of its sweet
  sound and nice lyrics
• Light Melodies
• Innocent Lyrics
• Wholesome Singers
• Music reflected the Post W.W.II good feelings
• Artists such as Perry Como, Rosemary Clooney, and
  Pat Boone Dominated the charts

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Music of the 1950s

• 1950-1954 Music Overview
• Freed and Phillips
• Sun Records
• 1955
• Influential Songs
• 1956
• American Bandstand

• The Rat Pack
• 1957
• 1958
• 1959

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The Rat Pack

• Frank Sinatra
• Dean Martin
• Lauren Bacall
• Judy Garland
• Humphrey Bogart
• Sammy Davis Jr.
• Peter Lawford
• Joey Bishop
• Cast in the 1960s

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American Bandstand

• Begin in 1952 as a local show in Philadelphia
• 1956 ABC picks it up as a national show Dick
  Clark becomes the host
• Starts off as a daily show, then becomes weekly
  in 1963
• American Bandstand Theme song

• Moves to LA in 1964
• Jerry Lee Lewis performs the first song on the
  national edition- Whole Lotta Shaking Going On
• Dick Clarks podium that he stood at, is now in
  the Smithsonian.
• B.B. King is the only performer to not lip sync
  on American Bandstand

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American Bandstand Theme Song

• "Bandstand Boogie"Music by Charles Albertine
  Words by Barry Manilow and Bruse Sussman"We're
  goin' hoppin' (Hop!) We're goin' hopin' today
  Where things are poppin'(Pop!) The Philadelphia
  way We're goin' drop in (Drop!)On all the music
  they play On the Bandstand.! "

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1956

• Elvis takes over
• The Platters
• Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers
• Johnny Cash
• Little Richard

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1957
1957 was the last year in the history of Rock in
which all of the year end Top Ten artists were
American

• Buddy Holly
• Everly Brothers
• Fats Domino
• Pat Boone
• Chuck Berry

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1958

• Jerry Lee Lewis marriage
• Danny and the Juniors
• Chimpmunks
• Connie Francis
• Little Anthony
• Elvis is in the Army

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1959

• The day the music dies
• Ritchie Valens, Big Bopper, and Buddy Holly all
  killed in a plane crash
• Paul Anka
• Bobby Darin

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1955

• Chess Records in Chicago signs Chuck Berry
• Leonard Chess is introduced to Berry by Muddy
  Waters
• Bill Haley and His Comets have a hit with Rock
  around the Clock

• Chuck Berry record Maybellene which was called
  Ida Red
• Berry had been studying cosmetology before this
  song

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1955

• 1955 spawned five titles considered by the Rock
  and Roll Hall of Fame to be among the 500 Most
  Influential - Ain't That a Shame (Fats Domino),
  Earth Angel (The Penguins), Mannish Boy (Muddy
  Waters), Maybellene (Chuck Berry), and Rock
  Around the Clock (Bill Haley and the Comets).

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Inventions of the 1950s

• 1950
• 1951
• 1952
• 1953
• 1954

• 1955
• 1956
• 1957
• 1958
• 1959

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1950

• Zenith introduces "lazy bones" tuning - change
  all television stations from the comfort of your
  easy chair. Hand held device plugs into TV
• Antihistamines enter popular use for treatment of
  allergies and head-colds.
• Leo Fender's guitar company introduced their
  Broadcaster and Esquire models, the first
  mass-produced solid body electric guitars.
• Telephone Answering Machine created by Bell
  Laboratories and Western Electric.

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1951

• UNIVAC 1 First commercial computer.
• A.E.C. (Atomic Energy Commission) produces
  electricity from atomic energy.
• Super glue invented.
• American automobile manufacturer Chrysler
  Corporation introduces power steering., which
  they called Hydraguide.
• Charles Ginsburg invented the first videotape
  recorder (VTR).
• J. Andre-Thomas invents the first heart-lung
  machine, allowing advanced life-support during
  open-heart surgery.
• Still camera gets built-in flash units.

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1952

• The first patent for bar code (US Patent
  2,612,994) issued to inventors Joseph Woodland
  and Bernard Silver
• American automobile manufacturer Chrysler
  Corporation introduces power steering., which
  they called Hydraguide.
• Sony, a brand new Japanese company, introduces
  the first pocket-sized transistor radio More

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1953

• Radial tires invented.
• The first musical synthesizer invented by RCA
• The first 3-D movie is shown Arch Oboler's Bwana
  Devil, starring Robert Stack. Learn More
• Francis Crick and James Watson discover the
  double helix'' of DNA.
• Con-Tact paper debuts
• Dr. Jonas Salk announces discovery of the vaccine
  for poliomyelitis
• White Rose Redi-tea is the world's first instant
  iced tea
• Dow Chemical creates Saran Wrap
• TV color broadcasting began in 1953

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1954

• Oral contraceptives invented.
• The first nonstick pan produced.
• The solar cell invented by Chaplin, Fuller and
  Pearson.
• The first successful kidney transplant is
  performed in the U.S. by Harvard physicians. The
  patient will survive for seven more years.
• General Electric introduces colored kitchen
  appliances. Bye, bye white!

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1955

• Tetracycline invented.
• Optic fiber invented Zenith engineer Eugene
  Polley invented the "Flashmatic," which
  represented the industry's first wireless TV
  remote.
• Gregory Pincus develops the first oral
  contraceptive

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1956

• The first computer hard disk used.
• As a result of the joint research of Sherman and
  Smith, the Scotchgard Protector was launched in
  the marketplace
• Secretary Bette Nesmith Graham invented "Mistake
  Out" later renamed, Liquid Paper
• The first commercial videotape recorder is
  introduced. The device is intended for industrial
  applications, and it quickly revolutionizes the
  way television programming is produced.

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1957

• Fortran (computer language) invented.
• Velcro is patented by George de Mestral of
  Switzerland.
• Eveready produces "AA" size alkaline batteries

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1958

• The modem invented.
• Gordon Gould invents the laser.
• The integrated circuit invented by Jack Kilby and
  Robert Noyce.
• Sterophonic recordings, which use two separately
  recorded channels of sound to recreate a sense of
  space, come into commercial use.

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1959

• The internal pacemaker invented by Wilson
  Greatbatch.
• In 1959, Joseph-Armand Bombardier of Valcourt,
  Quebec, Canada patented the Ski-Doo, originally
  christened the Ski-Dog, but renamed because of a
  typographical error that Bombardier decided not
  to change. You know it as a snowmobile.

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Notable 50s

• 1950 1956
• 1951 1957
• 1952 1958
• 1953 1959
• 1954
• 1955

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1959

• The Day the Music Dies
• One word Barbie
• Jiffy Pop
• Last Confederate soldier dies(the South will not
  rise again)
• Bonanza debuts
• The Guggenheim
• Sleeping Beauty
• Vince Lombardi starts in Green Bay
• Metrecal is introduced

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1950

• Silly Putty is introduced
• Smokey the Bear starts
• Peanuts starts
• 23 Divorce Rate
• Average age of marriage is 22 years old
• Kraft Cheese Slices are introduced

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1951

• Topps sells it first complete Baseball Card set
• Catcher in the Rye is published
• S and H green stamps are started in Denver
• Dennis the Menace is in over 750,000 newspapers
• Alice in Wonderland released
• First Jack in the Box opens in San Diego

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1952

• Old Man and the Sea is published
• Mr. Potato Head
• 50,000 stricken with Polio and 3,300 die
• Sugar Frosted Flakes
• The Power of Positive Thinking comes out.
• Gibson introduces the Les Paul guitar
• Sony comes out with a transistor radio

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1953

• Playboy first published first pictorials were of
  Marilyn Monroe.
• Jonas Salk comes up with discovery for polio
• Kraft Cheese Whiz
• Fahrenheit 451 is published

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1954

• Sports Illustrated is Born
• Burger King Opens
• M Ms come out
• Lord of the Rings is published
• Play Doh
• Bazooka Joe Comics
• Bannister breaks the 4 minute mile
• TV dinner is born

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1955

• Ann Landers columns starts in Chicago
• Home microwave sales start 1300
• KFC starts
• McDonalds starts
• Disneyland opens
• Ford Thunderbird debuts

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1956

• Yahtzee is Born
• Certs save the world from bad breath
• Wizard of Oz appears on TV
• Last Union soldier dies from the Civil War
• Marilyn Monroe marries Arthur Miller

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1957

• 47 million tv sets
• Tang is introduced
• West Side Story hits Broadway
• Jackie Robinson
• Frisbee is nationally marketed
• American Bandstand Goes National Dick Clark is
  the Host
• On the Road is published
• Ed Geins killing spree stops
• Barry Gordy starts MoTown Records

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1958

• Dr. Zhivago is published in the US. Banned in the
  USSR
• American Express and Visa are born
• HULA Hoop rolls out
• Grammy Award comes out
• 4,063 Drive Ins
• Rice a Roni
• Cocoa Krispies comes out(43 sugar)

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1950s Fads

• 3-D Movies
• Chlorophyll
• Coonskin Caps
• Think Pink
• Poodles
• Telephone Cramming
• Burma Shave

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Burma Shave

• Altho insuredRemember, kiddoThey don't pay you
  They payYour widow Burma-Shave

• SpringHas sprungThe grass has rizWhere last
  year'sCareless drivers is Burma-Shave

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Burma Shave Contd.

• Proper DistanceTo him was bunk They pulled him
  outOf some guy's trunkBurma-Shave

• A beardThat's roughAnd overgrown Is better
  thanA chaperone Burma-Shave

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Poodles

• Poodles become very popular. Poodles influence
  everything from skirts to lamps, even hair
  influenced by the poodles.

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Cholorphyl

• Beat odor. I figured your first question would be
  - what is that supposed to do for you? And the
  answer is that it was widely believed that
  chlorophyll eliminated bad smells.So they added
  it to every kind of product imaginable. The
  picture at left just suggests the variety and
  number of items to which chlorophyll became a
  promotable ingredient.Yes, chlorophyll is the
  stuff that makes plants green. Today many people
  still tout the benefits of it for health. No, I
  don't think you can just go out and eat a shrub
  and get the same result.While not engaging in
  the debate of chlorophyll's therapeutic
  properties, suffice it to say that it sold well.
  Until "The Journal of the American Medical
  Association" pointed out grazing goats virtually
  live on chlorophyll and they smell bad just the
  same.

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Coonskin Caps

• Davy Crockett was a big influence on kids. These
  hats were very popular with the kids who liked
  anything to do with the West, or cowboys or
  indians.
• 100 million dollars worth of coonskin caps were
  sold in a year.

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Telephone Cramming

• Starts in South Africa, goes to England, and then
  comes to California in 1959.
• Record of 25 people set in S.Africa 22 in
  America
• VW Beetle cramming also was a short-lived fad.

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Pink

• Formerly considered a "girlish" color, pink
  invaded men's wear. Yessir, pilgrims, even real
  tough hombres were donning pink ties, shirts, and
  bathrobes. Serious corporate types could be seen
  wearing pink under their grey flannel suits. This
  display of sartorial splendor was a radical
  departure from the drab neutral colors that once
  limited men's clothing choices. Pink was
  everywhere. There were pink bathrooms with
  accessories to match, pink cosmetics and of
  course, the ubiquitous pink poodle. And then
  there was Elvis with his famous pink Cadillacs.

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3-D Movies

• Reemerge during the 1950s
• Images appear to be coming out at you
• Moviegoers are giving the 3-D glasses
• Most films were sci-fi or monster movies

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The misunderstood Creature
Hi kids. Wanna go for a swim?
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Kitchen
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Levittowns Models
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Apartment Living 50s Style
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Levittowner Floor Plan
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Planning the Community
The Community Plan included schools, places of
worship, recreation areas and shopping facilities
as well as houses. This comprehensive approach is
analogous Levitt's house planning which, for
example, included landscaping as well as
providing a washer, stove and refrigerator in
each house. Levitts approach to community
planning and design created a full-service
community with "built-in" featuresjust like its
houses. For example, elementary schools were
centered inside each master block of sections so
that, in Levitt's words, "no child will have to
walk more than one half mile to school or cross
any major road." The Community Plan and design
included    41 Sections with 17,311 single
family houses    171 miles of roads    5
Olympic-sized community swimming pools   
Little League baseball fields    Lots of green
space and neighborhood parks    Large,
multi-purpose Community Hall    Two large,
centralized Shopping Centers    Sites set
aside donated for churches schools
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Teenage Girls
Should I play Pantera or RATT?
Ive got mad hops.
They should intern her dress.
Did you see what Suzie was wearing? Hello, it is
not 1945, the war is over.
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Shoes
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Shirts
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Hats
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1950s Hair
I cant even have my own shake.
Yes, I am this cool.
Heyyy!!
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Mens Suits
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Womens Shoes
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Evening and Prom Dresses
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1950s Makeup
 
Lilac Pastel, Apricot Pastel, Honey Pastel, Pink
Pastel, Peach Pastel, Strawberry Pastel. See what
I mean? And across, Snow Ball of Fire.
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1950s Pants/Outfits
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1950s Swimsuits
Technically, any two piece suit is a bikini. But
do you know where the name comes from? Originally
created by Parisian designer Louis Reard in 1946,
he named it after the Bikini Atoll, where the
atomic bomb was tested!
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1950s Womens Dresses
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Womens Hairstyles
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Womens Skirts
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Blouses