The Decade Of The 1950's

The decade of the 1950’s was the greatest decade in all of American history. Following the end of World War II in 1945, the United States was able to pull away from other nations becoming the greatest and most powerful country in the world. Sometimes referred to as the 50’s, the decade of the 1950’s distinguished itself on nearly every subject matter: Dance, technological innovations, music, culture, and food. This culturally rich and fast-paced decade will always be remembered for the way it changed America, but what made this decade the best in American history?
The 1950’s brought with it the broadest and richest popular culture the country had ever seen. According to Storey (2015), pop culture is defined as “cultural activities or commercial

products reflecting, suited to, or aimed at the tastes of the general masses of people” (p.11).

One of these cultural activities was dancing. Many different dances emerged from the fifties. One of the major dances was known as West Coast Swing. According to Powers (2014), West Coast Swing “embodies the West Coast attitude about dance, a mindset of freedom, ease, flexibility and infinite possibilities” (p.2). West Coast Swing was an eight-count dance that could be interpreted in a hundred different ways as a form of personal and cultural expression. Depending upon what high school or county you grew up in, West Coast Swing could vary greatly (Powers 2014). Although Edmondson (n.d.) found swing to have origins in the 1920’s, many of the changes brought upon West Coast Swing occurred in the 1950’s. Many of these changes occurred because of the changing styles of music during that time period. The country had been coming out of the big band jazz era of the 1920’s and 30’s while transitioning into the new rock and roll era of the 50’s and 60’s. Along with West Coast Swing, East Coast Swing, sometimes referred to as the Lindy Hop, was also nationally renowned. While

West Coast Swing was an eight-count swing open to interpretation, East Coast Swing was a more structured, rule-focused, six-count swing dance. Other dances of the fifties included: the Stroll, the solo version of Bop, Chalypso (a name for teen cha-cha), the line dance Madison, the Bunny Hop, and slow dances (Powers 2014). Although these dances may seem menial or simply unheard of, they truly shaped 1950’s culture and strengthened people’s social lives. Some of these dances are still being used today, just like many technologies of the 50’s are still being used today.
Some technologies that came out of the 50’s are still among the most useful and well known technologies of today. One of these technologies that flourished in the 50’s was television. As found by Ganzel (2007), “Many critics have dubbed the 1950s as the Golden Age of Television” (p.12). RCA broadcasted the first television program in color during the June of 1951. In 1952, the news broadcasted live feed from the Republican and Democratic conventions (Ganzel 2007). Television continued to rise in popularity becoming the nation’s number one source of news, information, and entertainment (Bellis 2015). By 1959, eighty-eight percent of American households had at least one television (Ganzel 2007). Although television may be considered the greatest technology of the 50’s, other technologies also came from the this decade; these technologies included: the first diet soft drink, oral contraceptives (pills), barcodes, super glue, and the laser. These are all inventions that are still widely used in today’s society (Bellis 2015). All of these inventions and different styles of dance undoubtedly add to the greatness of the fifties, but one innovation of the fifties stands to be the decade’s greatest attribute: music.
Music of the 1950’s was one of the primary reasons this decade was able to rise above the rest in American history.

Ask any American citizen what they know about the fifties and some part of their answer will include the term “Rock and Roll” or “Elvis”. Although the 50’s were mostly known for rock and roll, country and gospel music actually found their roots first. Country music grew out of the Appalachian Mountains. Appalachian music in the early 1950’s had influences from old English, Irish, and Scottish folk music. Rural roots like these were also a strong contributing factor towards gospel music. Gospel music increased in popularity during the 50’s but began in early African-American slave history. According to Ganzel (2007), “...one of the hallmarks of gospel music--and in turn, soul, R&B and rock-n-roll--is the call-and-response form that has direct roots to the African-American slave history and tradition” (p.15-16). Folk music also found its beginning in agrarian communities. One musician who represented this genre was Bob Dylan; he found his inspiration from life and politics (Ganzel 2007). These very rustic styles of music powerfully expressed the culture of rural America in the 1950’s. In the heart of this rural America, surrounded by cotton country, was Tupelo Mississippi. This was the birthplace of Elvis Presley. Elvis changed the face of music forever by developing and representing a new genre: Rock and Roll. Elvis is often referred to as The King of Rock and

Roll. According to Nix (2014), Elvis attended Humes High School in Memphis Tennessee before achieving his royal title in this new genre of rock. During his high school career, Elvis actually failed a class on music and was considered a quiet outsider. But during the July of 1954, only a year after his graduation, Elvis began his career in music with his recording of “That’s All Right” (Nix 2014). Elvis Presley’s contributions to the realm of music cannot be overstated. As found by Khurana (n.d.), Elton John once said “Ask anyone. If it hadn't been for Elvis, I don't know where popular music would be. He was the one that started it all off, and he was definitely the start of it for me.” Elvis influenced so many different artists with his revolutionary music. Some people might argue that The Beatles had a larger impact on the world of music, but even the world renowned member of The Beatles, John Lennon, said “Nothing really affected me until I heard Elvis. If there hadn't been an Elvis, there wouldn't have been the Beatles.” Elvis is arguably the best singer/songwriter the world has ever seen; and that definitely rang true in the fifties. Khurana (n.d.) found that after Elvis’s death in 1977, Jimmy Savile jokingly said “God must have been impatient for some rock 'n' roll in heaven.” All of Elvis’s contributions to the greatness of music in the 50’s are undeniable, but he was not the only artist changing the face of music in the 1950’s. Many amazing bands and singer/songwriters came out of this decade. Just some of these other artists include: The Beatles, Creedence Clearwater Revival, James Brown, B.B. King, and the Jackson Five. All of these artists sprouted out of the rich soil of 1950’s culture. One reason so many great artists came out of the 50’s was because of the sheer numbers involved. Between 1946 and 1960, the number of high school teenagers over doubled from 5.6 million to 11.8 million. This increase in young adults partially caused the explosive start to rock and roll and also had a large impact on the economy for years to come.
The economy of the 1950’s was the strongest it had ever been. According to Brinkley (1997), the economy was often described as an “economic miracle” (p.3). Coming out of World War II, the economy was growing because of the influx in government spending and the massive increase in America’s population. The government had vamped up spending in order to end the recent Depression and to support the war efforts overseas during World War II and the Korean War. Since World War II was not fought on the homeland but overseas, America was able to make leaps and bounds in its economic progress. There were no cities to be rebuilt, no war reparations to be paid, and other countries were actually paying off debts to America. The 1950’s were a time of prosperity. The Gross National product, or GNP, was increasing at fourteen times the rate of the population and seven times the rate of inflation (Brinkley 1997). This is to say that the economy was growing fast. The population was also growing rapidly. After World War II, millions of veterans came home ready to start their families, which led to the postwar baby boom (Kenney n.d.). Population in the late 40’s and throughout the 50’s grew twice as fast as the population had grown in the 30’s. Also during the fifties, there was a large decrease in poverty and increase in wealth. According to Brinkley (1997), “Between 1940 and 1965, average income (in America) grew from about $2,200 per family per year to just under $8,000; when adjusted for inflation, that means average family incomes almost tripled.” With all this extra money, many Americans decided to start their new lives in a new home in one of the many new suburbs across America (Kenney n.d.). Brinkley (1997) found that these “Suburbs created a vast new market and provided an important boost to several of the most important sectors of the economy: the housing industry, the automobile industry, highway construction, and a wide range of consumer industries” (p.4). This prosperous economy paved the road to greatness for the 50’s, and along this road was a rapid expansion of the food industry.
In the 1950’s, a revolution of fast food erupted. The fast food movement began picking up the pace at the beginning of the decade. Brothers Dick and Maurice found success selling burgers at their restaurant along Route 66 in California. This restaurant was Mcdonald’s. The brothers had eight of their restaurants open by the early 50’s. In 1954, entrepreneur Ray Kroc received permission from the brothers to franchise outside of California. Ray ended up buying out Mcdonald’s and expanding it to be the epitome of fast food chains across the globe. Pizza came to be another fast food trend that started in the 50’s. Many veterans coming back from Italy after World War II brought back a craving for pizza. This led to the creation of the first Pizza Hut in 1958. At the end of the decade, Domino's added delivery to the world of pizza (Ganzel 2007). Ganzel (2007) found that Domino’s guaranteed “delivery in 30 minutes or it’s free.” All of these different fast food chains helped to make the 50’s a decade of entrepreneurship and innovation.
The 1950’s was the greatest decade in American history. This can be clearly seen if the 1950’s were viewed as a quilt. Greatness makes itself apparent in the many qualities woven into the 50’s. The rich culture of dance is seen as the vivid colors throughout the entire masterpiece. The innovation involved with the many inventions grabs the attention of the bystander who takes the time to examine the work. Country and Gospel music reside as a backdrop to the primary design of the work that everyone recognizes and appreciates. This primary design is The King of Rock and Roll himself, Elvis Presley. Other artists of the day add to the texture of the primary design giving the main idea a little more life. The strength of the cotton fibers represent the strong underlying economy of the 50’s while the fast food industry is a secondary design surrounding the main idea. Elegantly woven together, every thread of the quilt adds to the powerful beauty of the 1950’s. After stepping back and carefully examining this work of art, it becomes clear that this quilt was the greatest ever woven.