KEY TOPIC 1 : AFFLUENCE AND CONFORMITY, 1955-63

Question 1

Pennslyvania Levittown constructed

Answer 1

1955

Question 2

7.9 million new cars manufactured

Answer 2

1955

Question 3

Senate subcommittee on juvenile delinquency established

Answer 3

1955

Question 4

The Montgomery Bus Boycott

Answer 4

1956

Question 5

William Whyte’s the organisational man

Answer 5

1956

Question 6

‘Howl’ trial

Answer 6

1956 - Allen Ginsberg’s explicit poem

Question 7

Vance Packard’s Hidden persuaders

Answer 7

1957 - arguing that ads physically manipulated consumers.

Question 8

Jack Kerouac : On the Road

Answer 8

1957 - under the influence of marjiana

Question 9

The Affluent Society published

Answer 9

1958 by J.K. Galbraith’s

Question 10

JFK makes his New Frontier speech

Answer 10

1960

Question 11

TV ownership reaches 90%

Answer 11

1960

Question 12

Pres. JFK establishes the Peace Corps

Answer 12

1961

Question 13

Congress funds moon landing programme

Answer 13

1961

Question 14

Congress rejects JFK Healthcare for the elderly bill

Answer 14

1962

Question 15

Silent spring published

Answer 15

1962 by Rachel Carson

Question 16

1963 April

Answer 16

The Birmingham campaign - Eugene ‘Bull’ Connor showed extreme violence

Question 17

1963 August

Answer 17

The march on Washington

Question 18

Left Wing critic Irving Howe said the Eisenhower years was the age of conformity

Answer 18

1954

Question 19

The Lonely Crowd

Answer 19

1950 - changing US character by David Riesman

Question 20

1960 polls

Answer 20

50% of Americans fave leisure activity was watching TV

Question 21

1954-60 Sitcom

Answer 21

‘Father Knows Best’ - promoted conformity and the domestic bliss of the Middle Class

Question 22

1949-56

Answer 22

‘I Remember Mama’ - kids teach immigrant parents that consumerism is good

Question 23

CRITICISMS OF TV

Answer 23

• Decline in test scores and reading
• magazines and newspapers lost sales
• made viewers physically inactive and passive mentally-
• main reason for TV to promote conformity as it is designed for mass appeal

Question 24

Nat King Cole Show

Answer 24

1956-57, Cole was black american and difficult to retain a sponsorship.

Question 25

PRAISE FOR TV

Answer 25

• Cheap entertainment to watch with whole family
• helped to develop a national culture and introduce other cultures.
• Some documents challenged conformity and predjucice

Question 26

The Open Mind

Answer 26

1957 - New programme that challenged status quo. Black children attempting to enter Little Rock.

Question 27

Baby Doll

Answer 27

1955 - explicit hollywood film

Question 28

Island in the Sun

Answer 28

1957 - interracial marriages

Question 29

Defiant Ones

Answer 29

1958 - Black and white convicts chained together needing to co-operate to survive

Question 30

Imitation of Life

Answer 30

1959 - heroine a black mother

Question 31

South Pacific

Answer 31

1956 - riots in the South

Question 32

Crime of Passion

Answer 32

1957 - with feminist statements

Question 33

Rebel without a Cause

Answer 33

1955 - James Dean struggles with the adult world

Question 34

Blackboard Jungle

Answer 34

1955 - disruptive behavior in the classroom - but Hollywood sympathy for disaffected youth proved limited, class leader regain control.

Question 35

ADVERTISING

Answer 35

1950: 5.7 billion

1960 : 11.9 billion