Dennis Stock Moodboard
Fashion Trends of 1950s America
1950s style dress
1950s style top
1950s style shorts
1950s style shoes
1950s accessories (cat eye glasses)
Rise of the Teddy Boys
Audrey Hepburn wearing Givenchy at the 1954 Oscars
Dorothy Dandridge
Fashion for Vogue Patterns in 1955.
Cat eye glasses, photo by Joe Scherschel for Life magazine in the 1950s.
Two sets of twins with cat eye glasses.
Men’s and Women’s fashion in Vogue in 1952.
Men and women’s fashions, 1958.
Roger Moore modelling for Stitchcraft in the 1950s.
Roger Moore modelling menswear in the 1950s.
Fashion from Men’s Wear magazine in August 1952.
Norman Hilton men’s suit advertisement in 1959.
Cary Grant in the 1950s
John Wayne photographed by Phil Stern in the 1950s.
Links used
http://shopruche.com/1950s-fashion.html
http://theniftyfifties.tumblr.com/post/191605311/jeffzie-the-flamboyant-and-challenging-teddy-boy
http://theniftyfifties.tumblr.com/post/85746591201/audrey-hepburn-wearing-givenchy-at-the-oscars
http://theniftyfifties.tumblr.com/post/85224962186/dorothy-dandridge
http://theniftyfifties.tumblr.com/post/84544745645/fashion-for-vogue-patterns-1955
Books in 1950s America
– Because sexuality was more openly expressed, complete books such as Alfred Kinsey’s Sexual Behaviour in the Human Male (1948) and Sexual Behaviour in the Human Female (1952) were published and brought forth evidence of homosexuality in males and the lack of vaginal orgasms in women.
– Playboy Magazine was published in 1953 from Hugh Hefner and reflected neutral values and bridged a gap between the middle class and upper class.
– The writings of the 50s did not replicate that of the post-war decade before it, instead of writing about the War as the survivors of World War I had, the citizens of the 1950’s chose to write about anything but the war.
– They chose to denounce the common life and fostered rebellion and nonconformity with unconventional writers, such as Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac.
– J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye (1951) was based on rebellious teens and post-war values.
– Sexually explicit writing reached a new peak with fiction like Peyton Place.
– The writings of the 1950’s were heavily influenced by the Cold War.
– The Crucible by American playwright, Arthur Miller was written in 1952, based on the Salem witch trials of 1962 and 1963.
– The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway in 1952.
– Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams in 1954.
– The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison in 1952.
– East of Eden by John Steinbeck in 1952
–Old Yeller by Fred Gipson in 1956.
Links used
http://elcoushistory.tripod.com/society1950.html
https://www.google.co.uk/?gfe_rd=cr&ei=TrqaU8Vz4tHyB8P4gJAF#q=books%201950s%20america
Social Issues/Constraints in America in the 1950s
– During the 50s, there was a rise in following religion. In 1950, 49% of Americans were Church members (figure jumped to 69% by 1960).
– President Eisenhower was not a religious man, however, he joined the Presbyterian Church in 1953 because he felt that some form of piety was appropriate for a president.
– The word ‘teenager’ was rarely, if ever used before the 50s, but during them, young people began to see themselves a distinct group, which began to worry adults.
– Teenagers were eager to test their freedom and values, meaning they would test the boundaries of sexuality and consumerism.
– In the 1950s America was the center of covert and overt conflict between the Soviet Union and the United States. Their varying interactions with national, populist, and elitist interests destabilised the region.
– The CIA arranged the overthrow of the Guatemalan government in 1954.
– In 1958 the military dictatorship of Venezuela was overthrown. This continued a pattern of regional revolution and warfare making extensive use of ground forces .
– The 1950’s were a time of revolution for the social culture of the United States. Certain ideals and stereotypes were dropped.
– Gender roles began to change during the 50s, women were used to taking jobs outside the home, like they dad during the War.
– Women began to fight for their rights and desire outside employment.
-Homosexuality and Juvenile delinquency were only two of many things blamed on mothers.
– The idea of a domestic housewife no longer applied to a lot of the country as many women worked outside the home.
– The private life of women was not the only thing that changed in the 50s, their public image changed as well. Sex was beginning to sell, and some of the sexiest people of the time were female.
– Marlyn Monroe became the first Sex symbol of the United States and was the first centerfold for Playboy Magazine.
– Models such as Suzy Parker began to pose alluringly to sell their products.
– Civil Rights began rapid acceleration during the decade. The black people who faced inequality wanted the equality of the country. Especially after the experiences of severe prejudice they had suffered.
– In 1954, the supreme court case Brown vs. The Board of Education overturned the Plessy vs. Ferguson decision of separate but equal facilities and opened the door to all sorts of social integration in all aspects of life.
– The Montgomery Bus Boycott began with Rosa Parks refusing to move to the back of the bus when she decided to sit in the Whites only part of the bus. This provided activists with a reason to boycott and they did.
-Rosa Parks and the activists’ began the career of Martin Luther King Jr. in civil rights in 1955.
– There was an event in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957, in which the Supreme Court Decision of Brown vs. The Board of Education was not upheld when an all white high school was desegregated and nine black students were not allowed to enroll by Governor Orval Faubus. Faubus called in the National Guard to prevent the students from enrolling, which enraged President Eisenhower and caused him to send in troops from the 101st airborne division to allow the black students to enroll. Unfortunately, when the army was withdrawn from the school, the students faced a lot of harassment.
Links used to find information
http://www.shmoop.com/1950s/society.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1950s#America
http://elcoushistory.tripod.com/society1950.html
Education in 1950s America
– Until 1954, an official policy of “separate but equal ” educational opportunities for black children had been determined to be the correct method to insure that all children in America received an adequate and equal education in the public schools of the nation. In 1954, Chief Justice Earl Warren and other members of the Supreme Court wrote in Brown v. the Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas that separate facilities for blacks did not make those facilities equal according to the Constitution.
– In 1956, Autherine J.Lucy successfully enrolled in the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. In 1957, Elizabeth Eckford was the first black teenager to enter then all-white Little Rock Central High School , Little Rock, Arkansas. Although integration took place quietly in most towns, the conflict at Central High School in Little Rock was the first of many confrontations in Arkansas which showed that public opinion on this issue was divided.
– Education in the 1950’s was slightly improved from education in previous decades, in which there was no longer a focus on purely reading, writing and maths. History and science became a main part of the curriculum. As well as this, school enrollment became sky high due to the fact that the ‘baby-boomers’ began enrolling in elementary school.
– Schools in 1950s America had an interesting aspect to it that was something that categorised this generation and that was the presence of fallout tests. Schools would require the students to go through a fake atomic bomb attack in which they would hide under their desks , due to the fact that the 50s was the height of atomic bomb testing.
– Children were taught to conform to societal norms and to be ‘normal’, as standing out or questioning authority was bad.
– Sex Education was taught minimally, the sexual organs were only briefly explained, however, sexually transmitted diseases were focused on greatly so as to “scare” the students out of premarital sex.
Links used to gather research
http://kclibrary.lonestar.edu/decade50.html
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_was_education_like_in_the_1950%27s?#slide=1
America In the 1950s 