America Post World War 2

One purpose of the GI Bill (Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944) was to

• end racial segregation in the military
• replace the draft with an all-volunteer military
• maintain troop strength at World War II levels
• give educational aid to returning veterans

Dramatic increase in birth rate, especially in the years following WWII. This was due to so many people working and making a better living.

• Baby Boom ­

• Baby Gap

• GI Bill

• Transistor

Television helped bring about economic growth in the 1950s through its:

• Financial programs
• Children’s programs
• Credit cards
• Advertisements

All of the following are true of advertising in the 1950s EXCEPT:

• TV commercials were purely informational
• Advertisers focused their commercials for a certain audience
• Commercials often used flashy images, were mixed with music, and sometimes used celebrities
• Advertising executives were highly paid professionals

William J. Levitt contributed to the growth of the suburbs by

• Mass-producing houses
• Criticizing urban life
• Designing interstate highways   
• Providing low-interest mortgage loans

The post-war “baby boom” was strongly influenced by

• Very high employment rates
• Americans making more money than ever before
• General prosperity
• All of the above

Buying a product on credit allowed customers to do all of the following EXCEPT: 

• Buy something that they might be not be able to normally afford
• Get a product immediately while paying for it later
• Get certain products for free
• Pay for an item in fixed amounts

In the 1950s men’s roles usually included all of the following EXCEPT: 

• Making important family decisions
• Supporting their families financially
• Cooking, cleaning, and managing the household
• Going to college

The traditional role of the housewife called for her to:

• Contribute an income to the family
• Home school their children
• Attend a university to get an education to act as a role model for the children
• Support the husband through domestic chores

Rock and Roll gave the young people of the 1950s

• a way to conform with their parents’ expectations
• the values they needed to live through the depression and war
• a stable and secure cultural role
• a new style of music they could call their own