Decade Study

The 1960s

Outline the main influences of Britain and/or the USA on Australian popular culture in the decade. Specific examples are needed.

POPULAR CULTURE:

A contemporary lifestyle and items that are well known and generally accepted, cultural patterns that are widespread within a population; also called pop culture.(dictionary.com)

Pop culture brought about new changes and developments tomusic,fashion,technology,sport,and the overall style of various items and objects.

Before WWII Australia was under the main influence of Britain, the mother country.

Post-WWII, Australian society began to drift towards the American lifestyle, as the American pop culture seemed to be more appealing.

New American ideals replaced some of the British, causing Australia to become Americanised.

Transport technology and communications advanced at a rapid speed, allowing American products and ideas to effortlessly wing their way over to Australian society. Concepts such as materialism and consumerism were also received well, by Australians in this post-war decade.

FOOD:The 1960's was the introduction to many new products in the food industry. Supermarkets, frozen foods, fast food and chicken became popular and more convenient.The 1960s brought an era of mass production within the food industry.

SUPERMARKETS became heavily influenced by the American market.

Previous to this, Australian's would buy their groceries from specialist vendors.

Supermarkets were the answer to everything, anything anyone needed was all under one roof.

Woolworths became one of Australia's biggest retailers of fresh foot and vegetables.

FROZEN FOOD was also brought over from America.

By the 1960's NINE out of TEN Australian homes at a fridge.

Frozen foods available on the market includedfish fingers, vegetables, French fries, and even whole dinners.

Early 1960's saw a large development in battery chicken production.

Other convenience products such as Glad-Wrap and plastic containers grew in popularity.

Instant coffee made an appearance, which threatened to kick tea off the number one spot of being Australia's national drink.

Many labour saving appliances such as electric frying pans, electric cake beaters and blenders were produced.

MUSIC & ENTERTAINMENT:1960's dominated with American and British music, mostly targeting teenagers.

The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and the Kinks were such British acts that took the teenage population by storm.

The local film industry struggled post-WWII due to an influx of Hollywood-produced films.

Despite films being shot in Australia they were predominately financed by the British and Americans, and even starred foreign actors and actresses.

In 1959, the ten most popular programs on Australian television were all American.

From 1956 to 1963, 83% of all content broadcasted was American, the rest British.

In the 1960s, the Australian government imposed a local content quota to protect the Australian television industry.

ICONS:ELVIS PRESLEY, the King of Rock'n'Roll provided to be a tremendous American influence upon Australian teenagers. He popularised the Rock'n'Roll genre and his fashion and hairstyle left an impact on Australia that lasted for many years after his era.

JEAN SHRIMPTON, an English model, wore a skirt above the knees in 1965, and though the general public observed this as scandalous the trend slowly filtered into the styles of the young women of Australia.In addition, this style represented the revolution of the "rebellious teen".

MARILIYN MONROE also proved herself to be an enormous influence upon Australian young women's style and beauty.

FASHION:Britain had a large influence on Australian fashion. This was achieved partly through British music, which infiltrated the Australian music charts and stole the hearts of its youth.

Teenagers striving to emmulate these stars adopted the wild fashions and hairstyles of their idols.

The Beatle Wig became a huge hit.

Meanwhile, the other half of Australias teens fell in love with the Rolling stones and everything they stood for; freedom, rebellion, sex and drugs. Grungy outfits and long unkempt hair were all the rage.

THE BRITISH MOD MOVEMENT; refers to a youth lifestyle that emerged from London. Centred around London's thriving pop music, art and fashion scene, the mod lifestyle focused on innovation and the 'new'.

Mod fashion was slim fitting and featured bold geometric shapes. Colour was also a key concern. In contrast to fashion trends of the past, these garments were mass-produced and affordable.

SPORT:

Cricket and various types of rugby are evidently of British influence whereas sports like basketball exhibits America's essential ingredient in the recipe.

The Ashes was very popular in the 60s and was watched as a mode of leisure.

If not for the post-WWII British and American influence, Australia would not be what it is today.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

http://www.kraft.com.au/Products/KRAFTHistory/DecadesOfHistory/1960d.htmhttp://www.skwirk.com/p-c_s-14_u-189_t-507_c-1880/american-and-british-cultural-influence/nsw/history/australia-s-social-and-cultural-history-in-post-war-period/social-and-cultural-features-of-the-1960shttp://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Woolworths

http://www.skwirk.com/p-c_s-14_u-189_t-507_c-1880/american-and-british-cultural-influence/nsw/history/australia-s-social-and-cultural-history-in-post-war-period/social-and-cultural-features-of-the-1960shttp://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE6DD113DF933A15750C0A96E9482601960s leisurehttp://images.google.comStory/Saturday-ArvoFever/&usg=__7sFxZ8xeDMXKTXfAVvSeq8SVo5k=&h=234&w=300&sz=65&hl=en&start=11&um=1&tbnid=UptE4XTjTugtcM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=116&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dleisure%2B1960%2Baustralia%2Bcricket%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4SUNA_enAU310AU229