Popular Culture: The Fifties
By Alex Brown
1.0 INTRODUCTION TO THE FIFTIES
The Second World War ended in 1945 Both Europe and Asia had been devastated by the war. Although the United States of America had fought in Asia and Europe/ it had not suffered any damage to its own territory and it emerged from the war with its industry, military power and economy stronger than ever and able to wield more power and influence over world events than any other country.
2.0 THE POST WAR WORLD
Although the Soviet Union and the West had been allies during the war against the Germans/ after the war they returned to their pre-war state of distrust and hostility to each other. America led the Capitalist world (Western Europe/ South America, Japan/ parts of Asia (including South East Asia) and Africa. The Soviet Union led the Communist bloc (Eastern Europe, Cuba and China). This state of affairs was called the 'Cold War' where each power bloc was fully armed and ready to fight any aggressive act by the other. The fact that both sides had a large number of nuclear weapons made this a very dangerous situation.
3.0 THE AMERICAN CULTURAL IMPACT
By the 1950s American cultural values and products had penetrated most parts of the non-Communist world as U.S. Corporations/ financial institutions and media enterprises bought up or invested in the raw materials and companies of other countries which were less developed or bankrupt after the war.
a) ARCHITECTURE
The corporate glass office tower produced in America in the 1950s was exported to other cities throughout the world sometimes disrupting the fabric of traditional cities. To the Middle Classes of many countries the suburban home & garden seen in movies became a symbol of the good life.
b) HOLLYWOOD AND THE MOVIE INDUSTRY
Hollywood movies dominated the world cinema's industry. The fast pace of their films, power of their imagery or the high production values of the films. Cult heroes such as Marilyn Monroe and James Dean became influential figures amongst youth. By the 1950s the high standard of living available to most Americans filtered through to younger age group. They had a lot more spending power which they used on fashion and entertainment products in terms of fashion, style, music and 'street attitude'.
c) TELEVISION
In the post-war (1950s) United States that TV sets became widely available to the general public. American TV started out and continues to be seen as an entertainment medium. The popularity and professionalism of Mass-produced American TV products made them easy to sell abroad. And like 'I Love Lucy'/ game shows/ police dramas and soap operas gave the rest of the world a view of American life which made it seem more desirable/ exciting and (in terms of standard of living - least) much more advanced than their own.
b) HOLLYWOOD AND THE MOVIE INDUSTRY
Hollywood movies dominated the world cinema's industry. The fast pace of their films, power of their imagery or the high production values of the films. Cult heroes such as Marilyn Monroe and James Dean became influential figures amongst youth. By the 1950s the high standard of living available to most Americans filtered through to younger age group. They had a lot more spending power which they used on fashion and entertainment products in terms of fashion, style, music and 'street attitude'.
c) TELEVISION
In the post-war (1950s) United States that TV sets became widely available to the general public. American TV started out and continues to be seen as an entertainment medium. The popularity and professionalism of Mass-produced American TV products made them easy to sell abroad. And like 'I Love Lucy'/ game shows/ police dramas and soap operas gave the rest of the world a view of American life which made it seem more desirable/ exciting and (in terms of standard of living - least) much more advanced than their own.
7.0 LIFESTYLE
The introduction of the SUPERMARKET - an American invention - with its canned and packaged foods at affordable prices and backed by bulk buying/ mass marketing & advertizing influenced the shopping and eating habits of many societies particular amongst the middle classes. Traditional small shops and/or markets began to suffer as the convenient one-stop shopping supermarkets established themselves in cities throughout the world. One can also note the introduction of the uniquely American 'hamburger and fries to the rest of the world - Mcdonald's/ Burger King and so on. FAST FOOD is the essentially American contribution to international eating habits. So too is the idea of packaged convenience foods.
8.0 HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS
The American lifestyle as seen through TV and cinema images shows domestic consumer products which would later become standard throughout the rest of the world. The Fridge/freezer by Fridgidair; the vacuum cleaner by Hoover, the toaster; television and many household appliances. The apparent mass availability of cars, washing machines, television sets to the general public (as projected through American media) created a ready market for American products throughout the world.
9.0 MUSIC
Without doubt the major cultural event in the music of this century occurred in the 1950s: THE BIRTH OF ROCK 'N ROLL. Rock 'n Roll was based predominantly on a mixture of American Black 'Rhythm and Blues' sounds with some White 'Country music'. In the 1950s White groups began to play their version of Rhythm and Blues: Bill Haley and the Comets, Buddy Holly and the Crickets and most dramatically: Elvis Presley. The popularity of this music with American youth was instantaneous and its influence spread quickly across the Western world.
10.0 ART AND DESIGN
However, the emigration of many Europeans to the USA before and after the war and the work of the Americans themselves led to a new and influential style of art: Abstract Expressionism in which there was no recognisable subject matter only an intense and dynamic distribution of colours. American PRODUCT DESIGN varied between the 'cool' steel and glass product usually for corporate use and the 'hot' highly stylised design of consumer products like cars. American car design of this period is the best example of American consumer products and styling: large, high fuel consumption, exaggerated streamlining, lts of right chrome trim, lots of lights, large flared tail fins and highly coloured combined to make the American car the ultimate image of the American way of life: confident, dynamic/ free and pleasure-seeking.
11.0 THE COLD WAR GOES HOT: THE KOREAN WAR
The hostility between the Communist and non-Communist world broke into outright warfare in 1950 when the Communist North Koreans invaded the American- protected South Korea. American forces supported by other Western states an backed by the United Nations were sent to push the Northern forces back, which the did. However when Western forces crossed the North Korea border the Chinese army entered the war on the side of the North After three years fighting the Americans and their allies finally pushed the Chinese forces back to the border. Peace talks began soon afterwards.
12.0 EUROPE AND THE END OF EMPIRES
By the mid 1950s/ the European states (the British and the French) were facing challenges to their Imperial powers. The British and French invaded Egypt when the nationalist government of Colonel Nasser took over the Suez Canal which the Europeans considered to be theirs. The invasion succeeded but lack of America support for their actions led to a threatened collapse of the British and French economies and a withdrawal from Egypt.
In Vietnam, a French colony, the resistance movement - the Viet Minh under its leader. Ho Chi Minh, fought and defeated a French army at the battle of Dien Bie Phu. This disaster caused the French to withdraw from most of Vietnam.
These two campaigns showed the weakness of the former colonial powers and it became clear that the USA and not the Europeans could take on the role of 'international policeman' for the West.
13.0 THE RECONSTRUCTION OF JAPAN
After its surrender in 1945, Japan had been occupied by American military forces and its government and policies largely reconstructed along American lines. The Japanese economy recovered quickly after the war basing its economy on heavy engineering (shipbuilding)/ cars, motorbikes and a growing consumer electronics industry. In this period Japanese goods were based on (and sometimes direct copies of Western products
This period saw the establishment of the international Japanese companies such as: Sony, Mitsubishi, Toshiba, Honda, Susuki, Hitachi.
14.0 TECHNOLOGY
In 1958, America, which considered it led the world in technology received a shock when the Soviet Union launched the world's first satellite ('Sputnik'). Since both sides -aw rockets and space technology as military issues, this event provoked the Americans into what was called the 'Space Race'. The most spectacular result of this would be the Americans landing on the Moon in 1969.
15.0 SUMMARY OF THE FIFTIES
The 1950s were essentially a period of reconstruction for most of the world apart from the United States. However, in social, cultural and political terms there were no radical movements and the period in many ways had the same 'feel' as the previous decade. In this sense the 1950s may be regarded as a period of preparation for the dramatic events of the 1960s where real and sometimes revolutionary changes took place throughout the world.
End
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