1945-1961

Question 1

Why was there increased employment (2)

Answer 1

Factories worked to produce war materials
-millions served in the armed forces

Most Americans experienced unprecedented levels of disposable income

Question 2

Improvements in employment for veterans

Answer 2

-8 million veterans gained improved employment opportunities from the GI Bill of Rights (1944), offered free vocational training and higher education

Question 3

Other factors contributing to post-war boom (5)

Answer 3

-Cheap oil benefited industry
-Investment in research led to increased productivity
-Baby boom encouraged the purchase of homes and goods
-USA became archetypal consumer society
-Presidential policies, e.g. Eisenhower’s interstate highway

Question 4

Unemployment and personal income figures (2)

Answer 4

• Unemployment remained below 4%
• Personal income was 4x higher in 1945 than in 1933

Question 5

Poverty figures and social mobility

Answer 5

• Nearly 1/3 of Americans lived in poverty

BUT the boom led to a fall in poverty of 22%

Question 6

How was Social security coverage extended

Answer 6

extended to a further 1 million people

Question 7

What contributed to the post-war growth of tourism (6)

Answer 7

-Increased leisure time
-Growing affluence
-Improved roads
-Car culture
-Advertisements
-Development of travel agencies and roadside facilities

Question 8

Criticism of consumer society

Answer 8

• Some intellectuals saw it as materialistic and un-American
• Forcing uniformity and conformity

Question 9

Criticism of increased tourism

Answer 9

-Increasing commercialisation
-Damaged landscape

Question 10

Growth of spectator sports reflected … (3)

Answer 10

-Increasing commercialisation
-Power of telivision
-Changing race relations

Question 11

What caused the growth of car-owning culture (2)

Answer 11

-Post-War economic boom
-Eisenhower’s interstate high way

Question 12

Car-owning culture influence (3)

Answer 12

-Americans could drive to work, allowing people to move to the SUBURBS
-automobile industry employed thousands
-Led to a boom in service industries

Question 13

Negatives of car owning culture (3)

Answer 13

• ‘white flight’ people leaving crowded urban areas meant that the cities were deprived of their tax base
• This contributed to the growth of ghettos containing impoverished minority populations
• Public transportation also suffered as fewer people travelled by bus or railroad

Question 14

WW2 reinvigorating the US industry (GNP)

Answer 14

GNP more than doubled to $214 billion in the years 1939-45

Question 15

How much did Toy manufacturers make in 1959

Answer 15

$1.6 billion
- by 1961 $2 billion

Question 16

Stat to show 1960 consumerism (crazy)

Answer 16

Americans were 6% of the population and consumed 2/3 of the world’s goods