The 1950's Homeward Bound

During the 1950's, there was a lifestyle in America that was essentially set in stone from birth. Television portrayed an image that women were to stay to home with the children. Shows such as, Leave it to Beaver, and Father Knows Best displayed a stereotypical way of life and structure in a family. “The sitcoms were simultaneously advertisements, etiquette manuals, and how-to lessons for a new way of organizing marriage and child rising” (Coontz, 39). Although television shows of the 1950's were not true reality, it seemed to be a good model at the time. Family life in the 50's era differs greatly from today's family unit.

The 1950s is considered to be the model decade of America. Families were close, children respected their elders, workers worked hard to provide for their families who grew up in nice neighborhoods, and the economy was booming. The forced conformity, neglect of the poor, and segregation are often overlooked when talking about the decade as they were during the time period. The 1950s were a prodigious time period for family life but not for the individual or societal ethics.

For the generation of the 1950s, moving from the cities to the suburbs became the American dream. The Depression was over, and so was the war. It was time for living well. The idea of an egalitarian society gave way to post-war material prosperity and the steady march of young relative affluents, or affluents as described in this context, toward the garden areas outside of the city. There, families could be raised in the fresh air and a fresh new environment of the suburbs. “Easy Living” became the motto ; the ultimate goal, live the new American dream: a house, a car, a dog and the often cited 2.3 children. In those times, “…corporations appeared to provide a blissful answer to postwar life with the marketing of new technologies—television, affordable cars, space travel, fast food—and lifestyles, such as carefully planned suburban communities centered around the nuclear family. The main engines of economic growth during the 1950s were residential construction and spending on consumer goods. The dream of home ownership came within reach of the majority of Americans.

    Several changes have occurred since the 1920s in traditional family values and the family life. Research revealed several different findings among family values, the way things were done and are now done, and the different kinds of old and new world struggles.

Anderson begins to analyze the troubled culture by first looking at the home environment and behaviors during childhood. The values differ drastically between the two groups. He states that the decent families are typically working families and try to instill positive values in their children. They hope to provide a nurturing environment and aid their children in pursuing a successful future. They are involved in their performance in school and have home rules to abide by. They have curfews for their children and generally know where and whom they are with at all times, especially young children. They try to prepare their children for the unknown and possible confrontations with

An award-winning writer and internationally recognized expert on the family, Stephanie Coontz, in her article, “What We Really Miss About The 1950’s,” states that “In a poll by the Knight-Ridder News Agency, more Americans chose the 1950’s than any single decade as the best time for children to grow up.” However, Coontz has her own view of the 1950s, and she illustrates her own opinions about this decade using strong and logical facts. While the nostalgia of the 1950s is vastly strong in some people, some fail to notice the negativity and the reality of it.

When recounting his childhood, Christopher Elliott, now 56, orates countless chaotic tales with a tone of tranquil reminiscence. Raised by a single father after his mother died in 1968, Chris grew up in Miller Place, New York alongside his 9 other siblings in the 1960s and 1970s. His unique family dynamic led Chris and his siblings to find independence and quickly develop a distinctive personality detached from societal expectations. The individualism found within the Elliott household was largely absent in other households across the nation. Many of Chris’s peers lived in a home modeled after the male breadwinner phenomenon Stephanie Coontz describes in her book Marriage, a History. The emphasis on cultural scripts within the male breadwinner family model suppressed individuality and that suppression ultimately played a role in the outpouring of support for anti establishment and alternative lifestyles in the 1960s and 1970s. Once it was time for Chris to establish his own family at the turn of the century, family life in America had largely abandoned the male breadwinner model in favor of family arrangements that tailored to the specific circumstances of each family, thus implying a certain prescience to the dynamic he grew up with in the 1960s. By exploring alternative families like the Elliotts in a period where strict family life was the norm, we can better understand alterations in the typical American family dynamic and the rise of the modern family.

Before the rise of consumerism, American society had a different ambiance. People found joy in the little things; anything they were able to get their hands on was a blessing. They didn’t have the materialistic desires that many possess now. They embodied the stereotype of the idealistic nuclear family. In the early to mid-twentieth century, people didn’t have the money

The text states that the 1950’s were the best decade for children to grow up according to a poll taken in 1996. Researchers believe that the 50’s were chosen as the best decade because the times had been much simpler, adults and children had fewer choices to make. Though many chose the 50’s, as the best decade to grow up in no one wants to relive the racism and abuse that took place during this era. In the 1950’s the economy had been more family friendly, families were able to survive on one income as opposed to today were it takes two incomes to keep a family afloat. Not only had the 1950’s given people a chance to be finically secure, it had also given families a chance to work well together. The divorce rate had dropped significantly during

The industrialization of earlier eras pushed some into suburbs and many in the city into tenement housing. The groups had different views of the world and sometimes how they saw their place in it all. Although it seemed stereotypical that certain racial groups fitted into these environs, they developed an individual nature that effected how families were structured. The changes of thought in people during the 1960’s brought about pro-feminist and African American empowerment movements that had people realize that the American dream seemed to be a concept that was archaic and the society needed to mature, and the family structure changed too. Reliable and convenient contraception and the availability of safe and legal abortion permitted sex with minimal risk of childbearing and the concomitant long-term commitment to parenting (Lundberg and Pollack, 2007). Families were now groups of people who cared for one another, but weren’t necessarily married the social stigma of single parent families, divorcees and inter racial couples was seen as taboo. Social changes throughout the 1960’s and 70’s made the

Most American’s have grown up with this idea of what a family is supposed to be, how it is structured and how it functions. Throughout time the idea’s have changed and evolved but the ideal “American family” is generally the same. A father, mother, a little boy and girl who live in the suburban’s with the white picket fence. There is this idea that the earlier American family was perfect, or near it. Every person in the family had their place and did their duties. Few toed the line and families stuck together no matter what. That may have been more accurate at a time, but the reason is far from just the idea that times where easier. Families stuck together because of strong religious prohibitions and community norms. This was a time where

The 1950’s were a decade of great change in various ways. For example the American minorities, the women, and other outspoken ethnic and other groups of society, decided to stand up and fight for their rights. The Great War had ended, and men were coming back home. As this happened the demand for economic homes increased, and families began having children due to the economical stability and prosperity in which the United States of America was amidst. The nationwide home demand gave birth to one of the most comfortable and affordable ways of living: The suburban home. These neighborhoods were planned for young middle-upper class families who wanted to have, or already had children. These families were living the

There’s an old saying that goes, “Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present”, by Alice Morse Earle. The world has become a place taken for granted. Humans are beginning to wish they could live in the past, while others just want to skip over to the future but what ever happened to living right now? Or living in the moment? In the story, “The American Family”, by Stephanie Coontz, she discusses why so many individuals believe American families are facing worse issues now than in the past. She discusses how in the previous years, it was far worse and explains why those people are wrong to assume they are facing worse problems now. In addition, Robert Kuttner and his text, “The politics of family”, supports Coontz’ argument about the dilemmas facing the turn-of-the-century American families and gives the resolutions to those problems; such as talking out problems, women having the right to walk out of unsatisfactory marriages, and lastly, the emancipation for women.

Foremost, the familial image has undertaken significant changes in regards to the ‘breadwinner’ and ‘homemaker’ roles within the family. In the latter of the 20th century, women’s participation in the labour force had been very little to non-existent, primarily because time allocations had been perceived as gender specific, that is, men were seen as the ‘breadwinner’, while women were viewed as the ‘homemaker’ (Seltzer, Bachrach, Bianchi, Bledsoe, Casper, Chase-Lansdale, Diprete, Hotz, Morgan, Sanders, & Thomas, 2005, pp.20). The ‘breadwinner’ role was to secure financial stability, while the

Beginning in the 1970’s, family structures began to evolve into something that has shaped our society today. Families depicted on shows such as, The Brady Brunch and The Jeffersons, showed conflict relationships and blended families. During this decade, the family lifestyle became more diverse. The burden of social critics focused on the rising black middle-class and women working outside the house. During this decade, people started to second guess family life, as seen on The Brady Brunch and The Jeffersons (Television and Family 1). The Brady Bunch started to show families with rebellious children. The show attempted to steer clear of the political and social issues at the time. Non-white characters were not introduced and gender equality was exhibited. The show tried to represent the countercultural aspect of the late 1960’s into the 1970’s. Boys and girls that played together started to date. These children kissed behind their parents back and this was foreshadowing the dysfunctional family structure. Parents were not given as much importance and the American public was feeding off this negative energy from the show. The show aired during the times the production knew they would grab attention from a young audience. Some children watching this show were home-alone while both parents were at work, or the children came from divorced families. The nuclear family was envied on this popular television comedy (Griffin 1). At the time,