American Culture During the 1950´s

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This paper will be a detailed description of what dance was like in the 1950’s specifically focusing on 1954 to 1959. It will also go beyond to demonstrate how the style of dancing is a direct reflection of the society during that time period. The topic will be presented in class and a brief reflection will be included in this paper. When most people think 1950’s the popular show “Happy Days” comes to mind; although, these were anything but happy days. The 1950’s were an era of prosperity, growth, and chaos in the United States; men were returning from World War 2 and many new babies were born. The population during this time was about 151,684,000 with an unemployment figure around 3,288,000 (Bradley). Industries began to expand in order to meet the needs for all the new people looking for work and thirty percent of the work force was in industry and commerce. Corporate America was emerging and corporation profits increased such that change could be seen on a macro scale. The economy was booming steady until the recession in 1957; although, this recession was nowhere near as great as the depression. During this decade the ratio of male to female in the work force was approximately 5 to 2 which tells us that women were still mostly at home taking care of the children while the men worked and paid for the family to live off of; because more men worked they had a typical life expectancy of 65.6 where as women lived to be about 71 (Bradley). However, service sectors and women’s employment were on the rise. The middle class became clearly distinguishable during this time. Harry Truman was president until 1952 when Dwight D. Eisenhower took office. While Truman was in office he approved and sent the hydrogen bomb to Korea; and the d... ... middle of paper ... ...now that as a student I just sit there and try to get everything written down before the professor moves on and am so focused on writing down everything that I don’t always hear what the professor is saying. What most students don’t realize is it’s not what the professor has put together, but what the professor has to say about the material that is really important. Works Cited “1950s Rock ‘n’ Roll, Mambo.” Dancetime Publications. 2012. Web. 7 Nov. 2013. Bradley, Becky. “1950-1959.” American Cultural History. Lone Star College- Kingwood Library, 1998. Web. 30 Sept. 2013. “Buddy Holly Biography.” Rockhall. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, 2013. Web. 8 Nov. 2013. Cobb, Thom. Personal Interview. 20 Nov. 2013. Fong-Torres, Ben. “Biograpgy.” Alanfreed. Web. 8 Nov. 2013. Hayden, Nancy. “Dance Fashions of the 1950s.” eHow Style. 1999-2013. Web. 7 Nov. 2013.

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