Examples Of Consumerism In The 1950s

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The American Consumerism in the 1950s During the middle of the nineteenth century, the American business market began to change in dramatic ways. With the economic boom during the 1950s, the overall economy grew by 37% while the unemployment dropped to as low as 4.5%. People of that time had been living with the bare essentials for two decades, and the Great Depression and the War had severely stopped spending.In the 1950s, because of the prosperous economy, people wanted to spend money on more items than before. The industry which responded to the huge consumer demand were also significantly improved. Moreover, as the economy boomed, the ways of spending seemed changed a lot.These have all changed the lives of people from different social levels in the mid-twentieth century. …show more content…

They, like many young couples after World War II, managed to but their first house, and as Barstow recalled, “the American dream came to fulfilled.” However, like many Americans, the Barstow took vacations but could not afford their dream trip to the newly opened Disneyland in California. Because of winning a contest for the best advertising tribute to Scotch tape, the Barstow family got a exciting chance to fly across the country on an airplane and spend a week touring the Disneyland. During the trip, the Barstow enjoyed what Robbins called “the by-gone days of…upper-class style and elegance.” The trip through the park recorded an optimistic history of the United States. As Robbins said, the Disneyland was just like a special place for people’s imagination such as being a prince or princess, and more and more could enjoy the emerging middle-class part of the United States. The trip also made their “marvelous Disneyland dream actually come true.” The trip was recorded by Robbins with a movie camera and evoked the wonder and possibility of a middle-class

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