Grace Palladino
The word "teenager" emerged into common language around the time of World War II to describe the high school experience of a new generation. Today, we take for granted the association of style, culture, and mind—set with the age group from thirteen to nineteen. In the 1940s, however, adolescence as a distinct stage in life was a new concept, and one that from its inception was tied intimately to marketplace strategy. With the encouragement of big business, teen culture became a burgeoning industry by the '50s. In the decades following, baby boomers took center stage while retail chains, magazines, TV networks, and manufacturing sought them as a valued independent niche. Changes in demographics, educational policy, and family expectations transformed the early version of the wholesome and still dependent ingenue of the '40s into the autonomous and often jaded young adult who demanded to govern his or her own.....
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