The 20th century heralded the installation of mass production, the media and consumerism as the foundation of the modern American identity. Advancements in prefabrication and scientific methods of industrialized construction helped cultivate the newly established middle class and made buying a home affordable. Eric Larrabee discusses in the essay, A Journalist Describes Levittown, how Bill Levitt’s construction company used the modernized production techniques perfected by Henry Ford to mass produce millions of new homes that would form the urban sprawl. In contrast, the Great Depression demonstrated that with the innovation of industrial farming came growing pains, causing many Americans to struggle to survive the period of economic hardship. …show more content…
Oscar Ameringer describes in his essay, The Great Depression in Rural America, how the overproduction of crops led to the decline in price, and in return resulted in wasted resources and ultimately starvation. The media, and the in particular print advertisement placed the emphasis on women as being the luminary of American consumerism. During the Cold War era, the media reinforced traditional stereotypes of women, urging them to submit to a role of domesticity. The Time Magazine article, Busy Wife’s Achievements, illustrates how after the men returned from World War II women who had filled the majority of the jobs in the defense industry, returned back to the home and were pressured by patriarchal expectations to conform to the image of the archetypal housewife. Likewise, Christine Fredrick's essay, Selling Mrs. Consumer, discusses how American women and the manufacture of products worked together to develop efficient methods to improve the home, and fine-tune the process of advertisement. This partnership leads to the precision of the home appliance industry and provided the consumer with the best possible product. Consumerism initiated Americans urgency to match the financial achievements of their neighbor and formed a newfound affinity with materialism. Robert and Helen Lynds essay, Remaking Leisure in Middletown, describes the effects of modernization on an urban community. The introduction of the automobile created a new youth culture of rebellion and pushed the boundaries of everyday life. In short, the advancement of mass production, and the influence of the print media helped to form our culture’s definition of the middle class, gender roles in the home and the perception of the American dream. The scientific advancement of techniques used by American oil and steel corporations during the industrial revolution was the catalyst in the formulation of mass-production.The Great Depression demonstrated that the framework of supply and demand was not immune to the miscalculation of the stock market and central banking systems.Wages were meager, and work was scarce, causing vast amounts of natural resources to go to waste to due to the inability to afford to transport goods.
Oscar Ameringer describes the conditions he witnessed during this period of hardship, stating “while I was in Oregon the Portland Oregonian bemoaned the fact that thousands of ewes were killed by the sheep raisers because they did not bring enough in the market to pay the freight on them.” After years of economic reconstructing the broken industrial system, innovators of their industries helped to repair and scientifically refine mass production. The GI bill allowed soldiers returning from World War II the ability to buy a home and many construction companies started creating massive residential communities. Eric Larrabee discussed the revolutionary prefabrication techniques used by the construction company Levitt and Sons. According to Larrabee “Bill Levitt is becoming a kind of bellwether of the building trades, and he believes that he is setting patterns which the others must eventually adopt.” The state-of-the-art construction methods utilized at Levittown were replicated across the country, …show more content…
creating the middle class and the mold for the suburban landscape. Ultimately the advancement in prefabrication allowed working-class Americans the opportunity to afford their dream home, one which provided their families with the perks of modern amenities. Radio and print-advertising during the early twentieth century helped further define cultural expectations of prosperity and injected materialism into popular culture.
Soap print-advertisements instructed the consumer how to maintain a healthy appearance, and more specifically defined women's perception of outer beauty. As a result, the woman became the pioneers of household consumerism and manufactures began asking for their ideas to create the best possible product. According to home economist Christine Fredrick, “scientific advance is working in America in far more closer cooperation with housewives than in any part of the world”. At first, this method of research improved the home and paid off for both the producer and consumer, but in time women themselves would become the product of the media’s model of the nuclear family. The end of World War II and the return of the soldiers displaced many working women, urging them to return back to the home and contribute to the baby boom. The Time Magazine article about homemaker Marjorie Sutton illustrates the revival of conventional notions of feminine domesticity. According to the article,”But Marge Sutton thinks of herself primarily as a housewife and, having stepped from high school into marriage, has made a career of running her home briskly and well”. Ultimately, women of the era were manipulated by advertisers to improve their products, and in return were forced to replace their identity to fulfill the expectations of the
ruling patriarchy. Consumerism changed the perspective of success from personal growth and achievements to the accumulation of material items. The introduction automobile changed the landscape of America and allowed middle-class Americans the new opportunity to explore their surroundings, creating for the first time transportation for teens to rebel. Small towns were effected the most by the culture shock that accompanied the introduction of the automobile. Sociologists Robert and Helen Lynd describe the effect that modernization had on the town of Muncie, Indiana. According to Lynds, “Group-sanctioned values are disturbed by the inroads of the automobile on the family budget. A case in point in point is the not uncommon practice of mortgaging a home to buy a automobile.” This demonstrates how many families were willing to go into debt to pay for their newfound obsession. In the same way that the Levittown homes form the suburban landscape, the automobile helped to transform small town America. As a result of the new culture of modern excess, many consumers were forced to find a middle-ground between happiness and debilitating debt.
During the aftermath of World War I great change was happening to America’s society. Of the nations that were involved in the worldwide conflict from 1914 to 1918 no other nation experienced prosperity socially, politically, and economically as quickly as did the United States of America. The middle-class American suddenly became the most important component to the growth of the American economy. As the purchase of luxuries, the automobile in particular, became more available to middle-class, opportunity in the housing and labor industries expanded.
David, Kyvig E. Daily Life in the United States, 1920-1939: Decades of Promise and Pain. Westport: Greenwood P, 2002.
This phenomenon suggests that all women are required to remain loyal wives and stay at home mothers who aspire to achieve perfection. In “Mirrors of Masculinity: Representation and Identity in Advertising Images,” Jonathon E. Schroeder and Detlev Zwick claim that “highly abstract connections are made between the models, a lifestyle, and the brand” resulting in a need to associate these products with a specific way of living (25). Instead of simply displaying these luxurious bracelets and handbags, the ad creates an elegant environment through the incorporation of sophisticated items. The women are dressed elegantly in dresses and blouses, adding a conservative element to the ad. The ad presents a rather stereotypical image of the very successful heads-of-household type mothers who have brunch with other elite women in an exclusive circle. Everything from the merchandise they sport to the champagne glasses down to the neatly manicured fingernails provides insight into the class of women presented in this ad. The body language of the women strips the image of the reality element and instead appears to be staged or frozen in time. This directly contributes to the concept of the gendered American dream that urges women to put up a picture-perfect image for the world to see. Instead of embracing individual struggle and realities, the American dream encourages women to live out a fabricated
In contrast to this small town were the advancing views of America. The twenties continued to roar towards modernism. “Breakthroughs in technology, the increase in material wealth, and the beginning of an empire seemingly heralded the upward march of civilization, with America on the forefront” (Dumenil 6). In all directions, it was clear that America was moving forward. Transportation was a prime example of this advancement. Innovator Henry Ford introduced his “ Ford Miracle” to the public (Dumenil 6). Economies and the social values also began to advance. “Dubious get-rich-quick schemes and fads…contributed to a tone of feverish frivolity” (Dumenil 7). People began to lead fast paced lives with the desire to become rich, quickly.
Dissatisfaction continued within the middle class. As new industrial machines emerged, designed for mass product... ... middle of paper ... ... disrupting the equilibrium of American society, they confronted these issues and pushed for political, economic, and social reform. (H)
As early as the nineteen fifties women were identified and targeted as a market. In a consumer culture the most important things are consumers. Advertisers convinced homemakers that in order to be a “good” wife and mother you must have their products and appliances to keep a clean and perfect home. The irony of this ploy is that consumers must have money to buy, and so trying to improve their quality as homemakers, off into the workforce women went. This paradox left women ...
While early 20th century America was an era of great economic advancement and material wealth, the prevalent growth in industry had a profound impact on small, rural communities. An expanding upper class did not signify prosperity for all. Those who were unable to rise in society were left behind, forced to live under harsh environmental conditions as factories polluted rural towns. As detailed by Nick while accompanying Tom to the city one
On the heels of war, new technology caused a decrease in prices of goods in the 1920’s and in the 1950’s the GI Bill increased income. The bureaucratization of business in the 1920’s meant that more people could be employed in higher paying white-collar jobs than before, including, for the first time, housewives. This new income combined with the reduced prices for goods that resulted from mechanized production, assembly lines and a general decrease of the cost of technology created a thriving consumerist middle class that went on to fuel the economy in all sectors, especially the upper classes. Likewise, during World War II Americans saved up around 150 billion dollars, and this sum combined with the income of the GI Bill allowed normal people to buy expensive things, from houses to cars to electronics to educations at a rapid rate, fueling the trademark prosperity of the 1950’s. The new automobile culture of the 50’s spawned new businesses that catered to mobile Americans, such as nicer and more standardized hotels like Holiday Inn, and drive-up restaurants like McDonalds. Just as the culture of the 1920’s was transfo...
Advertisements in Life magazine showed women mainly in ways were they were responsible for kitchen duties and taking care of their husbands. In the early 1950’s, there were recurring ads of women with refrigerators. In an advertisement from 1950, a woman is dressed like a typical housewife standing next to the refrigerator showing all the features it entails. It gives off the message that during this period of the 1950’s, society saw women as the face of the kitchen and a majority of the duties as a housewife took place there. Another advertisement from 1950, gives a clear indication of gender roles. In the advertisement for a refrigerator, the women and her daughter are shown organizing their refrigerator, and the man is shown as carrying in the refrigerator. The advertisement expresses that women are more fit for domestic work and that men are more for the labor tedious work that a woman cannot do. In an advertisement from 1953 to sell health insurance, the man who is selling health insurance puts a picture of himself and his...
During the twenties the economy had a definite impact on the society. It benefited some, but hurt others. The people that benefited were the prairie farmers and the oil companies. The people who didn’t benefit were American soldiers returning from WW1. Around the middle of the twenties, a wheat farmer was the person to be. Business was booming for all the wheat farmers, places like Europe, which were in war, were hungry for American’s wheat and contributed tremendous business to the American wheat industries. Farmers began making more money than ever before, and they started buying farm machinery to take place of their cattle and horses. Prices of wheat were at an all time high, which gave America’s wheat industry an even bigger advantage and a bigger form of money making in our economy. American soldiers on the other hand who had returned from war were expecting to be employed when they returned, but not even after fighting for their country could they get a job. It was very hard to get a job because women and immigrants had taken them all during the war. American soldiers were surprised at how difficult it was to...
The antebellum era was a period that had great political change. During this period there were also technological and economic innovation. The Industrial Revolution had produced new inventions and methods of production. American inventors helped to transform the United States economy with new innovations of their own. This rapid evolution of manufacturing and upgraded farming had an extreme effect on society in America. This change is something that historians refer to as the Market Revolution. It is shown in this paper that the lives of the working class changed significantly. The Market Revolution and the rise of market capitalism influenced the working class by bringing them greater opportunities in the work field in the North, and new inventions encouraged planters to raise more cotton in the South.
Around the 1950’s and 60’s, the stereotype of the American housewife became the preferred fodder for female entertainers and comedians. Entertainers like Lucille Ball and Phyllis Diller challenged ideas about societal gender roles, as well as female humor in general. The 1950’s brought with it a wave of innovative technology, economic opportunities, emerging entertainment genres, and new understandings of the roles of women in the household. With the addition of helpful, new machines such as the washing machine, vacuum, and ironing board to the home, it might initially be assumed that these devices would have lessened the workload of the American housewife. However, the creation of such technology introduced an entirely new concept of “cleanliness”
Since I was a little girl, my mother always made it clear that a husband was unobtainable if a woman could not properly tend to his needs. I learned how to cook, how to clean, how to do laundry, and I even learned how to take care of my younger siblings all because, according to my mother, these responsibilities were a woman’s duty; it was her job. For centuries, this has been the mindset of every woman, which has been passed down from generation to generation. A stereotype that has influenced a culture and defined a human being. In this 1930’s Kellogg’s PEP Cereal advertisement we witness yet another stereotype defining women into this sexist housewife persona. Through the use of clothing and appearance, text and audience the ad conveys a
Rather than simply suggesting specific characteristics of a housewife through advertisement and commercials, the viewers were able to see the housewife in action. For example, shows that were produced in the 1950’s and 1960’s like Leave it to Beaver and I Love Lucy enabled audiences to experience the shows and more easily assimilate what they saw. Conservative shows like these described traditional family values where the wife waited hand and foot on the husband, and the husband and wife together would teach morals to their children. Television was not just entertainment; it was a model for what was acceptable in society. In today’s society, the media still has a huge affect on people, especially women. Females are experiencing more body image issues at this time than any other generation, and we also have more access to media than ever before. It is no coincidence that being constantly exposed to images of "ideal" bodies on social media can cause a negative perception of one's body image. This could contribute to developing an eating disorder, feeling the necessity for plastic surgery, and the ongoing demand for
Since I was a little girl, my mother always made it clear that a husband was unobtainable if a woman could not properly tend to his needs. I learned how to cook, how to clean, how to do laundry, and I even learned how to take care of my younger siblings all because, according to my mother, these responsibilities were a woman’s duty; it was her job. For centuries, this has been the mindset for every woman, which has been passed down from generation to generation. A stereotype that has influenced a culture and defined a human being. In this 1930’s Kellogg’s PEP Cereal advertisement we witness yet another stereotype defining women into this sexist housewife persona. Through the use of clothing and appearance, text and audience the ad conveys