Essay about 1950s in the U.S. - 1172 Words

The 1950’s in the United States of America were characterized by a strong fear of communism, growing consumerism due to a healthy and fast growing postwar industry and the belief that the nuclear family is the heart of the American society. If we examine these three ideologies closer and oppose them to Stephanie Coontz opinion expressed in her essay â€Å"Leave It to Beaver and Ozzie and Harriet: American Families in the 1950s,†, we see that many myths existed about the 1950’s. After World War Two the American economy was on the rise due to the outcome of the war. Some astonishing figures prove that fact, over 50% of the American families moved into middle-class status. The number of salaried workers increased by 61 % and the number of†¦show more content†¦Americans were eager to spend their money on goods that had been scarce during World War II. As Stephanie Coontz put it, â€Å"the emphasis lay on producing a whole world of satisfaction, amusement, and inventiveness within the nuclear family had no precedents:† Consumerism was also evident in a pursuit of pleasure Americans spend more money on necessities and luxuries. Credit and credit cards were easier to obtain and by that expensive things were also easier to obtain. Debt rose from $5.7 million in 1945 to $56.1 billion in 1960. No other consumer good characterized the era as much as the automobile. The cars were big and powered with accessories lots of chrome and color was marketed. A General Motors designer called the strategies of that time dynamic obsolescence to encou raged Americans to see their old car as out of fashion. The number of registered cars in 1945 was 25.8 million. In 1960 it was 61.7 million. This is important for us today because consumerism is ever-present today, advertisement suggesting us what we need in order to live according to certain lifestyles we wish to adept to. A second ideology of that time is the belief that the nuclear family has to be the heart of the American society (â€Å"nuclear Familialism†) After the Second World War marriage became a â€Å"national obsession†, the age for marriage fell as low as 18 years and with that the age of motherhood also. After the womenShow MoreRelatedWorld War I Was A Global War1511 Words   |  7 PagesAdolf Hitler restored Germany s economy and became their dictator and started WWII in 1939 by invading Poland. WWII ended in 1945, and two supreme powers arose: the Soviet Union and the U.S. The Cold War soon followed and was a struggle between the two superpowers and was also about communism. 1940 s July 17, 1945: Potsdam Conference begins in Germany Leaders from the the Soviet Union, Britain and U.S. meet is Potsdam, Germany. 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