Teenage Culture

Question 1

How did birth rates increase after WW2?

Answer 1

PWC: 900k-1M births per year

Early 1930s: 700k-800k per year

Question 2

When did the babies born in the mid-late 40s begin to become teens?

Answer 2

Late 50s. Many had jobs. All provided a new market based on US influences in film, music, and fashion. B4 this market was created, most dressed like their parents + listen to same music, oft bland + non-threatening

Question 3

When did teenagers as a phenomenon between childhood and adulthood develop?

Answer 3

50s

Question 4

What had previous generations done when they reached ‘teen’ age?

Answer 4

Previous generations had tended to leave school at 14 and go to work as their income was oft needed to supplement their parents’.

Question 5

What did Baby Boomers do when they became teens that was different to past generations?

Answer 5

School-leaving age raised to 15 in 1947 but many stayed on to sit exams or go to uni from 60s onwards. National service (conscription) introduced in 1948, took 160k boys a year at its peak every year for 2 years military service.. Ended in 1960 when our military commitments lessened.

Question 6

How did teenage Baby Boomers have enough money to fund a consumerist lifestyle?

Answer 6

With full employment and plentiful apprenticeships, they had enough time and money to spend on what their parents might have considered luxuries and waste.

Question 7

How did marketers successfully target teenagers?

Answer 7

Marketed the latest fashions or gadgets such as transistor radios as essential. TV shows developed and aimed specifically at teens either generally- Top of the Pops (est Jan 1964) or at specific youth culture- Ready Steady Go! was aimed at mods.

Question 8

What was ‘Ready Steady Go!’?

Answer 8

Aug 1963-Dec 1966: Featured a studio audience dancing ot live (or mimed) performances from current popular pop acts. Both the audience and presenters esp. Cathy McGowan were dressed in the latest fashions.

Question 9

Did teenage baby boomers stray from their parents style or conform to it?

Answer 9

They wanted to create a completely separate identity

Question 10

What youth cults developed in the 50s?

Answer 10

• Teddy Boys in mid-50s- slicked back hair, Edwardian style suits, to rock ‘n’ roll music
• Rockers- leather jackets, powerful motorbikes; largely white US based harder-edged rock ‘n’ rollers eg Eddie Cochran
• Mods- fashionable Italian suits, Vespa/Lambretta motor scooters

Question 11

What music did Mods listen to?

Answer 11

Largely black-inspired rhythm + blues from the US. Early 60s more Brit bands eg Beatles (Liverpool) + Hollies (Manchester) developed own versions of this rhythm and blues to create their hugely successful Brit popular music.

Question 12

What youth cults developed in the 60s?

Answer 12

Mods morphed into skinheads- short hair, braces, working-class arrogance whose reggae and ska-inspired music oft came from the Caribbean.

Question 13

What youth cults developed in the 70s?

Answer 13

Punks with torn clothing, chains, and Mohican hairstyles.

Question 14

What kind of style did Punks and Skinheads share?

Answer 14

Both involved minimalism based on simplicity of style but were as commercially targeted as their predecessors- skinheads oft wore dear Abercrombie overcoats, Ben Sherman shirts and Doc Martin bovver boots.

Question 15

What did youth cults have in common?

Answer 15

• Wanted to be noticed, perhaps to shock their elders

- Exploited by successful capitalists who oft created their styles and marketed them successfully

Question 16

Example of youth cult exploited by successful businessmen

Answer 16

Punks espoused the desirability of anarchy but heavily influenced by Malcolm Mclaren whose boutique SEX on the King’s Road sold clothes by Vivienne Westwood and developed into a multi-millionaire business.

Question 17

How were the Teddy Boys associated with violence?

Answer 17

Accused of wrecking cinemas when films featuring rock ‘n’ roll hits such as Bill Haley’s ‘Rock Around the Clock’ were shown

Question 18

How did society view the youth cults?

Answer 18

Associated them with violence and so feared them.

Question 19

How were Mods and Rockers associated with violence?

Answer 19

After May 1964 gangs of mods and rockers descended on seaside resorts to commit vandalism and fighting, sending holidaymakers scurrying for safety. 51 arrests in Margate and 76 in Brighton.

Question 20

How long did football violence last and which youth cult was most associated with it?

Answer 20

Lasted into 80s and beyond. There were widespread outbreaks of football violence, mainly among gangs of skinheads.

Question 21

How did sociologists explain the outbreaks of football violence?

Answer 21

Explained in terms of territorial defence; major objective was to capture the part of ground where most home supporters stood. Little consolation to bystanders of street battles or ravaged trains as gangs went to games

Question 22

Did football hooligans recognise their own violent behaviour?

Answer 22

One told BBC Panorama: “All we are going for is a good game of football; a good punch up and a good kick up”

Question 23

Were most young people violent?

Answer 23

No. Hung out with friends of common interests, listened to music, went to cinema, attended dances- just like parents. They just had different music and style tastes.

Question 24

After WW2, what were youth group membership rates like?

Answer 24

Young people still attended youth clubs and did charity work.
1945: eg Girl Guides, Cubs, Brownies had 471k members
1970 (after Baby Boom): 539,340

Question 25

Did everyone fit into a specific youth cult?

Answer 25

Some young people became hippies or supported an alternative culture, often rejecting societal values of materialism. But for most, this was a transitional phase until they needed to earn a living.

Question 26

What did contemporary commentators say about youth culture 1955-1979?

Answer 26

Many noted the generation gap and how different young people seemed to be from their parents. Noted in songs such as Cat Stevens’ Father and Son, in form of dialogue between Dad and son.