The Good Life In The 1950's

Through the major influences of mass consumption within domesticity roles in Australian and American families, materialistic items including the family car and the introduction of the television where perceived as the central element of the family during the post-war period. Within America during the 1950’s, there was a sudden rise of new home building causing a major influence within the economy as families, especially middle class families were receiving an improved income under the leadership of President Truman , allowing families to indulge in materialist items including the family car. Through Cold war threats and anxieties American ideas of domesticity where shaped around the concept of the American dream which was expressed within American film, television and literature to ease these pressures .

The decade of the 1950s represents an era where life was balanced, simple, and innocent. A time in the American history where a high school education promised a comfortable living and where family values were presented to audiences through television shows. In the article, Coontz argues that the simplicity and innocence that the people who lived in this time period enjoyed came at a high price. Coontz claims that generally those who felt that the 1950s was the "best time for children to grow up" would show their dislike for the treatment of women. They also would add that they would not particularly enjoy living with the most "of the fathers they knew in their neighborhoods." She also points out the economic and social reasons why the 1950s is so appealing to quite a lot of people. There were lower divorce rates, federal economic expansion programs, corporate tax programs, and

There is also how the neighborhood acts in general, everyone in the neighborhood seems to get along, they were also welcoming of everyone. Even if there was a small dispute they would find a way to make both parties happy and get over it. Or they would just simply forgive what they did and use the ‘their children’ phrase. The aspect of having the perfect neighborhood in the TV show is very unrealistic because there will almost always be someone who will not be happy with what happened and will not forgive them. The idea that everyone will always get along and not have a problem with each other is a wonderful ideation. But in reality in the 1950’s, people did not accept everyone with open arms, according to NBCNews in the 1950’s if you were

Once working citizens had started to receive higher salaries, they could afford more and nicer items than they would have otherwise. According to Daily life… (Kaldin, 2000) the average working man could buy a split-level house on display. In one year, the overage woman bought nine dresses and suits and 14 pairs of shoes. New appliances had also been invented during the 1950s. These appliances were simple in design with basic designs that reflected a new style of European modernism. The 1950s brought a “populux age “to America- a time when every appliance had handles or was easy to lift. Because of this, most appliances and technology could be moved around the house. This was just one of the advances in

During the “Baby Boomer” era, following WWII, America underwent one of the largest demographic shifts and population growths in history. Huge amounts of home construction on the outskirts of America’s largest cities, known as “levittowns” became the new staple of the American dream, with the houses sporting two car garages, and white picket fences. These low density, predominantly middle class residential districts, were America’s first true suburbs. These suburbs were constructed mainly in response to the new postwar consumerism that enveloped the parents of the baby boomers. With the new economy, affordable housing, and most families becoming single income dependent, families grew bigger and bigger. The 1947 passing of the bill that lead to the interstate highway system, only added fuel to the fire of suburbanization. With the new interstate highway system, more affordable and fuel efficient automobiles, and the government aiding in the financing of new suburban homes, the choice seemed elementary. All of these factors pushing to the suburban movement, only spurred the baby boomers on, and between 1940-50, there was an 835% percent increase in living births with nearly 4 million children being born every year. In 1940, 19.5% of the United States population lived in what would be considered to be suburban areas outside of large metropolitan areas, however, by 1960; the number was pushing nearly 40%. The postwar suburbanization of America during the baby boomer

It seems that over the decades, the “American Dream” has changed along with the generations who follow it. After the “Great Recession”, the housing crisis which triggered a financial crisis, and millennials have changed their point of view about homeownership. This change created another definition for the “American Dream”, because more opt out to rent versus buy, and some don’t bother with houses at all and prefer to live in apartments. This is all due to rising student debt, risks associated with owning a home, and the fact that homes are often suited for families and it’s been proven that millennials are pushing back the age for conceiving children.

Life today is very fast-paced. Everyone is in a hurry to get somewhere and will push you out of the way to get there, like it's some kind of race. In our personal lives, we have our cell phones, and maybe a home phone, scheduled play dates for our kids, microwaves, satellite TV, home security systems that don't involve dogs, solar landscape lighting, automatic underground sprinkler systems for our lawns, and compact fluorescent lights to replace the incandescent bulbs that waste energy. In the business world, you have meetings that you can attend by using a video phone, PowerPoint presentations to help you get your point across at the meetings you can't get out of, instant messaging to speak to clients and other businesses around the

In the 1950's the number of people living in the suburbs came to actually equal the number of people living in cities. This wave of people was due mainly to the availability of affordable housing; which allowed middle-class Americans to move to an area previously inhabited only by the wealthy. The houses and neighborhoods built in mass numbers on assembly lines came to look identical to each other. As a result of this, a model American life was created. People all around the country began to follow this model, and before they knew it a race to conform had begun. People no longer strove to be different, neither by ethnicity nor religion; they strove to be the same. David Farber, the author of The Age Of Great Dreams,

Historians use the word “boom” to describe a lot of things about the 1950s: the booming economy, the booming suburbs and most of all the so-called “baby boom.” In all, by the time the boom finally tapered off in 1964, there were almost 77 million “baby boomers.” The baby boom and the suburban boom went hand in hand. Almost as soon as World War II ended, developers such as William Levitt (creator of “Levittowns” ) began to buy land on the outskirts of cities and use mass production techniques to build modest, inexpensive

During the post WWII period in America, the face of the nation changed greatly under the presidency of Truman and Eisenhower. America underwent another era of good feelings as they thought themselves undefeatable and superior over the rest of the world. Communism was the American enemy and American sought to rid the world of it. Because of the extreme paranoia caused by Communism, conformity became an ideal way to distinguish American Culture from the rest. Conformity became a part of every American Life to a large extent. It became evident through the medium of culture, society and politics throughout the era of the 50s.

The development of the suburbs has been appointed to be the result of the “white flight” from the inner cities. In the 1950’s black Americans moved northward to cities to find industrial jobs that were within walking distance. Discrimination in cities worsened, crime rates increased and educational facilities’ credentials weakened or gained bad reputations. The upper-class families left the cities and mass migrated to the suburbs to escape the increasing crime rates and worsening conditions. This movement was later termed the “white flight”. Every American wanted to begin building the “ideal family”: two parents, two children and maybe a pet or two. This newly invented middle-class prospered as

Coontz analyses both the weakness and strengths of the period and takes a ‘sarcastic’ approach. She is able to indicate the ideal time for the Americans pointing positive outlooks such as education, birthrate, economic expansion, jobs, family oriented culture and social environment. Her weakness about the myth of the 1950s includes teen pregnancies, poverty, marital problems, discrimination, racial and gender inequalities. She attacks the political system who continues states the goods of the 1950s but the politicians have not created and advanced the ideals and optimism of the 1950s. She categorically attacks the perceptions of people saying the 1950s was good even though when compared to the freedoms and engagements of these days, the 1950s’ thinkers are misplaced. The following quote summarizes her perspective, “This confidence that almost everyone could look forward to a better future stands in sharp contrast to how most contemporary Americans feel, and it explains why a period which many people were much worse off than today sometimes still looks like a better period for families than our own” (p. 40). Based on the historical and available information, Coontz argument may suffice because currently, nobody thinks about the future since the economic and social challenges are immense. The optimism is absent while challenges of discrimination, prejudice are fading. Hence, the article cleverly covers the

Still for many people today, their main goal in life is to have a family and a house to live in. It's a fairly innocent aspiration but in the 1950s in America, this was the very ethos that permeated through, commonly known as the American Dream. The ideals of freedom and prosperity that were sought after the war gave rise to a specific ideology promoted by the bourgeoisie that was then reinforced by the underlying attitudes of society.

The 1950’s were called the “Happy Days” for multiple reasons. We were finished with a huge war, and our economy was booming. Social, political and economic policies were popping up everywhere. Many things define why the 1950’s were the “Happy Days” in the U.S. Whether it was the end of the Korean War for the U.S. or the economic boom that helped define what we call the “American Dream” the 1950’s were great times for America.

Most people assume the American dream is about achieving the nostalgic ideal of 1950s family life—Dad in charge of the household, Mom always looking pretty, and their children happily obedient and affectionate. The belief that success means living in a suburban home with a nuclear family causes many Americans to disparage any lifestyle that departs from this false image of family life. In truth, the suburbs are full of dysfunctional families and overdeveloped housing tracts. Many people in America cannot afford to buy a home, and most families do not fit the fifties-era ideal. Nonetheless, the media and advertisers continue to promote the delusion of the American dream, and consumers continue to spend their money in hope of achieving it. However,