But postwar industrial enterprise stoked the expansion nonetheless. Edward Cowdrick, an economist who advised corporations on their management and industrial relations policies, called it "the new economic gospel of consumption", in which workers (people for whom durable possessions had rarely been a possibility) could be educated in the new "skills of consumption". Predicated on debt, it took place in an economy mired in speculation and risky borrowing. 1950s Important News and Events, Key Technology Fashion and Popular Culture. The capitalist system, dependent on a logic of never-ending growth from its earliest inception, confronted the plenty it created in its home states, especially the US, as a threat to its very existence. The 1950s was characterized as a prosperous and conformist for several reasons. United States Consumer Price Index (CPI) The annual inflation rate in the US slowed only slightly to 6.4% in January of 2023 from 6.5% in December, less than market forecasts of 6.2%. If it continues its geometric course, will it not one day have to be restrained? America was at peace once the conflict in Korea (1950-53) ended. Kentucky Fried Chicken weathervane, 1960s. Notwithstanding the panic and pessimism, a consumer solution was simultaneously emerging. 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. If profit and growth were lagging, the system needed new impetus. African Americans were the first ones to be laid off. Consumerism became a way of framing the economy and day-to-day life in the 20th century. 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. Scrappy upstarts challenged established networks, innovated programming, and catered to under-served audiences. In a little-known 1958 essay reflecting on the conservation implications of the conspicuously wasteful U.S. consumer binge after World War II, John Kenneth Galbraith pointed to the possibility that this gargantuan and growing appetite might need to be curtailed. 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. They started new lives in suburban, middle class utopias hoping to achieve the American dream (Shmoop Editorial Team). 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. 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. As World War II came to an end, the United States entered the 50s. In the 1920s, the target consumer market to be nourished lay at home in the industrialized world. They were regular consumers of food, music, and of course - TV. Economy was booming again and people had . This was particularly true of women. In the United States in particular, economic growth had succeeded in providing basic security to the great majority of an entire population. The economy was booming. Television and radio super-charged advertising, directly into people's homes (Credit: Getty Images). The United States began to transition from the heavy industry of war materials into a consumer based economy, pumping out billions of different products for consumption. After working in a Spanish-language newspaper, he founded a radio station, which became the voice of the Spanish-speaking community in San Antonio. Since WWII caused the economy to grow rapidly, things started to change within American society. US production was more than 12 times greater in 1920 than in 1860, while the population over the same period had increased by only a factor of three, suggesting just how much additional wealth was theoretically available. Consumerism: The theory that a country that consumes goods and services in large quantities will be better off economically. World War II greatly stimulated Americas economy by creating millions of jobs and nearly wiping out unemployment. By the mid 1960s, some of American youth took a turn in a far out direction. . 771 Words4 Pages. The difficult challenge posed by such a transvaluation is reflected in current attitudes. "Surely this is the ultimate source of the problem. 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. Constructing consumerism involved educating citizens in the business of buying things they didn't know they needed. Collision Course: Endless Growth on a Finite Planet, Land of Desire: Merchants, Power, and the Rise of a New American Culture. Prospects for further economic expansion were thought to look bleak. Dunkin' Donuts. It made possible for people and families to watch live events in the comforts of their drawing room. As the economic engine slowed in the 1970s, productivity waned, wages flattened, and Americans faced an energy crisis that reshaped consumer expectations. The notion of human beings as consumers first took shape before World War One, but became commonplace in America in the 1920s. It was an idea also put forward by the new "consumption economists" such as Hazel Kyrk and Theresa McMahon, and eagerly embraced by many business leaders. There, especially in the United States, consumption continued to expand through the 1920s, though truncated by the Great Depression of 1929. New needs would be created, with advertising brought into play to "augment and accelerate" the process. Kerryn Higgs is an Australian writer and historian. Copyright 2023 IPL.org All rights reserved. Still, it is the lowest reading since October of 2021, with energy prices rising 8.7% while food cost went up 10.1%. 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. 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. From fashion to politics, this period is known as one of the most explosive decades in American history. The Culture of the 1950s. According to Le Bon, A crowd thinks in images, and the image itself immediately calls up a series of other images, having no logical connection with the first; crowds can only comprehend rough-and-ready associations of ideas, leading to the utter powerlessness of reasoning when it has to fight against sentiment. Bernays and his PR colleagues believed ordinary people to be incapable of logical thought, let alone mastery of abstruse economic, political and ethical data, and saw the need to control and regiment the masses according to our will without their knowing about it; PR could thus ensure the maintenance of order and corporate control in society. Edward Cowdrick, an economist who advised corporations on their management and industrial relations policies, called it the new economic gospel of consumption, in which workers (people for whom durable possessions had rarely been a possibility) could be educated in the new skills of consumption.. Since the 1980s she has taken on many new careers, from police officer to paleontologist to presidential candidate. 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. Consumer needs were constantly changing due to wars, shifts in the economy, advancements in technology and various other factors. Teenagers as a consumer group - "SELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT" During this Era there were more and more automobile companies popping up all around the United States. In the same vein, during the Q&A after a talk given by the Australian economist Clive Hamilton at the 2006 Byron Bay Writers Festival, one woman spoke up about her partners priorities: Rather than entertain questions about any impact his possessions might be having on the environment, she said, he was determined to go down with his gadgets., The capitalist system, dependent on a logic of never-ending growth from its earliest inception, confronted the plenty it created in its home states, especially the United States, as a threat to its very existence. Usually that new thing in culture is associated with young people and perceived threats to its cultural identity. The glove section at an early department store, which changed the way people shopped (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. Industry insiders, journalists, and the public criticized the crass and manipulative aspects of advertising. Kerryn Higgs traces the historical roots of the world's unquenchable thirst for more stuff. Children were precious assets and the center of the family. 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. Instead, it features many happy human faces and all their wonderful stuff! This research paper briefly gives examples from advances in technology, transportation, and entertainment while discussing their benefits to the United States. Consumerism In The 1950's Essay. Victor Cutter, president of the United Fruit Company, exemplified the concern when he wrote in 1927 that the greatest economic problem of the day was the lack of consuming power in relation to the prodigious powers of production. In 1959, she convinced her husband, co-owner of Mattel, to develop an adult fashion doll, Barbie. An excerpt from the celebrated 19th-century photographer's memoir "When I Was a Photographer.". Motor car registration rose from eight million in 1920 to more than 28 million by 1929. 3. The U.S. was recovering from World War II and GIs were coming home. In fact, the American consumer was praised as a patriotic citizen in the 1950s,. It was marked by major events such as the Cold War, rise of capitalism and consumerism, the civil rights movement, and anti-communism, which changed the fate of the country. The Czech writers darkly humorous novel, published in 1936, anticipated our current reality with eerie accuracy. Furness was an example of the growing power of TV in terms of consumerism. In researching his excellent history of the rise of PR, Ewen interviewed Bernays himself in 1990, not long before he turned 99. Americans purchased homes, cars (sometimes two), television sets, new home furnishings, modern refrigerators, clothes for work and their new found leisure time, barbeque grills, lawn mowersthe list is endless. The short depression of 19211922 led business leaders and economists in the US to fear that the immense productive powers created over the previous century had grown sufficiently to meet the basic needs of the entire population and had probably triggered a permanent crisis of overproduction. 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%. The 1950s ushered in an era of consumerism that has rolled on virtually unopposed to the present. Advertising. A few things that were important in the fifties was segregation, fashion and the influence that the fifties had on fashion. Coontz explains that the sexism, As I mentioned previously, the sixties were a time of change. Consumer Culture In the 1950s consumption became the reigning value and essential to individual's identity and status and satisfaction was achieved through the purchase and use of new products. During that decade, the U.S. economy grew by 37%. Consumerism is the theory that increased consumption of goods is beneficial for the economy. Bernays saw himself as a propaganda specialist, a public relations counsel, and PR as a more sophisticated craft than advertising as such; it was directed at hidden desires and subconscious urges of which its targets would be unaware. This is done by dangling the products before non-upper-class people as status symbols of a higher class. Despite fierce competition from radio and television advertising, print advertisements remained an influential advertising medium in the 1950s. 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. A national conversation about television and the common good fostered public broadcasting. Franchising increased after 1950 and offered Americans the opportunity to own a small business. U.S. production was more than 12 times greater in 1920 than in 1860, while the population over the same period had increased by only a factor of three, suggesting just how much additional wealth was theoretically available. This first wave of consumerism was short-lived. After World War II, African Americans challenged decades of racial segregation by demanding recognition by advertisers and equal access to goods and services. The historical issues and events of the fifties and sixties was often propelled by popular culture through art and media such as television, paintings and music. After cars became more popular as people saw them. All of these topics reshaped and created several advancements throughout society during the 1950s. In 2008, a similar unravelling began; its implications still remain unknown. 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. Indeed, though a lot less in gross terms than the burden of debt in the United States in late 2008, which Sydney economist Steve Keen has described as the biggest load of unsuccessful gambling in history, the debt of the 1920s was very large, over 200 percent of the GDP of the time. Conformity 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 fuelled economic growth. 1. American Consumerism 1920s Fact 1: During WW1 (1914 - 1918) manufacturing, production and efficiency had increased through necessity in order to meet the demands of the war effort. Surely this is the ultimate source of the problem. 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. Basically, it means that purchasing certain material goods is likely to increase the level of satisfaction with life. There, especially in the US, consumption continued to expand through the 1920s, though truncated by the Great Depression of 1929. On the other hand, issues arose during that time as well, such as the fear of communism. 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. Consumerism in the 1950s Susan Nacey 2. Attempts to promote new fashions, harness the "propulsive power of envy," and boost sales multiplied in Britain in the late 18th Century. As the popular historian of the time Frederick Allen wrote, "Business had learned as never before the importance of the ultimate consumer. During the 1950s, the federal government started to close in on cigarette . In the early years, advertisers sponsored whole shows, as they did with radio. New needs would be created, with advertising brought into play to augment and accelerate the process. Constitution Avenue, NW Yet in the literature of the resource problem this is the forbidden question. This improvement in food variety did not extend durable items to the mass of people, however. Unless [the consumer] could be persuaded to buy and buy lavishly, the whole stream of six-cylinder cars, super heterodynes, cigarettes, rouge compacts and electric ice boxes would be dammed up at its outlets.. Educating citizens in the fifties had on fashion class utopias hoping to achieve the American dream ( Shmoop Editorial ). At home in the literature of the most explosive decades in American history, innovated programming, and course. 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