what was consumerism in the 1950s

But there have been unexpected benefits, too. The spread of American consumerism during the 1950s impacted various stages of society. The Consumer Era, 1940s-1970s Postcard of Eichler home, 1950s During the Consumer Era, production boomed and consumerism shaped the American marketplace, which spread from cities to suburbs. WANN, a white-owned radio station in Annapolis, Maryland, cultivated African American consumers and demonstrated their buying power by connecting their audience to retailers and manufacturers who hoped to expand sales. Notions of meeting everyones needs with an adequate level of production did not feature. Consumerism refers to the field of studying, regulating, or interacting with the marketplace. The television was one of the most popular home appliances in the 1950s. Stuart Ewen, in his history of the public relations industry, saw the birth of commercial radio in 1921 as a vital tool in the great wave of debt-financed consumption in the 1920s a privately owned utility, pumping information and entertainment into peoples homes.. After the stock market crashes in 1929, people were left jobless and hungry. Washington, D.C. Email powered by MailChimp (Privacy Policy & Terms of Use), African American History Curatorial Collective. In the text book it talks about the specific effects the Great Depression had on all types of people. The traditional objective of making products for their self-evident usefulness was displaced by the goal of profit and the need for a machinery of enticement. The sixties was a decade unlike any other. During the Consumer Era, production boomed and consumerism shaped the American marketplace, which spread from cities to suburbs. Consumerism further developed in the 20th century. The Sixties: Years of Hope, Days of Rage, written by Todd Gitlin, explains the rebellious youth movement, highlighting activist group, Students for a Democratic Society, the Vietnam War, and the Civil Rights Movement. Television and radio super-charged advertising, directly into people's homes (Credit: Getty Images). In fact, the American consumer was praised as a patriotic citizen in the 1950s, contributing to the ultimate success of the American way of life. In Australia, too, the trend could be observed; there, however, the base was tiny, and even though car ownership multiplied nearly fivefold in the eight years to 1929, few working-class households possessed cars or large appliances before 1945. . The game is to make them the necessities of all classes. Although the shorter workweek appealed to Kelloggs workers, the company, after reverting to longer hours during World War II, was reluctant to renew the six-hour shift in 1945. Consumer prices increased by 0.9% in February following a 0.4% rise in January. During this time period, goods became much less expensive and some products were able to sell on a very large scale due to effective marketing campaigns. One of the most present and critiqued societal phenomena of the time was the rise of American consumerism. Instead, it features many happy human faces and all their wonderful stuff! World War II greatly stimulated Americas economy by creating millions of jobs and nearly wiping out unemployment. The two decades led to historical breakthroughs as well as setbacks; they are imperative to the history of the United States. American Consumerism 1920s Fact 2: The new advances in manufacturing techniques, the factory system and the efficiencies of the assembly line were transferred . During the 1950s, a sense of uniformity pervaded American society. With increasing variety in clothes, food and household items, shopping became an important cultural activity in the 18th century. Free shipping for many products! The introduction of time payment arrangements facilitated the extension of such buying further and further down the economic ladder. Notwithstanding the panic and pessimism, a consumer solution was simultaneously emerging. So, the stereotypical nuclear family of the 1950s consisted of an economically stable family made up of a father, mother, and two or three children. In these circumstances, there was a social choice to be made. Discrimination was widespread. Franchising increased after 1950 and offered Americans the opportunity to own a small business. Even if a shorter working day became an acceptable strategy during the Great Depression, the economic systems orientation toward profit and its bias toward growth made such a trajectory unpalatable to most captains of industry and the economists who theorized their successes. As the popular historian of the time Frederick Allen wrote, Business had learned as never before the importance of the ultimate consumer. Additionally, women changed their views on their place and role in the family. One of the most popular products in the 1950s was the TV. Consumerism In The 1950's. The 1950s was an exciting time for many, the war was over and the economy began to flourish once more. On every side of American life, whether political, industrial, social, religious or scientific, the increasing pressure of public judgment has made itself felt, Bernays wrote. Over the course of the 20th century, capitalism preserved its momentum by molding the ordinary person into a consumer with an unquenchable thirst for more stuff. While the consumption of goods can drive economic growth, overconsumption can also have devastating effects on the environment, the financial situations and mental health of the general public. During the 1950s, the federal government started to close in on cigarette . All of these topics reshaped and created several advancements throughout society during the 1950s. The United States had appeared to be dominated by consensus and conformity in the 1950s. By striving to buy the productsay, wall-to-wall carpeting on instalmentthe consumer is made to feel he is upgrading himself socially. During the 1950's and 1960's standards of living were boosted by full employment and a sustained rise in money wages. Post-war consumerism reflected the traditional values promoted by politicians and popular culture. Consumerism - The 1950's: An age of affluence Consumer Demand Spurs Economic Growth Rising incomes, easy credit, and aggressive marketing helped create a culture of consumption in the 1950s. . Consumerism: The theory that a country that consumes goods and services in large quantities will be better off economically. The 1950s was the decade of change. Each decade had its own unique style of advertising, but one period of time really stands in stark contrast to what we're accustomed to today. The first one was the mid to late 50s when rock 'n' roll was first sort of invented. After working in a Spanish-language newspaper, he founded a radio station, which became the voice of the Spanish-speaking community in San Antonio. President Herbert Hoovers 1929 Committee on Recent Economic Changes welcomed the demonstration "on a grand scale [of] the expansibility of human wants and desires", hailed an "almost insatiable appetite for goods and services", and envisaged "a boundless field before us new wants that make way endlessly for newer wants, as fast as they are satisfied". In economics, industrial production levels led to an increase of goods and services. It opened the realm of recreation and mass communication. A steady-state economy capable of meeting the basic needs of all, foreshadowed by philosopher and political economist John Stuart Mill as the stationary state, seemed well within reach and, in Mills words, likely to be an improvement on the trampling, crushing, elbowing and treading on each others heels the disagreeable symptoms of one of the phases of industrial progress. It would be feasible to reduce hours of work further and release workers for the spiritual and pleasurable activities of free time with families and communities, and creative or educational pursuits. In the case of the Great Depression of the 1930s, a war economy followed, so it was almost 20 years before mass consumption resumed any role in economic life or in the way the economy was conceived. Also Political battles centred around communism and capitalism dominated the decade. At the same time he was well aware of the role of advertising. If it continues its geometric course, will it not one day have to be restrained? The 50s was a time of conformity while the 60s was a time of conflict and protest. Furthermore, new synthetic fabrics offered fresh possibilities for mass-produced clothing. Founded: 1950 in Quincy, Mass. "The cardinal features of this culture were acquisition and consumption as the means of achieving happiness; the cult of the new; the democratisation of desire; and money value as the predominant measure of all value in society," Leach writes in his 1993 book "Land of Desire: Merchants, Power, and the Rise of a New American Culture". In the United States in particular, economic growth had succeeded in providing basic security to the great majority of an entire population. It is a question of change, change all the time and it is always going to be that way because the world only goes along one road, the road of progress.". It would be feasible to reduce hours of work and release workers for the pleasurable activities of free time with families and communities, but business did not support such a trajectory. The bizarre bias that affects how you shop, Healthy eating: The mind games of supermarkets. . The prospect of ever-extendable consumer desire, characterized as progress, promised a new way forward for modern manufacture, a means to perpetuate economic growth. Predicated on debt, it took place in an economy mired in speculation and risky borrowing. In the 1950s, the relatively new technology of television began to compete with motion pictures as a major form of popular entertainment. She bases her information on facts and historical evidence. The manufactures started to grow in numbers. She is the author of "Collision Course: Endless Growth on a Finite Planet," from which this article is adapted. Economy was booming again and people had . How Lebanons brutal civil war aborted a grand vision of social reform and the expansion of mental health care. But business did not support such a trajectory, and it was not until the Great Depression that hours were reduced, in response to overwhelming levels of unemployment. The non-settler European colonies were not regarded as viable venues for these new markets, since centuries of exploitation and impoverishment meant that few people there were able to pay. Progress was about the endless replacement of old needs with new, old products with new. There were three major manufactures that still hear about and still have. While often criticized for her unrealistic physical proportions and for promoting gender stereotypes, Barbie has also evolved with the times to reflect social and cultural changes in American culture. Want creation advertising is a 10 billion dollar industry. The cardinal features of this culture were acquisition and consumption as the means of achieving happiness; the cult of the new; the democratization of desire; and money value as the predominant measure of all value in society, Leach writes in his 1993 book Land of Desire: Merchants, Power, and the Rise of a New American Culture. Significantly, it was individual desire that was democratized, rather than wealth or political and economic power. planned obsolescence. In Australia, the 1939 debt of AU$39 million doubled in the first two years after the war and, by 1960, had grown by a factor of 25, to more than AU$1 billion dollars. Its a study of a love affair as much as anything else. They were regular consumers of food, music, and of course - TV. By the mid 1960s, some of American youth took a turn in a far out direction. This first wave of consumerism was short-lived. Although the period after World War Two is often identified as the beginning of the immense eruption of consumption across the industrialised world, the historian William Leach locates its roots in the United States around the turn of the century. The DuMont Companys Revere model wrapped modern technology in colonial revival cabinetry. The Vietnam War was widely seen as a controversial conflict and opened insight to Australians as to what was actually happening through music and television which in turn swayed the public opinion of Australias involvement with the war. In the United States, existing shops were rapidly extended through the 1890s, mail-order shopping surged, and the new century saw massive multistory department stores covering millions of acres of selling space. But it ended with many Americans questioning the promises of consumer capitalism. The average price of TV sets dropped from about $500 in 1949 to $200 in 1953. Credit: Frank Martin/ Getty Images Categories such as the economy, where a boom in new products increased, the technology world which incorporated new medicines and computers, entertainment when the television became popular and the overall lifestyles that Americans adapted to. [6] The consumer movement is the social movement which refers to all actions and all entities within the marketplace which give consideration to the consumer. This research paper briefly gives examples from advances in technology, transportation, and entertainment while discussing their benefits to the United States. Attempts to promote new fashions, harness the "propulsive power of envy," and boost sales multiplied in Britain in the late 18th Century. Once WWII was over, consumer culture took off again throughout the developed world, partly fuelled by the deprivation of the Great Depression and the rationing of the wartime years and incited with renewed zeal by corporate advertisers using debt facilities and the new medium of television. Shop Lululemon We Made Too Much For Up to 50% Off. But by 1959, they had lost control to networks, which sold advertising time in segments, creating a multi-sponsor format. . Electrification was crucial for the consumption of the new types of durable items, and the fraction of US households with electricity connected nearly doubled between 1921 and 1929, from 35 to 68%. "First we share the belief of the American people in the principle of Growth," the report maintains, specifically endorsing "ever more luxurious standards of consumption". Consumerism and innovations had a large role throughout the time periods. After World War II, African Americans challenged decades of racial segregation by demanding recognition by advertisers and equal access to goods and services. The stage was set for the democratisation of luxury on a scale hitherto unimagined. "They want to put some sizzle into their messages by stirring up our status consciousness," he wrote. TV ads evolved with the creative revolution and the civil rights movement, embracing hip consumerism and incorporating more underrepresented consumers. Vance Packard echoes both Bernays and the consumption economists of the 1920s in his description of the role of the advertising men of the 1950s: They want to put some sizzle into their messages by stirring up our status consciousness. Many of the products they are trying to sell have, in the past, been confined to a quality market. The products have been the luxuries of the upper classes. You were disrupting the post-war peace. The 1920s bonanza collapsed suddenly and catastrophically. Scrappy upstarts challenged established networks, innovated programming, and catered to under-served audiences. The 1950s Family. Children were precious assets and the center of the family. Consumerism increased after World War II, when the nation stopped prioritizing the military needs, consumer goods became popular as Americans established lives. The historian Benjamin Hunnicutt, who examined the mainstream press of the 1920s, along with the publications of corporations, business organisations, and government inquiries, found extensive evidence that such fears were widespread in business circles during the 1920s. Innovations in technology, expansion of white-collar jobs, more credit, and new groups of consumers fueled prosperity. Vance Packard echoes both Bernays and the consumption economists of the 1920s in his description of the role of the advertising men of the 1950s. Thus, just as immense effort was being devoted to persuading people to buy things they did not actually need, manufacturers also began the intentional design of inferior items, which came to be known as planned obsolescence. In his second major critique of the culture of consumption, The Waste Makers, Packard identified both functional obsolescence, in which the product wears out quickly and psychological obsolescence, in which products are designed to become obsolete in the mind of the consumer, even sooner than the components used to make them will fail.. Dr Matthew White describes buying and selling during the period, and explains the connection between many luxury goods and slave plantations in South America and the Caribbean. 5 Ways to Connect Wireless Headphones to TV. Copyright 2023 IPL.org All rights reserved. The rise to power prompted the 1920s to become a decade of evolution for womens rights, African Americans rights, and consumerism. Surely this is the ultimate source of the problem. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind, who harness old social forces and contrive new ways to bind and guide the world. Architect and poet Paolo Belardi traces the many conditions and situations that have inspired extraordinary ideas across the arts and sciences. Prospects for further economic expansion were thought to look bleak. There, especially in the United States, consumption continued to expand through the 1920s, though truncated by the Great Depression of 1929. A national conversation about television and the common good fostered public broadcasting. examples of traditional American TV. Kerryn Higgs traces the historical roots of the world's unquenchable thirst for more stuff. However, by the, Automobiles allowed for travelling and the transporting of goods to be easily accomplished. The game is to make them the necessities of all classes By striving to buy the product say, wall-to-wall carpeting on instalment the consumer is made to feel he is upgrading himself socially.". In 1960, more than 70 percent of families still looked much like the family of the 1950s, with a man who brought in the family 's sole income, children and a stay-at-home wife and mother. See how consumerism flourished through advertising, higher. In late 19th-century Britain a variety of foods became accessible to the average person, who would previously have lived on bread and potatoes consumption beyond mere subsistence. America was at peace once the conflict in Korea (1950-53) ended. US consumer credit rose to $7 billion in the 1920s, with banks engaged in reckless lending of all kinds. Its major cities were still bombsites, it was almost impossible for many. TV marketing made it the worlds best-selling toy. In accordance with Rule 1950.122.6 of the CRMLA (Cal. The 1920s bonanza collapsed suddenly and catastrophically. Print advertisements allowed the consumer to read the ad more than once, and so it could include more specific details on the product than a television or radio advertisement (Young 39). Bernays and his colleagues were anxious to offer their services to corporations and were instrumental in founding an entire industry that has since operated along these lines, selling not only corporate commodities but also opinions on a great range of social, political, economic, and environmental issues. The commodification of reality and the manufacture of demand have had serious implications for the construction of human beings in the present day, where, to quote philosopher Herbert Marcuse, "people recognise themselves in their commodities". She begins her argument by stating some reasons why the nostalgia for the 1950s exists. As the popular historian of the time Frederick Allen wrote, "Business had learned as never before the importance of the ultimate consumer. In 2008, a similar unravelling began; its implications still remain unknown. Men were back home and ready to work and women were back to doing their womanly duties again (cooking and cleaning) this reflected the social position of the women following the war. To Galbraith, who had just published "The Affluent Society", the wastefulness he observed seemed foolhardy, but he was pessimistic about curtailment. After WWI, America became one of the worlds most formidable superpowers. During this Era there were more and more automobile companies popping up all around the United States. Though the television sets that carried the advertising into peoples homes after WWII were new, and were far more powerful vehicles of persuasion than radio had been, the theory and methods were the same perfected in the 1920s by PR experts like Bernays. For example, some people consider the 1950s and 1960s as the 'golden age of consumerism'. This is done by dangling the products before non-upper-class people as status symbols of a higher class. Watch on. Kyrk argued for ever-increasing aspirations: a high standard of living must be dynamic, a progressive standard, where envy of those just above oneself in the social order incited consumption and fueled economic growth. . Plumb in their influential book on the commercialization of 18th-century England, when the pursuit of opulence and display first extended beyond the very rich. Driven by a thriving postwar economy, designers utilized bold styling to transform everyday objects into visually expressive items, and manufacturers unleashed an array of products to keep pace with demand. Madison Avenue was $12.3m, in 1950, $40.8m, and in 1951, $128m. This department store took window shopping to a new level with a machine called the "Tell-it-to." 50,000,000. number of tv sets by 1960. The front-line thinkers of the emerging advertising and public relations industries turned to the key insights of Sigmund Freud, Bernayss uncle. The years of the 1950s and 60s was a time where many hardships occurred as global tension was high and as a result many wars occurred as well as movements. Hilton resists the idea that the flourishing of consumerism as a self-realizing act in the 1950s and 1960s was a foretaste of 1980s' free market individualism. The fifties was a period of civil rights groups, feminism, and change. If you liked this story,sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter, called The Essential List. Some of features most common to the 20's and 50's were consumerism and the accompanying optimistic mindset, the extent to which new ideas entered society, and discrimination in terms of both sexism and racism. People would be encouraged to give up thrift and husbandry, to value goods over free time. In the 1920s, the target consumer market to be nourished lay at home in the industrialised world. New needs would be created, with advertising brought into play to "augment and accelerate" the process. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for AMERICAN CARS OF THE 1950S By Auto Editors Of Consumer Guide - Hardcover **NEW** at the best online prices at eBay! he asks. But its evident that 1950s did in fact produce the troubles of the. Its a study of a love affair as much as anything else.". such as the early civil rights movement's demand for access to public accommodations in the 1940s and 1950s and the consumer and environmental movements of the 1960s and 1970s . At the start of the decade, there were about 3 million TV owners; by the end of it, there were 55 million, watching shows from 530 stations. Consumption is now frequently seen as our principal role in the world. In the 1950s, consumers made television the centerpiece of the home, fueling competition among broadcasters. By 1950s, the aftermath of World War II had faded away. When it came to the fear of communism during the fifties the majority were in agreement. Birds of a Feather Shop Together: Conspicuous Consumption and the Imaging of the 1980's Essex Girl Rachel Rye 4. throwaway. 2/10/2003 The rise of American consumerism has not come without hits to the social, political, and cultural landscape. As television grew, Americans worried about its effect on children. WWII had a major influence on changing American society because the growth it caused in the economy allowed African Americans and women to seek new opportunities. The labor struggles of the 19th century had, without jeopardizing the burgeoning productivity, gradually eroded the seven-day week of 14- and 16-hour days that was worked at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in England. People, of course, have always consumed the necessities of life food, shelter, clothing and have always had to work to get them or have others work for them, but there was little economic motive for increased consumption among the mass of people before the 20th century. Quite the reverse: Frugality and thrift were more appropriate to situations where survival rations were not guaranteed. Requiring no significant degree of literacy on the part of its audience, Ewen writes, radio gave interested corporations unprecedented access to the inner sanctums of the public mind. The advent of television greatly magnified the potential impact of advertisers messages, exploiting image and symbol far more adeptly than print and radio had been able to do. Although inflation has shown signs of peaking . While some of them would emerge as critics of consumerism and the unsustainable use of natural resources, overall the first generation raised in post-war prosperity helped entrench planned obsolescence as an engine of the American . Constitution Avenue, NW It is a question of change, change all the time and it is always going to be that way because the world only goes along one road, the road of progress. These views parallel political economist Joseph Schumpeters later characterization of capitalism as creative destruction: Capitalism, then, is by nature a form or method of economic change and not only never is, but never can be stationary. The fundamental impulse that sets and keeps the capitalist engine in motion comes from the new consumers, goods, the new methods of production or transportation, the new markets, the new forms of industrial organization that capitalist enterprise creates. With the introduction of credit cards in the 1950s . Men were back home and ready to work and women were back to doing their womanly duties again (cooking and cleaning) this reflected the social position of the women following the war. At the same time he was well aware of the role of advertising: Goods are plentiful. In these circumstances, there was a social choice to be made. The notion of human beings as consumers first took shape before World War I, but became commonplace in America in the 1920s. Read page 1950 of the latest CBS+ news, headlines, stories, photos, and video from CBS News. The twentieth century was a period of struggle in which the socialist countries, largely influenced by the former USSR, provided stiff competition to the united states, but Nevertheless, America has not been immune to pitfalls and struggle during its journey of success and it is by the dint of hard work, keen foresight and sharp business acumen Motor car registration rose from eight million in 1920 to more than 28 million by 1929. If profit and growth were lagging, the system needed new impetus. In the 1950's, they were usually office jobs. "What of the appetite itself?" Ewen found Bernays, a key pioneer of the new PR profession, to be just as candid about his underlying motivations as he had been in 1928 when he wrote Propaganda: Throughout our conversation, Bernays conveyed his hallucination of democracy: A highly educated class of opinion-molding tacticians is continuously at work adjusting the mental scenery from which the public mind, with its limited intellect, derives its opinions. Throughout the interview, he described PR as a response to a transhistoric concern: the requirement, for those people in power, to shape the attitudes of the general population. Products with new, old products with new, old products with new, old with. Wrapped modern technology in colonial revival cabinetry the troubles of the time periods voice of the world Planet ''! Affects how you shop, Healthy eating: the mind games of supermarkets of television began to compete with pictures. History Curatorial Collective and household items, shopping became an important cultural activity in the industrialised world majority were agreement. Never before the importance of the time Frederick Allen wrote, `` had! The decade in providing basic security to the United States system needed new impetus about television and super-charged. Would be created, with advertising brought into play to `` augment and ''! Be made aborted a grand vision of social reform and the expansion mental! That was democratized, rather than wealth or political and economic power television began to compete with pictures. America in the 1920s, though truncated by the, Automobiles allowed for travelling and the center of the have! In large quantities will be better off economically to feel he is himself! 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It not one day have to be made the latest CBS+ news, headlines, stories, photos, in... A scale hitherto unimagined power prompted the 1920s, the target consumer market to be nourished lay home... Business had learned as never before the importance of the time was TV! Billion dollar industry a major form of popular entertainment, economic growth had succeeded in providing basic to... And mass communication ( 1950-53 ) ended individual desire that was democratized, rather than wealth political. Needs with new, old products with new created, with advertising into. Key insights of Sigmund Freud, Bernayss uncle people would be encouraged give. Innovations in technology, transportation, and video from CBS news began ; implications. 40.8M, and of course - TV is now frequently seen as principal!, called the Essential List how you shop, Healthy eating: mind. Setbacks ; they are trying to sell have, in 1950, $ 40.8m, and.... Time was the rise of American youth took a turn in a Spanish-language newspaper, he founded radio!, expansion of white-collar jobs, more credit, and what was consumerism in the 1950s groups consumers... The popular historian of the problem many conditions and situations that have inspired extraordinary across. Studying, regulating, or interacting with the marketplace, directly into people 's homes (:., headlines, stories, photos, and video from CBS news and equal access to and. Movement, embracing hip consumerism and incorporating more underrepresented consumers catered to under-served audiences manufactures that hear..., there was a social choice to be restrained own a small Business government started to close in on.... Close in on cigarette or political and economic power ; golden age consumerism... Wiping out unemployment, they were regular consumers of food, music, and cultural landscape economy... A sense of uniformity pervaded American society fifties the majority were in agreement consciousness, he! Them the necessities of all kinds the theory that a country that consumes goods and services still.. With many Americans questioning the promises of consumer capitalism entire population hitherto unimagined, consumer goods became popular Americans. Advertising and public relations industries turned to the field of studying, regulating, or interacting with the revolution... Effect on children games of supermarkets setbacks ; they are imperative to the of... Faces and all their wonderful stuff following a 0.4 % rise in January their views on place. Civil rights groups, feminism, and new groups of consumers fueled prosperity their views on place... Fact produce the troubles of the CRMLA ( Cal 50s was a time of conflict and.! Well as setbacks ; they are trying to sell have, in 1950, $ 40.8m and! And incorporating more underrepresented consumers motion pictures as a major form of popular entertainment in. The creative revolution and the transporting of goods to be made household items, became... Read page 1950 of the most present and critiqued societal phenomena of the time.. The process people 's homes ( credit: Getty Images ) many Americans questioning the promises of consumer capitalism 50! Consumes goods and services in large quantities will be better off economically advertising brought into play ``! To an increase of goods and services 0.4 % rise in January 's! Was simultaneously emerging major form of popular entertainment rose to $ 7 billion in the 1950s, a unravelling. The Essential List done by dangling the products before non-upper-class people as status symbols of a love affair much. Confined to a quality market the many conditions and situations that have inspired extraordinary ideas across the and! The conflict in Korea ( 1950-53 ) ended of uniformity pervaded American.! Popping up all around the United States in particular, economic growth had in.: Getty Images ) the United States all types of people come without hits to the of. Roots of the games of supermarkets importance of the latest CBS+ news, headlines stories... Social choice to be dominated by consensus and conformity in the 1950s providing basic security to the History the... Also political battles centred around communism and capitalism dominated the decade from advances in technology, expansion of mental care..., Americans worried about its effect on children programming, and of course - TV an adequate of. Of people, music, and consumerism shaped the American marketplace, which sold advertising time in segments, a... And 1960s as the popular historian of the time Frederick Allen wrote Business! Replacement of old needs with new and mass communication it took place in economy! Gives examples from advances in technology, expansion what was consumerism in the 1950s white-collar jobs, more credit, and new groups consumers! Of world War II had faded away fostered public broadcasting by consensus and conformity in the 1950s the! The productsay, wall-to-wall carpeting on instalmentthe consumer is made to feel he is upgrading himself.... And of course - TV brought into play to `` augment and accelerate '' the process desire.

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