Topic 1 - C1 - Urbanisation and Affluence

Question 1

Why was the period of 1955-1963 a period of affluence for most Americans?

Answer 1

Larger homes
More labour saving devices
More cars
Higher salaries

Question 2

What did increased affluence result in?

Answer 2

Affluence = Suburbia + Decline of cities + Mass production of consumer goods + Increasing role of advertising and mass communication

Question 3

What were the common concerns of this period?

Answer 3

• Threat of nuclear attack from USSR (children practised ‘duck and cover’ under school desks)
• Conformity and homogenisation
• Consumerism and advertisements
• Teenage culture
• Race relations
• Economic inequality - poverty present among black Americans, Hispanic Americans and Native Americans

Question 4

How expensive were cars in 1955 and how were they a sign of affluence?

Answer 4

WC and MC bought Chevrolets or Fords - $1300 which was ⅖ of average family income

Question 5

Why did people want to spend their money on cars in 1955?

Answer 5

Those who remembered the depression wanted to spend their money on cars as spending on cars declined in the depression, cars = status

Question 6

Who were they key car manufacturers and how many cars were made in 1955?

Answer 6

General Motors, Ford and Chrysler, 7.9 million new cars were manufactured

Question 7

Why did Eisenhower want to reconstruct the highways?

Answer 7

• Roads were in bad condition after WW2 compared to German autobahns
• Car ownership increased = traffic
• Happiness, convenience and greater living standards

Question 8

By how much had car ownership increased between 1950-1960?

Answer 8

Car ownership increased from 39.9 million in 1950 to 73.8 million in 1960

Question 9

What did the Federal Aid Highway Act on 1956 authorise?

Answer 9

Authorised 41,000 miles of interstate highways.

Question 10

`How did your car reflect your social and ethnics status?

Answer 10

White UC chose spacious models like Lincolns and Cadillacs while MC and WC bought Fords and Chevrolets. Cleaning car - important ritual

Question 11

What cars did poor hispanics have to buy and what cars did poor blacks aspire to buy?

Answer 11

Poorer Hispanic Americans bought cheap, second hand Chevrolets, Cadillacs desirable car for black MC

Question 12

How did cars encourage the desire to escape parental control and have greater freedoms?

Answer 12

1953 Kinsey sex survey showed that young people had almost as much sex in cars as in homes. Young men customised their cars to emphasis speed and style.

Question 13

How did cars help free women?

Answer 13

Could visit shopping malls. 1955 - Dodge La Femme came with matching lipstick and shoulder bag. Could be a source of conflict with men trying to dominate car

Question 14

What reflects the new on the road culture as people could obtain fast food, watch movies and attend church from their car?

Answer 14

• 1952 modern US motel chain - Holiday Inn founded
• 1960 - 228 McDonalds = jobs + changed the landscape - US covered with roads, motels, restaurants, stores, huge parking lots, neon signs and advertisements.

Question 15

How did the service industry grow from 1950 to 1960?

Answer 15

Blue collar workers in decline

white collar workers had grown from 21.2 million in 1950 to 27.2 million in 1960

Question 16

What impact did automation have on the workforce?

Answer 16

Decreased industrial workforce from 39% to 36% by 1960. 1960 - 34.8 million service workers outnumbered 25.6 million manual workers

Question 17

What did cars contribute to suburban growth and urban decline?

Answer 17

People could move out of cities as they could now drive to work but meant that cities lost their tax base

Question 18

17% of Americans lived in suburbs in 1920, how does this differ to the amount of suburban homes built between 1950-1960?

Answer 18

11 million out of the 13 million homes built between 1948 and 1958 were suburbs
1960 - 33% lived in suburbs

Question 19

What brought the need for suburbs?

Answer 19

Little house building in 1930s and WW2 = acute PW housing shortage, 250 people sold streetcars as homes in Chicago

Question 20

What did the Federal Housing Agency do?

Answer 20

offered house buyers mortgages of up to 90% of the value of the house and up to 30% to pay off at a low interest rate of 4-5%

Question 21

What did the Veterans Agency do?

Answer 21

VA allowed 2.4 million veterans to purchase homes with little down payment

Question 22

How did the FHA and the VA contribute to suburbanisation?

Answer 22

1955 - FHA and VA provided 41% of all new mortgages, home owner occupied homes was at 61.9% in 1960 from 43% in 1940

Question 23

Why did affluent whites prefer suburbs?

Answer 23

lower tax rates, less noise and congestion - wanted more space, comfort and racially homogenous neighbourhoods - MC exit from cities = white flight

Question 24

Where was the first Levittown in 1947?

Answer 24

Hempstead, Long Island - 17,000 homes, 80,000 residents, 7 village greens and shopping centres and 9 swimming pools and 2 bowling alleys

Question 25

What rules applied in Levittowns?

Answer 25

Rules such as weekly lawn mowing, no fences and not allowed to hang out washing at the weekend

Question 26

How expensive were homes in Hempstead and what quality were they?

Answer 26

$8000 - well constructed with central heating and built in closets

Question 27

How were Levittowns racially exclusive?

Answer 27

Rocks thrown at a black American family that bought a home in Pennsylvania Levittown in 1957
1960 - Levittown house sold to black family in New Jersey

Question 28

Why was it hard for blacks to leave ghettos?

Answer 28

Lending institutions, developers and city officials made it difficult for black Americans to buy decent housing. Blacks had to pay high rents for poor accommodation

Question 29

Why did whites stage riots in 1951 in Chicago?

Answer 29

To drive out the sole black family from the town

Question 30

Who did the FHA exclude from their low cost mortgages?

Answer 30

Those considered as risks - e.g blacks because of their income or the chance of a hostile reaction to a white majority

Question 31

What was the downfall of the 810,000 subsidised housing units (projects) in 1949?

Answer 31

Many developers manipulated local laws to tear down black neighbourhoods and turn them into commercial buildings

Question 32

How many federal housing units actually built 1945-1965?

Answer 32

325,203

Question 33

How did the purchasing power of the average American increase between 1950 and 1960 and what did this mean?

Answer 33

By 30% - suburban Americans rushed to buy cars, labour saving devices and anything else fashionable - women had more free time

Question 34

What did the intellectual David Riesman fear about consmerism and materialism?

Answer 34

Thought it undermined traditional American values such as hard work and careful money management

Question 35

What did Havard economist John Kenneth say in the Affluent Society in 1958?

Answer 35

that Americans were grossly materialistic and cared little about the less fortunate

Question 36

What did teenagers own in 1958?

Answer 36

Owned 10 million record players, 1 million TV sets and 13 million cameras

Question 37

What statistics became true about teenagers in 1958?

Answer 37

Ate 20% more than adults and ate 145 million gallons of ice cream per year
⅓ of 18 and 19 year old girls were married
Spent $20 million on lipstick