Current baby-boomer nostalgia has, for the most part, washed over — and sanitized — the political history of the 1950s. When compared to the turbulent decades that would follow and the world war that had preceded in the 1940s, the 1950s...
The stereotype that labels the 1950s as a sleepy, conformist decade is at no time less true than when discussing the media. The 1950s were revolutionary years in the media. During the decade the technology and content of radio, television, newspapers,...
Great strides were made in American science during the 1950s. Major inventions and discoveries were almost daily events, and previously ignored technology improved upon and made commercially applicable. The field of science seemed to change overnight....
By 1950 people generally recognized that the nation's economy — the financial performance of its businesses — affects every American personally. The security of our jobs and how much we earn doing them, the cost of the goods we buy, the...
The 1950s was a decade of unprecedented economic and population growth for the United States. The baby boom that had begun in the years immediately following World War II continued well into the decade. From 1948 to 1953 more children were born than...
Crime was on the minds of Americans during the 1950s. They watched it on television nightly; it was fictionalized on The Untouchables, for example, which told weekly stories of the battles between government agents and gangsters; and real accounts...
Even if some Americans in the 1950s still believed that "a little learnin' goes a long way," they became concerned during the decade that it took more than a little learning to face the challenges of the day. American education in the 1950s...
Nostalgia for the 1950s began while memories of the decade were still fresh. Tail-finned cars, hula hoops, poodle skirts, Elvis Presley, mothers in aprons, and "Leave It To Beaver" conjure up images of a genial time that seems better,...
The 1950s are sometimes thought of as America's bland decade, a decade when family life was stable and America's cities were safe. The economy was booming and most Americans enjoyed increased prosperity. Americans celebrated this...
The 1950s were a time of rapid change and lock step conformity, of new forms emerging out of old, and technical innovations proceeding at a breakneck pace. For all the talk of traditional American values, the country was shedding its past as a snake...
The 1950s decade refers to the years 1950 to 1959 inclusive. The Fifties in the United States and much of Western Europe are generally considered conservative in contrast to the social revolution of the next decade. Mass suburban developments and...
