The 1950s

by William H. Young

Have the 1950s been overly romanticized? Beneath the calm, conformist exterior, new ideas and attitudes were percolating. This was the decade of McCarthyism, Levittowns, and men in gray flannel suits, but the 1950s also saw bold architectural styles, the rise of paperback novels and the Beat writers, Cinema Scope and film noir, television variety shows, the Golden Age of the automobile, subliminal advertising, fast food, Frisbees, and silly putty. Meanwhile, teens attained a more prominent role in American culture with hot rods, rock 'n' roll, preppies and greasers, and―gasp―juvenile delinquency. At the same time, a new technological threat, the atom bomb, lurked beneath the surface of the postwar decade. This volume presents a nuanced look at a surprisingly complex time in American popular culture.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

372 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good, if somewhat biased, overview. I say this having grown up in the 1950s. Not everyone lived in a ranch house or a split level in the suburbs. There were many different experiences that I recall.
But the author does faithfully recount much in the way of TV, the interstates, travel, and other things that were part of that time.
However, he does find McCarthyism under every rock, it seems, and there are many, many, many references to *The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit*.
The styles were off too.
That said, it is clear to me that much research had gone into the book, and I did learn much of the backstory that I did not know. So, yes, I would recommend this as certainly one view of this decade.