Nancy Hendricks - Daily Life in 1950s America

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NANCY HENDRICKS

The Greenwood Press Daily Life Through History Series

Copyright 2019 by ABC-CLIO, LLC

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Hendricks, Nancy, author.
Title: Daily life in 1950s America / Nancy Hendricks.
Description: Santa Barbara, CA : Greenwood, an imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC, [2019] | Series: The Greenwood Press daily life through history series |
Identifiers: LCCN 2018049673 (print) | LCCN 2018050259 (ebook) | ISBN 9781440864421 (ebook) | ISBN 9781440864414 (alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: United StatesCivilization1945- | United StatesSocial conditions20th century. | Popular cultureUnited States20th century. | United States History1945-1953. | United StatesHistory1953-1961. | Nineteen fifties.
Classification: LCC E169.12 (ebook) | LCC E169.12 .H477 2019 (print) | DDC 973.91dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018049673

ISBN: 978-1-4408-6441-4 (print)

978-1-4408-6442-1 (ebook)

23 22 21 20 19 1 2 3 4 5

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To my parents with thanks for the perfect 50s childhood

Some people today think of the 1950s as a sleepy, idyllic time when nothing of importance happened in America or in the daily lives of its people. This book addresses the stereotypical image of the 1950s, which is generally that it consisted of a self-satisfied, post-war population preoccupied with conformity, rabid consumerism, driving big gas-guzzling cars, keeping up with the Joneses, and staring transfixed at a rudimentary form of TV.

Daily Life in 1950s America shows that the decade was anything but uneventful. Apart from revolutionary changes during the decade itself, it was in the 1950s that the seeds took root for the social turmoil of the 1960s and the massive technological advances in decades to come.

Along with major events of the 1950s such as the Korean War, the Red Scare, McCarthyism, the Cold War, Americas racial crisis, and the threat of a catastrophic nuclear conflict, this book illuminates the effect of those events on the daily lives of average Americans. It places the 1950s in the continuum of American history as well as reveals how the decade shaped the years to come.

Daily Life in 1950s America can be studied for academic purposes, as a historical reference, or for the enjoyment of reading for pleasure. Indeed, there was a lot that was pleasurable about the 1950s for many Americans. As will be seen in this book, many people who had grown up in the deprivation of the Great Depression in the 1930s and the austerity of the war years in the 1940s found the 1950s to be a great improvement in their lives at almost every level.

This book can be read by individual sections for specific interests or from beginning to end as a narrative. It will show how values were shaped and how they often collided. Presenting straightforward factual material as well as trends, it will become clear why things happened the way they did.

Daily Life in 1950s America examines how that decades juggernaut of advertising, technology, and especially TV shaped the nation. Moreover, it demonstrates how the 1950s stands alone, neither as an add-on to the postwar years of the 1940s nor merely as a prelude to the 1960s.

Each section demonstrates that not all Americans experienced the 1950s in the same way. The stories of African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, and those living amid poverty of regions such as Appalachia and the Mississippi Delta are spotlighted in the narrative.

The introduction provides an overview of the 1950s, placing the decade in its historical context.

A timeline follows the chronological progression of the 1950s, introducing people who became well-known public figures during the decade and illustrating the flow of significant events.

The glossary defines terms that the reader will find in the text.

Domestic life centers on the home and family, including subtopics such as men, women, children, teenagers, marriage, sexuality, rites of passage, and death.

Economic life takes a look at the broad issues that pertained to the financial and commercial matters of the 1950s, including advertising, consumerism, crime, immigration, labor, race, rural life, social class, suburban life, and urban life.

Intellectual life examines topics such as communication, cultural critics, education, health and health care, literature, medical advances, media, popular culture, and science.

Material life, which became especially significant for Americans in the 1950s, includes subtopics such as automobiles, clothing, food and drink, housing, possessions, and toys.

Political life looks at government, legislation, politics, political communication, warfare, and weapons, showing how those issues affected the daily lives of average Americans.

Recreational life took on a major role in the 1950s as more Americans experienced greater leisure time; subtopics include dance, exercise, leisure, movies, music, sports, TV, theater, travel, and visual art.

Religious life examines spiritual matters in American life during the 1950s in such areas as ceremonies and rituals, denominations, holy days, nontraditional groups, and religion in secular life.

Primary documents in each section have been chosen to illustrate issues of the 1950s that affected Americans in their own words.

The appendices take a look at the decades award winners, best sellers, championships, chart-toppers, and popular slang as well as major congressional legislation and U.S. Supreme Court decisions that affected daily life in the 1950s.

A bibliography offers suggestions for further information on specific topics.

Above all, this book aims to illuminate a decade that was far more dynamic than it might seem at first glance. The United States emerged from World War II as the richest, most powerful nation the world had ever known. Few people wanted to question an economic, political, and social system that seemed to be working so well for so many. Yet, under what appeared to be a tranquil surface, there were undercurrents propelling the country and its people into the unknown. This book looks beneath the surface to discover where those forces led.