Chapter 27Postwar America

Section 2

The Affluent Society

John Kenneth Galbraith

• 1958 – published The Affluent Society, claimed the U.S. and some others created an “economy of abundance.”

The Spread of Wealth

• The mechanization of farms increased.

• Many Americans began working white-collar jobs, such as sales and management.

• 1956 – for the first time, white collar workers outnumbered blue-collar workers.

Multinationals

• White-collar employees generally worked for large corporations, some expanded overseas.

• Multinational corporations were located close to important raw materials and used cheaper labor forces, making them more competitive.

Multinational Corporations

The Coca-Cola Company DaimlerChrysler AG

General Electric Honda Motor Company

International Business Machines McDonalds Corporation Microsoft Corporation

Nintendo Company, Limited Intel Corporation

Nokia Corporation Siemens AG

Acer Sony Corporation Texas Instruments

Toyota Motor Corporation Wal-Mart Stores, Inc

Franchises

• The 1950s also had an increase in franchises, in which a person owns and operates one or several stores of a chain operation.

David Riesman

• Wrote The Lonely Crowd – argued that the “inner-directed” man was giving way to the “other-directed” man, with concerns regarding company approval outweighing personal values.

William H. Whyte

• Wrote The Organization Man which stated businesses wanted similarity to keep individuals from dominating.

The New Consumerism

• The rise in luxury products led to the growth of more sophisticated advertising.

• The advertising industry became the fastest growing industry in the U.S.

The Growth of Suburbia

• Levittown, New York, one of the country’s earliest suburbs, was a mass-produced residential community led by Bill Levitt.

• Some said it was the American dream, others said it was conformity.

The 1950s Family

• Families grew larger and women entered the workforce.

• 1945-1961 was known as the baby boom, in which 65 million children were born.

• Even though women were expected to remain at home, the number of women who held jobs outside the home increased.

Technological Breakthroughs

• 1946 – scientists working for the U.S. Army developed on the the earliest computers.

• ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) – military calculations

• Later, UNIVAC (Universal Automatic Computer) – handled business data

ENIAC

UNIVAC

Medical Miracles

• Polio epidemics swept the nation in the 1940s & 1950s.

• Jonas Salk developed an injectable vaccine for polio.

• Albert Sabin developed an oral vaccine for polio.

Jonas Salk

Albert Sabin

Conquering Space

• October 1957 – Soviet Union launched the world’s first space satellite. (Sputnik)

• January 1958 – U.S. launched its own.

Sputnik

End of Section 2

Next: Section 3

Popular Culture in the 1950s