Customer Reviews

A Cultural History of the United States Through the Decades - The 1950s

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This slender tome won't tell you much you couldn't learn from David Halberstam's far denser treatment of this decade in his lively book "The Fifties." Nor will it provide the context necessary for a complete grasp of any of the discrete subjects touched upon, such as the golden age of television, the early civil rights movement, the Korean War, the Cold War, the nuclear family, or the Eisenhower administration. And of course no history book could hope to accurately capture the experiences of all who lived in the very large and diverse USA during any decade. But this is an engaging summary of the cultural generalizations that can be made about this time and place, and an excellent outline of the experiences shared by many Americans such as the cold war, the fear of communism, nuclear anxieties, the influence of television, and conformist pressures. This would be a good introduction for late high schoolers, early college students, or any history novice who simply wants a bird's-eye view. Alternatively, this would be a good book to read after Halberstam's book, and other more in-depth treatments, to reinforce the salient points. The well-chosen photographs provide further insights.

I thought the book was very through as all the books in the series are however I thought there was an obvious slant to the left in the text. The assessment that the white people were brainwashed conformist who excluded all that was different was a little disturbing to me. There was a tremendous amount of economic grow and prosperity due to the free market and capatalism. Brainwashed conformists could not have done such great things.

Life Was Good Then., June 27, 2005

Reviewer: Betty Burks (Knoxville, TN) - See all my reviews

This decade was "the best of times" for those of us growing up then. The music was the best and is still being played on radio stations fifty years later. And yet, the Scripps newspaper left out this decade when local talent shows abounded, and even some of us did pantomimes (not just the two Don Ferguson wrote about), and on newspaper editor said it was the worst of times as you couldn't drink in a restaurant. Most of Knoxville drinks behinds doors anyway; I had one radio announcer tell me that he knows all about the solitary drinker. Poor thing!

Harry Truman was still the war president and ordered the Atomic Energy Commission to develop the hydrogen bomb. He had already made our military use the atomic bomb which was developed in Oak Ridge, a few miles from Knoxville. He was a ferocious president but a coward in doing the fighting for himself.

Innocent people were slandered and a couple of "spies" were electrocuted in New York prisons -- time has show that the wrong people were put to death. Because of politics the careeer of Alger Hiss was destroyed because of malicious lies by a political informer.

The pictures in this volume are absolutely fantastic. Hopalong Cassidy is there watching an orphaned bear in New Mexico hold a poster with a U.S. Forestry offical "Help Prevent Forest Fires." Guess he is the original Smokey the Bear. Where was Troy Montgomery?

There is a photo showing a theater marquee proclaiming "Free To Public Kefauver TV Senate Crime Hearings. McCarthy tried to destroy the lives and careers of folks out in Hollywood. He did some, but others used other names and kept on working on films.

The U. S. Postmaster General cuts mail delivery from twice a day to only once. Now, it takes a week and the cost of postage has gotten so exhorbitant that most people send e-mail. Sometimes, even a Priority Mail ($3.85) does not reach its destination in 2005.

New on T.V.: "The Jack Benny Show''What's My Line' (tried to get on that one at the tender age of 15, 'You Bet Your Life' with Groucho Marx (boy, he was a clown!), and 'Your Show of Shows.' Why'd they leave 'Coke Time' out;that was THE SHOW for that decade and Eddie Fisher was the star.

Douglas MacArthur is remanded to the States by Truman to a ticker-tape parade and he declared to Congress, "Old soldiers never die; they just fade away." But he didn't -- no sir, he went back to where he promised he would return and rebuilt Japan singlehandedly.

In the Fifties, the average cost of four years of college was only $1800 (what I was promised when I married my teacher -- didn't get it!), up 400 percent from 1900. What is it today?

The execution of the Rosenbergs is a black eye to this country and will forever be a travesty of justice. It is blind justice.