The 1950's - Australian Culture

7/29/2019 The 1950's - Australian Culture

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Entertainments

- Entertainment in the 1950s- American/British Influence- Footage from a Video-Clip

Music- Music in the 1950s- American/British Influence

Fashion

- Fashion in the 1950s- American/British Influence- Examples of Clothing

Sport- Sport in the 1950s- American/British Influence


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Entertainment in the 1950s:

- With a renewed economic optimism and willingness to spend, Australians in the 1950scould afford more entertainment products than ever before.

Radio:

- Initially radio was the most popular form of entertainment inAustralia.

- Families gathered together in the evenings and listened to musicshows, drama serials, light entertainment and quiz programmes.

- When television began broadcasting into homes in 1956, radiostations were forced to alter their programmingmusic, sport

and news became the domain of radio.- By the end of the 1950s, new, convenient portable transistor

radios made it possible for people to take their radios outdoors.Some cars even had radios installed.


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Cinema:- Cinema was greatly affected by the introduction of television especially with the rapiddecline in cinema attendance.

- Cinemas offered innovative new features. Technicolour, wide screens, stereo soundand 3D movies became common in theatres around Australia.

- Cinema remained the leisure activity of choice for people spending a night out.- Drive-in cinemas became a popular way of watching movies in the 1950s.Films:

- This period is widely considered to be a low point inAustralian film-making.

- Locally-made Australian films were in short supply.- A few Australian films were shown, notably The Glenrowan

Affair (1951) and Summer of the Seventeenth Doll (1959).- In 1955, Charles Chauvel's ground-breaking filmJeddawas

the first Australian movie to be released in colour. It tackledcontroversial Indigenous/colonial themes and was the firstAustralian film to star Indigenous actors.

- Many film makers were unwilling to risk using little-knownAustralian actors in preference to overseas casts.


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Television:

- Television was first introduced in Australia inSeptember 1956 and shortly became thenation's most popular form of entertainment.

- In the early days of its release, televisionscreened in grainy black and white andbroadcasts were limited to just a few hourseach night. As a result, television viewing was

treated as a special event.- Early Australian television broadcast news,quiz programmes, movies, music programmesand sport.

- Many Australian-made programmes were essentially visual broadcasts of existing radioshows, or 'radio with pictures'.

- Many popular TV hosts, like Brian Henderson, were former radio presenters.Other:

- Comic books were extremely popular in the 1950s and American toys like hula hoopsbecame all the rage.

- Swimming at beaches was a popular new pastime, as more people learned how to swimand surf.


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American/British Influences:

- There was a dominance of American content on Australian television in the 1950s.- Most programmes illustrated American families in American settings and dealt with

American problems and themes.- While some television stations, like the ABC, made concentrated attempts to

broadcast Australian programmes, concerns were expressed during this time aboutthe lack of local content on Australian commercial television.

- Popular American television programmes during this period included Perry Mason,The Flintstones and I Love Lucy.


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A Clip From I Love Lucy(1950s):


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Music in the 1950s:

- Rock n roll swept onto Australian shores in 1955 with therelease of Bill Haley's hit songRock Around the Clock.

- Rock n roll was fast, rhythmic and exciting, and audiencesloved it. Young Australians gathered in dance halls dressedin the latest rockn roll fashions and performed danceslike the jitterbug and the boogie-woogie.

- Elvis Presley was known the world over as the king of rockn roll, tapping into the young teen market and thrillingaudiences with his original style of music and hip-gyrating

bad boy image.- Bythe end of the decade, the airwaves were dominated by rock n roll and Australian

rock n roll artists like Johnny O'Keefe and ColJoye were also achieving considerablechart success.


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- Australian popular music during this period was greatly influenced by America asAmerican corporations were able to influence teenagers internationally with the use ofradio and television. Such popular acts from this period included: America's ElvisPresley, Bill Haley and Buddy Holly

- Britains influences included theThe Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Kinks.- Following the introduction of television in 1956, radio stations progressively relied on

the American influence of music.

- They increasingly incorporated its programming with the American youth model, aswell as playing popular music from America and Britain.

- Radio announcers in the 1950s also often used American accents to make theirprograms appear exciting and modern.


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Fashion in the 1950s:

Young Womens Wear:

- Throughout the 1950s, young women'sclothing was also influenced by the rock 'n'

roll craze.- Full skirts in bright colours become popular

for dancing and skirts and pants werepinched in at the waist to emphasise thewaist and bust.

- Young women also wore tight-fitting blousestucked into slim-line calf-length trousers

called 'Capri' pants or 'pedal pushers'.- Short ankle socks, scarves tied around the

neck and cropped cardigans were alsopopular.


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Ladies Wear:- Movie star fashion influenced the clothing styles of

ladies in the 1950s.- Screen goddesses like Marilyn Monroe and Grace Kelly

inspired tiny waistlines and full skirts and busts.- Slim pencil-line skirts were also popular.- Stiletto-heeled shoes emerged in the early 1950s and

shoes could be bought in a variety of colours to matchany outfit.Mens Wear:

- Men still generally wore suits, but new fashions werestill emerging for them in sports clothing.

- Sports jackets and shirts became popular, along withmore active sportswear, such as Bermuda shorts andblue denim jeans.

- However, men still wore hats and haircuts tended to beclosecropped crew cuts.


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- The flow of American cinema inspired many young people to copy the fashion oftheir favourite movie stars. Such examples include: Marlon Brando, who starred inThe Wild One, wearing blue jeans and a leather jacket, and James Dean, dressed in asimilar fashion in Rebel Without A Cause.

- Eventually jeans, leather boots and a white t-shirt became a symbol of teenagerebellion for boys everywhere.

- Towards the end of the decade, many young men adopted the more tailored, British-influenced Teddy Boy style of dress - high-waisted, narrow 'drain pipe' trousers, long

jackets, slim ties and large and shiny pointed shoes called 'winklepickers'.- Elvis Presley was also a popular style icon - with youth everywhere sporting his

slicked back 'duck tail' hair style and long sideburns.


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Examples of fashion in the 1950s:


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Sport in the 1950s:

- The 1950s were a stand-out decade for Australian sport.Technology made it possible to watch sporting performances

live on television and in 1956, Melbourne hosted the OlympicGames - the first time the games had been held in the SouthernHemisphere

- With increased prosperity and leisure time, the working classparticipated in sports like tennis, golf and bowls - sportsformerly reserved for the wealthy. The new post-war affluencealso led to the construction of many new sporting fields and

outdoor swimming pools.- Due to the influx of new migrants during the 1950s, European

sports like soccer, gymnastics and volleyball became morepopular in Australia.


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- The development of sport in Australia reflects the gradual change of our cultureaway from its British roots, towards a more Americanised, yet distinctly Australiancultural mixture.

- While sports like cricket and the various programs of rugby aim to our Britishheritage, modern sports like basketball demonstrate the impacts of Americaninfluence into our culture.

- At the same time, local sports like Australian Rules continue to thrive.


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The 1950's - Australian Culture

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