The Age of Affluence Flashcards
1
Q
How did the US’s economy grow during war?
A
- GNP had risen 35% since 1941
- USA possessed 42% of global income
2
Q
Describe Post-War Prosperity
A
- Per capita income at $1450 almost twice as high as GB
- Urban Americans consumed around 3000 calories per day (around 50% more than most people in Western Europe)
- Fed Gov spent more:
- $9.2 billion 1939
- $92.2 billion in 1945
- $36.5 billion in 1948
3
Q
What were the results of economic expansion
A
- Created greater employment ops in many industries e.g aircraft production, chemicals and electrical goods
- processed food productions made huge gains
- tobacco companies made vast profits
- huge migration to centres of plentiful employment
4
Q
What were the limitations of post-war prosperity?
A
- Many Americans remembered pre-war depression
- poor areas: mainly poorer areas of cities and the south
- 1947: 33% of US homes lacked running water + 40% flush toilets
5
Q
What influenced the growth of suburbs?
A
- car industry led to greater mobility and development of suburbs
6
Q
How did the car industry grow?
A
- sales of new cars rose from 69,500 in 1945 to 6.7 million by 1950
- 1950: 16,000 foreign cars on US roads
- industry dominated by Ford, General Motars and Chrysler
- 1961: 350 different models on sale
- N. of two-car families doubled between 1951-1958
- more cars in LA than whole of Asia
- General Motors wealthier than Belgium in terms of GDP
7
Q
How did the growth of cars influence other industries?
- holiday inn
- mcdonalds
A
- help develop the facilities associated with them such as roadside hotels, motels, gas stations and garages
- First Holiday Inn opened in 1952 between Memphis and Nashville in Tennessee
- 1960: 228 McDonald’s enjoyed annual sale of $37 million
8
Q
How did the road building industry develop?
A
- 1956 Interstate Highway Act
- boosted federal subsidies for road building
- created a 41,000-mile system
- main reason: evacuation in case of nuclear attack
- less public transport used:
- Passenger services on railroads lost average of $700 million per year by mid-1950s
9
Q
When and What was the GI Bill of Rights?
A
- Passed 1944
- offered grants to veterans to improve their education, learn new skills and set up businesses
- 8 million veterans took advantage of measure
- received $20 per week whilst looking for work
- veterans found many jobs available
- offered low-interest home loans
10
Q
Describe the growth of home ownership
A
- Decade following 1945: 15 million houses built
- percentage of Americans owning own home rose from 50% in 1945 to 60% by 1960
- gov-sponsored Federal Housing Administration: offered mortgages up to 90% of cost price and 4% interest
11
Q
describe the growth of suburbs
A
- % of people living in suburbs grew from 17% in 1920 to 33% by 1960
- conditions deteriorated in residential inner-city areas as they were left to the poor, often ethnic minorities
- lost funding due to “flight of the middle classes”
- suburbs saw new developments such as shopping mall
- 1946: 8 shopping malls, over 4000 by the late 1950s
12
Q
What were Levitt houses?
A
- among most famous suburban dwellings
- By 1951 the original Levittown had grown to 17,000 homes housing 82,000 people
13
Q
How did income increase?
A
- growth of suburbs and confidence led to huge consumer boom
- wages rose
- 1953 average family income $4011
- more disposable income which rose on average by 17%
14
Q
Describe the growth:
- advertising
- TV
A
- Advertising rose from $6 billion dollar industry in 1950 to over $13 billion by 1963
- By 1960 over 50 million TV’s in USA
15
Q
consumer society
Describe baby boom
A
- 1957: nappies became a $50 million per year industry
- 4 mill babies born each year between 1954-64
- 1964 40% of population had been born before 1946
16
Q
Describe how this time was golden age for nuclear family
A
- divorce rate fell from ~18 per 1000 marriages in 1946 to ~10 by 1953
- average age of marriage fell from 21.5 years in 1940 to 20.1 by 1956
- within 7 months of marriage most women pregnant
17
Q
Describe how leisure time rose:
- new products?
- money?
A
- By 1951, 90% of American families had fridges and 75% possessed washing machines and telephones (often on credit)
- Debt rose from 1945-1956: $5.7 billion - $56.1 billio
- First Diner’s Club cards introduced in 1950
- American express dates from 1958
- other new products: frozen and convenience foods, TV dinners etc
18
Q
How did consumption as an overall country increase?
A
- USA consumed 33% of all the goods in the world and controlled 66% of the world’s productive capacity
- USA consumed 2 billion hot dogs by 1960
- Average American family, according to famous photo, consumed 300lb beef, 31 chickens and 8.5 gallons of ice cream
19
Q
How was the position of women in work following WW2?
- changes in state rules
- change in working women percentages
A
- shown they could do traditionally male dominated jobs
- 4 US states made equal pay compulsory
- while other states tried to protect women from discrimination in their jobs
- 1940: women made up 19% of workforce, 28.8% by 1950
- majority of women gave up wartime jobs
20
Q
How did the media reinforce the stereotype of women as homemakers?
A
- Periodicals Ladies’ Home Journal and MCall’s: full of articles in homecare, fashion, and keeping husband happy
- Dr Spock influential books on childcare sold a million+ copies every year throughout 1950s: emphasised women as housewife/mother
- TV media portrayal usually white and middle-class women
- Many women’s articles focused on domestic role of woman
21
Q
How did the media not reinforce stereotypes of women?
A
- situation complex some historians think
- Ladies’ Home Journal ran a series of articles “How America lives” which showed wide ethnic and class mix
- Magazine Redbook ran $500 prize competition in 1960 inv readers to write on “Why You Feel Trapped”: received 24,000 entries
22
Q
Women and work
How did this change positively?
A
- increased in the 1950-60 from 33.8% to 37.8%
- married women- 1940-1960 36% to 60%
- Better educated:
- 1950: 721,000 women at uni
- By 1960 reached 1.3 million
23
Q
Women and work
How did this change negatively?
(no statistics)
A
- opps for jobs with career advancement prospects had not noticeably increased
- Unions did not generously favour women in workplace
- Women who went out to work (instead of marriage) treated with suspicion
- book Modern Woman: the Lost Sex: blamed many of social problems of 1950s on career women
24
Q
How did popularity of cinema’s change?
A
- Average weekly cinema attendance fell from 90 mil a week in 1946 to 47 mill by 1956
- drive-in cinema’s became popular in 1950s + early 1960s
- 4000 drive in’s spread across US
- labelled as passion pits in media
- In Hollywood: rise of the anti-hero: e.g James Dean, Paul Newman etc - demands of young people
25
Q
How did television grow as an industry?
A
- hugely influential on advertising
- Number of sets had risen from 60,000 in 1947 to 37 million by 1955
- 3 mill sold in first 6 months of 1950
- By 1960 over 50 million TV’s in USA
- 1954 - arrival of TV dinners
- 1960 estimated that watching TV fave leisure activity of half population
26
Q
Describe the popular programmes of the time?
A
- estimated half population saw Peter Pan in 1955
- regular audience of 50 mil watched I Love Lucy
- Comedian Lucille Ball broke stereotypical mould of passive females; awarded $8 mil contract
- other popular shows: these celebrated traditional american families
- leave it to Beaver
- Donna Reed Show
27
Q
Describe the growth of teenagers?
A
- 1950-1960: 41.6% to 44.5% of population under 24
- increasingly seen as discrete group with common interests and concerns
28
Q
What were the reasons (simplified) for the growth of the teenager
A
- More money
- Influenced by youth films 1950s
- Establishment of rock and roll music crucial for development
- Increasing popularity of television
29
Q
Describe how teenagers had more money?
A
- companies responded with new products targeted towards them
- 1957 estimated average teen had between $10-$15 a wee to spend, compared with $1-2 in 1940s
- annual spending power: 1950-1959: $10 bill to $25 bil
30
Q
How were teenagers influenced by films + TV?
A
- 1950s Rebel Without a Cause starred James Dean: first film to appeal specifically to teenagers
- playing character who rebels against parents
- Increasing popularity of TV also opened teenagers to new world
31
Q
How were teenagers influenced by rock and roll?
A
- parents and teens differentiated in music taste
- In 1956: Elvis Presley erupted onto the pop music scene, singing songs that broke sale records, such as Heartbreak hotel and Hound Dog
32
Q
How was there evidence of teenage rebellion?
A
- increasing concern that young people out of control
- gang fights, teenage drunkenness
- 1956: number of murders carried out by teenagers in New York rose by 26%
- 1954 Psychologist Wertham published ‘The Seduction of the Innocent’ which exposed violence and brutality of comic books
- became more regulated + content moderated
- some experts argued poor role models (e.g Nicholas Ray rebel without a cause)
33
Q
What suggests that teenage culture was not permissive?
age of marriage ?
A
- although teenage market worth $10 bill per year in 1955: most just as conservative and deferential
- 1/2 male teenagers traded into armed forces: discipline and traditional values reinforced
- average age of marriage reduced even lower to 20.3 years
