Britain and American Influence on Australian Pop Culture in the 1950s

During 1945 to the present there has been many changes in Australian pop culture, these areas of pop culture include Film, television, radio, music, fashion, sport and communication. Popular Culture refers to the beliefs, attitudes and lifestyles shared by a group of people.

o The miniskirt shocked most people because a lot more skin was exposed than what society was used to seeing. o One of the biggest fashion icons of the 1960s was Twiggy who had boy short hair,was very thin and could be found on many covers of fashion magazines. Music o American music continued to influence youth culture in the 1960s and dances like the twist and the boogaloo where being danced at discos all around the country. o Bands like the Rolling Stones and The Beach Boys visited Australia and in 1964 Beatle mania hit the country. o The Australian band, “The Seekers” became popular overseas in America and Britain, they sold over a million records in both countries. Television/Radio o In the 1960s television in Australia became connected to the international satellite system. This connected people in remote parts of Australia to television. Programs could be broadcast between cities and like other countries, Australia could now receive important information about global events. o This new television technology had an impact on cinema

The period of the 1950s to the 1960s brought about drastic changes to the Australian culture and history. However, the introduction of rock n’ roll style music was most influential towards teenagers and significantly altered history within youth culture because of its relatable tone. Furthermore, Australian society would not be the same without rock n’ roll style music, it had shaped and moulded Australia and impacted our daily activities. Additionally, the introduction of the rock n’ roll genre had instigated the ‘hippie’ and other fashion movements. Ultimately, developments and changes in Australian history during the 1950’s to 1960’s such as the introduction of rock n’ roll and its emergence into the fashion industry and teenagers’ ideals

From newspaper articles in 1964 announcing the London Look, to an article by Mary Quant in Vogue in 1966 and an article at the end of the decade that declared the return of Paris Power, young people in the U.S. had the opportunity to read and examine British contributions to fashion and make decisions about whether to adopt or not. The 1960s in the United States was a turbulent time –a decade of political and social upheaval. The youth quake of British styles helped to set a new energetic pace for America and a means to deal with the turmoil. College campuses in the U.S. were often the place of change and acceptance of new ideas and thus a place to study the

The 1950s and 1960s were times of unprecedented change, and Australian society was influenced greatly by American popular culture, through various mediums, such as: music, film, television and fashion. This especially affected teenagers. It will be explained how Australian society was impacted by American popular culture, and also why American popular culture had such an affect. Australian developed its own responses to these influences, and the extent of this will also be explored.

The national spread of American media including; TV, film and music has been the cornerstone of Americanisation in Australia since 1945, the end of world war two. 'Britain's Farm' and 'America's Junior Partner': that is what Australia was labelled as, around the end World War II. Prior to WWII it is argued Australia

Australian popular culture in the 1960s had multiple features, many of which were influenced by the social changes and counter culture at the time. The primary aspects of Australian popular culture in the 1960s were; music, fashion, film, sport and television.

This research will only concentrate on the extent of Americanisation in Australia through the influence on television and the film industry as the aspect of Americanisation covers a wide range from fashion to language. To fully understand the topic of the hypothesis, proper exploration of the definitions of ‘identity’ and ‘culture’ are of relevance. ‘Identity’ and ‘culture’ play an integral role in what an Australian represents as well as how the world views Australians. The meaning of ‘identity’ can be summarized as; ‘The collective aspect of the set of

4 major things : 1)The music (jazz & this new form of music called "rock & roll"). 2)The clothing styles ; the cool dresses for the girls & the Levi's jeans & greased back hair for the men. 3)The economy in america. Manufacturing & also white collar jobs were spreading like wildfire. When you compare the u.s economy in 1950's to the unspeakable great depression that america has been in, really since 1970, the '50's economy was fantastic. In the 1950's you could walk right into a steel mill in pennsylvania & get a good paying job for life. You'd be able to support your wife, your house, buy food & still have money leftover to save or buy yourself another new car or, whatever. You could walk into a grocery store with, i think like $10 & walk

The last of the main eras of the 20th century was quite different from the others. During these later years, which stretched from 1968 to 1983, it was the American fashion industry that established itself. This was not the case with the Canadian fashion industry. "The Canadian public…rarely recognized the names of their own fashion designers…any success by Canadians tended to be subsumed under the more identifiable American fashion scene."(Palmer, 2004) The Canadian public was still rather indifferent towards Canadian fashion, but now bought into the new American fashion scene. As a result, the Canadians who succeeded in fashion were the ones who moved to be closer to, or at least fit in well enough with, the American fashion industry.

Marilyn Monroe once said “Women's cloths should be tight enough to show that you're a woman, but also show that you're a lady.” Seeing women in the 50’s, many of them looked up at famous or well known models or actors such as Marilyn Monroe. We see hats and sunglasses, start to be involved in their attire. Jewelry and makeup start to blend with the fashion, We also see the pencil and poofy dresses being worn. Women that work in formal places where high heels and pant suits to look professional. Today we see some girls pay hundred of dollars on dresses, and in the 50’s women would pay anywhere from 99 cents to fifty dollar dresses (1950’s Fashion). Although we have seen how fashion was for women and teenagers one of the biggest changes in fashion was for the

Australians in the 1950s could afford more entertainment products than ever before. Television was the most representative

During the 50’s, culture became a major focus of Australia and began to take control of the country. There were many varieties of entertainment to appeal to the needs of all people of Australia. And if something became popular, television would help promote it. Television enters the living room

There were many tragic occurrences that happened in the 1930s, but the production of fashion would not let anything stop it from becoming more current. The 1930s was the time of the Great Depression, the economic slump that swept the nations. It set people into an economical setting where they had less money to spend on the simple necessities they needed, let alone things they wanted, like clothes. Although, the actuality that people didn’t have money didn’t stop industries from producing their work. Though some people believe fashion was changed in an unfavorable way due to the severe economical situations in the 1930s, the new variety of developing fashion companies, like Vogue, gave women a more modern look, enlightened them with ideas from different cultures, and took ideas from the world’s circumstances and made them into something new.

In the late 1950's and early Sixties America dominated the music industry; the British music scene, while established (Cliff Richard, Tommy Steele, etc.), tended to imitate American trends and styles. In the mid-fifties a breakthrough in music technology (the seven-inch single) exposed a higher multitude of people to the musical culture due to its affordability, and versatility to requirements. If you could not afford a seven-inch single then establishments often sold them second hand after they had been played on a jukebox system. The music industry's expansion into the visual entertainment sector introduced an