F451 Intro Notes

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Fahrenheit 451:
Intro to the
1950s

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Context

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is NOT ONE of the topics the video expressed as important context to F451?

• Future of Nuclear Weapons

• McCarthyism

• WWII

• Rise of TV

• Radio Advertisements

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The Baby Boom

“It seems to me that
every other young
housewife I see is
pregnant. “ -- British
visitor to America,
1958

1957 → 1 baby born
every 7 seconds

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The Suburbs

Levittown, L.I.: “The
American Dream”

1949 William Levitt
produced 150 houses per week.

7,990 or $60/month
with no down payment.

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The Suburbs

The New “American Dream”
● 1 story high
● 2’x19’ living room
● 2 bedrooms
● tiled bathroom
● Garage
● small backyard
● front lawn
By 1960 1/3 of the U. S.
population in the suburbs.

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The Suburbs

SHIFTS IN POPULATION

DISTRIBUTION,

1940-1970

1940 1950 1960 1970

Central Cities 31.6% 32.3% 32.6% 32.0%

Suburbs

19.5% 23.8%

30.7% 41.6%

Rural Areas

48.9% 43.9%

36.7% 26.4%

U. S. Bureau of the Census.

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“Typical” Suburban Families

Leave It to Beaver
1957-1963

The Donna Reed
Show 1958-1966

Father Knows Best
1954-1958

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What “Normal” Meant in the
1950s

Open Ended

Name one reason why there were tensions arising in the 1960s.

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Consumerism
“All babies were potential
consumers who spearheaded a
brand-new market for food,
clothing, and shelter.”
-- Life Magazine (May, 1958)

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Consumerism

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A Changing Workplace

Automation:
● 1947-1957 → factory workers

decreased by 4.3%, eliminating
1.5 million blue-collar jobs.

● By 1956 more white-collar than

blue-collar jobs in the U. S.
Computers Mark I (1944).

● First IBM mainframe computer

(1951).

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A Changing Workplace

Corporate Consolidation:
● By 1960 600 corporation (1/2 of

all U. S. companies) accounted for
53% of total corporate income.

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The Culture of the Car

Car registrations:
● 1945 → 25,000,000
● 1960 → 60,000,000
● 2-family cars doubles from

1951-1958

● 1956 → Interstate Highway Act

largest public works project in
American history!

● Cost $32 billion.
● 41,000 miles of new highways

built.

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The Culture of the Car

Top Left: First McDonald’s (1955)

Top Right: Drive-In Movies

Bottom Left: Howard Johnson’s

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Television

1946 → 7,000 TV sets in the U. S.
1950 → 50,000,000 TV sets in the U. S.

“Television is a vast wasteland. “

---Newton Minnow, Chairman of the
Federal Communications
Commission, 1961

Mass Audience TV celebrated traditional
American values.

Truth, Justice, and the American way!

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Open Ended

Summarize one thing you learned from the previous video that made an impact on your thoughts of the 1950s. Why did you choose this concept?

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Teen Culture

In the 1950s → the word “teenager” entered the
American language.

By 1956 → 13 mil. teens with $7 bil. to spend a
year.

1951 → “ROCK ‘N ROLL”

JUVENILE DELINQUENCY
● 1951 → J. D. Salinger’s
● A Catcher in the Rye
● 1955 → Rebel Without a Cause

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Teen Culture

The “Beat” Generation:

● Jack Kerouac On The Road

● Allen Ginsberg poem, “Howl”

Behavioral Rules of the 1950s:

● Obey Authority.

● Control Your Emotions.

● Don’t Make Waves Fit in

● with the Group.

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Well-Defined Gender Roles

● “The ideal modern woman

married, cooked and cared for
her family, and kept herself busy
by joining the local PTA and
leading a troop of Campfire Girls.
She entertained guests in her
family’s suburban house and
worked out on the trampoline to
keep her size 12 figure.”

-- Life magazine, 1956

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Well-Defined Gender Roles

“The ideal 1950s man was the
provider, protector,
and the boss of the house.”

-- Life magazine, 1955

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The Progress Through Science

1951 -- First IBM Mainframe
Computer
1952 -- Hydrogen Bomb Test
1953 -- DNA Structure Discovered
1954 -- Salk Vaccine Tested for
Polio
1957 -- First Commercial U. S.
Nuclear Power Plant
1958 -- NASA Created
1959 -- Press Conference of the
First 7 American Astronauts

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● Teenagers today (Are they “wild”?)
● Too much TV/technology?
● Science? Are you worried about

where we’re going?

● People being too
materialistic?

Here are some of the social issues
Bradbury was concerned about when he wrote Fahrenheit 451.

Open Ended

Do you agree with Bradbury? Should we be worried about any of these things. Consider the following:

Are teenagers "wild" today?

Are we invested too much in entertainment and/or technology?

Are we worried about where science and new discoveries are taking us?

Are people too materialistic today?

Choose one, answer it, and elaborate on why you think so.