The 1950’s

Cars Golden age of

big cars

The demand for faster more stylish cars increased.

Cars were big with chrome bumpers and tail fins that mimicked the aviation look. 

Style was king in the 50's and gas mileage wasn't a concern with gasoline at about 10 cents a gallon.

Ford Thunderbird, Plymouth Fury, American Motors Rambler, Chevy Corvette, Ford Edsel, Cadillac, ‘57 Chevrolet Bel Air Sport Coupe V-8, and VW Beetle

Cars New highways were built Teenagers began using cars for

recreation Drive-throughs and drive-ins became

more popular for food and entertainment

More people took trips New pollution problems

Corvette Harley Earl: father of the Corvette Was concerned about European

sportscars Wanted an American sportscar Showed Chevrolet Corvette “Dream

Car” in January 1953

Route 66 Finished in 1938, was a

“super highway” until the late 1950’s

Called “The Mother Road” Replaced by the

Interstate system 2,448 miles long Ran from Chicago to Los

Angeles

TELEVISION In 1950 there are about 10 million

sets in the U.S. black and white. No Remote Control! Received your TV shows via an antenna It brought the everyday world into

people’s houses

          

Television Broadcasters began to see they could

control certain events. In 1953, Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation

was broadcast to the world. Advertisers realized TV’s potential

TV Variety Shows Variety was popular in early

50’s—Westerns in later 50’s Golden Age of Television Milton Berle Ted Mack’s Amatuer Hour Your Hit Parade

Howdy Doody

1947-1960 Star was a marionette The audience of kids was called the

Peanut Gallery and there was a huge waiting list for tickets to the show.

Howdy Doody was the first regular network series in color

Captain Kangaroo Captain (Bob Keeshan)

taught us good manners, respect and fair play

Mr. Green Jeans taught us to be nice to animals.

Keeshan stood fast against any ads which he felt were inappropriate for children.

No cast members ever delivered commercials

The Mickey Mouse Club 1955 Annette Funnicello was

the most popular Mouseketeers opened

Disneyland in July 17, 1955

Walt Disney’s Dream in Anaheim

Superman Able to leap tall buildings

at a single bound 1952-57 Low budget, stock

footage

I LOVE LUCY1951-57

Lucille Ball was a pathfinder who paved the way for all the women in TV to follow.

40,000,000 viewers a week tune in

GUNSMOKE 1955-1975

Longest running dramatic series in TV history

Started as ½ hour show, then became an hour long

Dealt with real—not fantasy characters

BONANZA1959-73

First 2 seasons only reason NBC kept it on the air was because it was in color

Moved to Sunday night and became a hit

Show dealt with then controversial issues

Wagon Train1957-65

Mixed popular western genre with guest stars

Star presence got viewers

Music LP’s were records Popular songs were from Broadway, Big

bands, and crooners Top singers: Kay Starr, Doris Day,

Frankie Lane, Perry Como, Mega Stars: Bing Crosby and Frank

Sinatra

Music—the change The feel-good innocence of a lot of the

Fifties music reflects on the post World War II optimism in America.

In 1955, Chuck Berry introduced “Maybelline”

Began the start of the singer/guitarist

MUSIC Birth of Rock and Roll Bill Haley's “Rock Around The Clock”

became popular in 1955; the nation learned to swing to a whole new sound.

Rock ‘n Roll was banned in respectable places

Alan Freed—a DJ with a mission

Alan Freed

Came up with term “rock and roll”

Caught in a “payola” scandal (illegal payment for having a song played a lot in order to make it a hit)

American Bandstand

Bandstand began as a local program on in Philadelphia on October 7, 1952.

American Bandstand, airing it's first national show on August 5, 1957.

Host: Dick Clark Dancing was a major feature

of Bandstand. Rate-A-Record

"It has a good beat and you can dance to it."

The Day the Music Died

plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Bopper

Feb. 3, 1959

Buddy Holly “That’ll Be the Day” “Peggy Sue” Rhythm and Blue (previously only blacks

played this style of music)

      

Ritchie Valens “Donna” “La Bamba” Rock ‘n Rolls’ first

Chicano artist

The Big Bopper Jiles P. Richardson “Chantilly Lace” Boisterous, funny

Elvis Presley

Charted more songs on Billboard's Hot 100 than any other artist. (149)

Had the greatest number of consecutive #1 hits. (10)

Elvis has the second most Multi-Platinum records (19)

Elvis has more Gold records than any other artist (81)

Elvis has more Platinum records than any other artist (43)

ELVIS “Hound Dog” “Love Me Tender” “All Shook Up” “Jailhouse Rock” Most photographed

celebrity of the 50’s.

Other musical landmarks Harry Belafonte became one of the

most respected black entertainers as a singer, songwriter, and actor

Harold Jenkins changed his name and made a string of hits as Conway Twitty

Stereo records first went on sale in 1958

THE BOMB America was the only

nuclear power until 1950.

US exploded the first hydrogen bomb at Eniwetok Atoll in the Pacific in 1952.

Bomb shelters Fallout shelters Living under the threat of the bomb

Korean War

1950-53 North Korea had Communist government

under Soviet influence South Korea was non-Communist and backed

by the US 1950, North invaded the South and the “cold

war” between US and Soviet Union was fanned into flame

Korean War First jet dogfights between US Sabres

and Chinese MiGs Neither side was able to force a victory Panmunjon treaty in 1953 brought a

truce The two Koreas are still hostile

The Space Age

October 4, 1957, the world’s first artificial satellite, Sputnik I, was launched by Soviets

American space scientists scrambled to launch their own satellite

The space race began America began to think of putting a

man in space

Mercury 7 Astronauts October 7, 1958 Project Mercury Put a human in space, orbit globe,

return safely 1961: Alan Shepard in Freedom 7, first

American human suborbital flight

The British Empire ends 1957: Gold Coast in West Africa became

the first British colony in Africa to get independence—as Ghana

Britain’s once-vast empire was shrinking The territories of the old Empire gained

their independence during the late 50’s and early 60’s

The world map was redrawn

Cuba! 1959, corrupt dictatorship

of Batista was overthrown by Marxist revolution

Fidel Castro led the revolution

Castro became the ultimate Communist opponent for Americans

Mt. Everest

June 2, 1953 After 7 unsuccessful attempts, Mt.

Everest the world’s highest mountain, had been climbed

Edmund Hillary (New Zealand) and Tenzing Norgay (Nepal Sherpa)

Polio

In early 50’s, fear of polio epidemic Polio is a viral infection that affects the

brain and nervous system, left victims paralyzed

Outbreaks worse in warm weather Dr. Jonas Salk invented a vaccine 1958 an oral vaccine available

The Red Scare The hunt for communists Senator Joseph McCarthy No one was safe from his probing.

Government workers, College Professors, playwrights and Hollywood Screenwriters, actors, artists, musicians, gays, Jews and anyone with a goatee was suspect.

House of Un-American Activities Committee

The Hollywood Ten

Herbert Biberman, Lester Cole, Albert Maltz, Adrian Scott, Samuel Omitz, Dalton Trumbo, Edward Dmytryk, Ring Lardner Jr., John Lawson, and Alvah Bessie

Refused to answer any questions House Un-American Committee

disagreed They were sentenced to 6 to 12 months

in prison 320 people were put on the list and

couldn’t get work

Hollywood was especially under scrutiny Writers and actors were blackballed "Are you now, or have you ever been, a

member of the communist party?” Dalton Trumbo, Ruth Gordon, Zero

Mostel, Dashiell Hammett, Lillian Hellman, Jose Ferrer and Orson Welles were blacklisted.

To be suspected of being a communist was worse than being a murderer or rapist.

Just being suspected meant one was a traitor, cutting the throats of American babies.

Anyone who refused to take the pledge was blacklisted and found it impossible to get work, and was harassed constantly by 'agents' for names of other sympathizers.

The Rosenbergs Klaus Fuchs worked with the

Manhattan Project He confessed he passed

information about it to the Soviets during WWII

Ethyl and Julius Rosenberg were identified as couriers

They were found guilty and sentenced to death

                 

     

They remained on death-row for 26 months

They were executed June 19, 1953

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg died in twin electric chairs for being spies.

They never did confess or name names.

                 

     

Edward R. Murrow Most renowned newscaster

in history CBS “See It Now” Murrow's most-celebrated piece was March 9,

1954, telecast, in which he engaged Senator Joseph R. McCarthy in a program "told mainly in [McCarthy's] own words and pictures." Started McCathy’s downfall.

Brown Vs. Topeka Board of Education—Landmark case 1954 Oliver Brown filed the suit because his

daughter Linda (7) had to travel 1 ½ hrs. to school, while white children went just a few blocks

Supreme Court unanimously declared it unconstitutional to create separate schools for children because of race

Overturned Plessy vs. Ferguson

Fashion Circular, full skirts Can-Cans (stiff crinoline

petticoat) Bobby Socks Flat shoes Tight-waisted full skirts with belt

and button up shirt Poodle skirts

In the Fifties, no one ever went anywhere looking sloppy. Period.

Fashion (Men) Conservative Gray flannel suits No Jeans Cardigan sweaters Letter sweaters

Fashion (hair) Pony tails Beehive (puffed up, teased style)

Hats Crew cuts Ducktail

Inventions 1951: UNIVAC Computer, Super

Glue 1952: Mr. Potato Head 1953: Radial tires, Contact paper 1954: Kidney Transplant, colored

appliances 1955: Home microwave ($1500)

Inventions

1956: Computer hard disk, Liquid paper; videotape recorder

1957: Velcro, AA batteries 1958: Laser, hula hoop 1959: Pacemaker, snowmobile

Barbie Ruth Handler created the

teenage doll Barbie is named for Ruth’s

daughter Barbara Unveiled Barbie at the Toy Fair in

1959 Remains one of the hottest

selling toys in the world

Movies Most popular after WWII Became more reliant on “teen-and-

twenty” crowd Family film became less commercially

lucrative Science fiction was really popular Television hurt movies

Movies

The Wild One On the Waterfront Rebel Without a Cause The Incredible Shrinking

Man Invaders from Mars

Movies turned to technology to draw audience back—Vistavision, Cinerama, 3 D glasses, special effects

Creature from Black Lagoon (3D) Ben Hur (blockbuster epic)

50’s Stars James Dean Marlon Brando Jimmy Stewart

Cary Grant Grace Kelly Elizabeth Taylor

Kim Novack Charlton Heston Gene Kelly

Audrey Hepburn Marilyn Monroe