Cold War - Postwar America

Life after WW2 saw all of the following in the U.S. EXCEPT?

• Television production and sales skyrocket

• The standard of living increases

• The baby boom

• The stock market crash

What caused the Baby Boom, Interstate Highways, the growth of the Middle Class, and the rise of Suburbs.

• An increase in immigration

• A decrease in trade

• 1950S economic prosperity

• A reduction (decrease) in peacetime spending

With more money to spend and an increased number of products to buy, ____ became an American way of life.

• consumerism
• social conformity
• planned obsolescence
• a 40-hour work week

Known as the King of Rock and Roll

• Billy Graham

• Buddy Holly

• Elvis Presley

• Chuck Berry

The car culture of the 1950's led to...

• Spread of fast food chains and drive-in movies

• Increased the dependence on public transportation

• A decline in the number of shopping malls

• Revitalized older city neighborhoods

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

Fast music that evolved from the rhythm and blues style was called _________.

• grunge

• heavy metal

• country

• rock 'n' roll

Why did many American cities begin to decline after World War II?

• Middle class white families moved to suburbs

• There was an increase in taxes

• They weren't being rebuilt from damage incurred during war

• There was a decrease in segregated public housing

The vast majority of new homes in the 1950’s were built here

• suburbs
• cities
• barrios
• sub-divisions

Examine the cartoon. What aspect of American society in the 1950s was the cartoonist making?

• high culture

• stay-at-home moms

• suburban conformity

• planned obsolescence