The Fabulous Fifties Matrix

HIS/135 Version 4

University of Phoenix Material

The Fabulous Fifties Matrix
Choose ten items from the following list and identify their significance during the 1950s:

The Mickey Mouse Club

Interstate highways
Dishwashers
Automobiles
Hi-Fis and stereos
Poodle skirts
Drive-in theaters
Levittown
Dr. Spock

Event
Poodle
Skirts

Elvis Presley

I Love Lucy

Dishwashers

Drive-in
theaters
Automobiles
Black urban
migration

Ozzie and Harriett

I Love Lucy
Persistent poverty
Black urban migration
Urban renewal
Beatniks (beats)
American Bandstand
Elvis Presley
James Dean

Significance
Poodle skirts were actually the most popular clothing items in the 1950s
worn by teenage girls. Womens clothing in the 1950s was beginning to
look more feminine, but also seductive, elegant and glamorous. Skirts
were extremely popular during this period. They were either full or pencil
thin.
Elvis had a strong influence on youth culture during the 1950s, teenagers
had begun to think of themselves as being different from their parents
generation. Elvis music took place just before the civil rights movement,
prefiguring social integration, makes this moment in pop culture history
seem momentous.
This show pushed to boundaries in the 1950s, the show did portray the
ideals and societal norms of the 50s, but there were also portrayals of a
more modern day family. Like having Lucy and Ricky being in an
interethnic relationship, and being married out of their particular social
group, definitely began to push the boundaries for the time.
Home-appliances made the lives of women much easier than they ever
were. Previously these items were only affordable to the rich and middleclass families, now they were in reach of the larger population. Products
included televisions, dishwashers, air-conditioners, inexpensive longdistance telephone calls and jet air travel. Services like electricity, central
heating and indoor plumbing also became more available and affordable
in the 1950s.

The Fabulous Fifties Matrix

HIS/135 Version 4

Interstate
Highways
Urban
renewal
James Dean

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