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Golden State, Golden Youth: The California Image in Popular Culture, 1955-1966 (Hardcover)

by Kirse Granat May (Author) "The idea of California was born when Spanish explorers christened their discovery after a mythical island full of wonders referred to in chivalric literature..." (more)
Key Phrases: beach bonanza, rod music, baby boom families, Los Angeles, Golden State, The Mickey Mouse Club (more...)

4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

Review
"Golden State, Golden Youth [is] wholly fascinating in its savvy take on the making and manipulation of popular culture." -- Los Angeles Times

Review
Seen as a land of sunshine and opportunity, the Golden State was a mecca for the post-World War II generation, and dreams of the California good life came to dominate the imagination of many Americans in the 1950s and 1960s. Nowhere was this more evident than in the explosion of California youth images in popular culture. Disneyland, television shows such as The Mickey Mouse Club, Gidget and other beach movies, the music of the Beach Boys--all these broadcast nationwide a lifestyle of carefree, wholesome fun supposedly enjoyed by white, middle-class, suburban young people in California.

Tracing the rise of the California teen as a national icon, Kirse May shows how idealized images of a suburban youth culture soothed the nation's postwar nerves while denying racial and urban realities. Unsettling challenges to this mass-mediated picture began to arise in the mid-1960s, however, with the Free Speech Movement's campus revolt in Berkeley and race riots in Watts. In his 1966 campaign for the governorship of California, Ronald Reagan transformed the backlash against the "dangerous" youths who fueled these actions into political triumph. As May notes, Reagan's victory presaged a rising conservatism across the nation.

Wholly fascinating in its savvy take on the making and manipulation of popular culture. (Los Angeles Times)

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Product Details

Hardcover: 256 pages
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press (December 4, 2001)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0807826952
ISBN-13: 978-0807826959
Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,965,008 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Inside This Book (learn more)

First Sentence:
The idea of California was born when Spanish explorers christened their discovery after a mythical island full of wonders referred to in chivalric literature. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
beach bonanza, rod music, baby boom families, surf music, surf city, youth images, surfer girl, fire this time

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Los Angeles, Golden State, The Mickey Mouse Club, Walt Disney, San Francisco, Davy Crockett, United States, University of California, Saturday Evening Post, Jim Stark, Ronald Reagan, World Report, World War, Annette Funicello, Rebel Without, East Coast, Governor Brown, James Dean, Sproul Hall, American Bandstand, Columbia Pictures, Dick Dale, Free Speech Movement, Malibu Beach, Sandra Dee

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Citations (learn more)

This book cites 100 books:

WONDERFUL WORLD OF DISNEY TELEVISION, THE: A COMPLETE HISTORY by Bill Cotter on 5 pages
Waiting for the Sun: Strange Days, Weird Scenes and the Sound of Los Angeles by Barney Hoskyns on 4 pages
Beach Boys by David Leaf on 4 pages
City of Quartz: Excavating the Future in Los Angeles by Mike Davis on 4 pages
The Official Mickey Mouse Club Book by Lorraine Santoli on 4 pages

See all 100 books this book cites

Books on Related Topics (learn more)

The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll by Holly George-Warren

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American Popular Music by Larry Starr

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Customer Reviews

7 Reviews

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4 star:		(1)
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Average Customer Review

4.3 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Startlingly Good!, August 15, 2002

By	Soren Larsen (Chapel Hill, NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Golden State, Golden Youth: The California Image in Popular Culture, 1955-1966 (Paperback)

I heard an interview with the Author on NPR. �Being a former mouseketeer and a closet fan of the Frankie and Annette beach films, I thought the book would be right-up my alley.� May puts together a remarkably entertaining and enlightening piece of work.� By analyzing this period in American history through the skewed lens of popular culture, May shows how many of those living in the 50's and 60's believed (including some of California's elected officials) that California had some kind of magical immunity to the societal and racial problems that affected the rest of the country at the time.� She also illustrates how deeply the nation was shocked when reality caught-up with the illusion.� While depicting the Popular Culture images packaged and shipped from sunny California, May doesn't take an overly moralistic tone.� Also, the writing is refreshingly free of bloated academic gibberish.� It is clear May sifted through volumes of research and has produced a tight and compelling book.� I give Golden State, Golden Youth my strongest recommendation, especially to those ever to have listened to a Beach Boys record, watched Frankie and Annette, or donned a pair of mouse ears.

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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Read, August 22, 2002

By	Lynell Dewey (Medford, OR United States) - See all my reviews

Interesting and extremely readable, this book made me realize how much I had bought into the California myth as I was growing up in the 60's, as well as allowing me some enjoyable trips down memory lane. The author's writing style allowed me to see the cause and effects of California pop culture of the 50's and 60's from a much wider frame of reference; educating me without drowning me in pompous academic babbling.

I heartily recommend this book!

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7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling reading! Important Reading!, May 14, 2002

By	D. Mouton (New Orleans, LA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Golden State, Golden Youth: The California Image in Popular Culture, 1955-1966 (Paperback)

Suggested by a local friend on a Friday evening, borrowed his copy and had completed reading it by Monday morning. Then passed it on to another friend that afternoon. As pervasive as California Culture has become - even for those of us far-removed from the Coast and the culture that grew out of it - I found the subject fascinating, and the book hard to put down. It appears as though in _Golden State_ Ms. May establishes herself with the public as a strong cross-over writer who, while grounded by a core academic foundation, begins with the facts then takes the reader on a facinating trip through time and society, merrily expounding on the sights along the way. Highly reccommended.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Insightful!
A friend referred this book to me and although I'm not normally into this kind of book I found it very interesting. Read more

Published on July 17, 2002 by AmyG

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't bother.
For those who have never lived in, been to, or heard of California, or indeed have never reflected momentarily on the relation between media images and public opinion, this book... Read more

Published on July 14, 2002 by k__

5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable and provacative!
What a fun book to read. I would highly recommend anyone this text. It really keeps you thinking, but she is such a good writer, she engages your brain but never overwhelms... Read more

Published on June 26, 2002 by jdog0531

5.0 out of 5 stars California Fun
Granat has completed a masterful study of Calfornia beach culture, and its affect on our country. Granat's anecdotes about California culture are both entertaining and... Read more

Published on May 14, 2002 by Thaddeus May

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