New Inventions

             

            The blog will be shifting focus for a short time.  I found some old Life magazines from the early fifties.  This era, for me, is when the focus of the USA shifted from an agrarian country to a powerhouse industrialized nation.  The country had survived the “The Great Depression,” and transitioned to a powerful war machine. 

          The war and the depression were powerful impacts on the psyche of the American people. 

          With the end of the war, The United States no longer was a second on the stage of world politics, they had become a world leader.  This was reflected in the confidence of the people in the States.  With the rationing of the war over, consumerism was the forefront of life in America. 

          There were jobs in the factories for the returning soldiers, who had their combat pay in hand.  The American dream was approaching, a chicken in every pot and a car in the driveway.  With the jobs in the factories, the Lower Class was shrinking and the Middle class was expanding.  The dream of owning their own home was at hand for most citizens. 

          Housing developments and suburbs were a new phase in the America fabric.  Products were needed to fill these new dream homes and there new automobiles to park in the driveways.

          Life magazine along with their counterparts, Look and the Saturday Evening Post, chronicled this emerging new American middle class.  Back in the 50’s, the news was not real slanted and the agenda of a few was not apparent.  The advertising set the tone for the changes and reflects life of the transitional decade.  Technology of the day, was the television and the Atomic Bomb, both impacted how people lived during the 50’s. 

          I will be taking ads from the magazines, along with stories and writing my impression of life back then.  I’m old enough to of been a wee lad back then and I remember a few things from way back then. 

30 –

                               One of the more profound inventions to come along was the television.  This machine changed the way America viewed the world.  No longer did the listener have to rely on descriptions from the broadcaster, they now could see it in their home.  No longer were the newsreels in the moving picture houses, they were now beaming into the front room.  The theater of the imagination, the radio show, was on the wane.  People could now sit down in the easy chair and watch their favorite characters from the radio come to life in person. 

                              It was a new phenomena, social scientists were watching and the politicians were learning how to massage the tube for their advantage. 

                              Another new contraption that came along after the war was the refrigerator.  It would change how people would buy.  No longer did they have to rely on a block of ice to keep things cool.  They also could have frozen foods stored.  Soon the ice man would disappear from the streets making his rounds delivering ice. 

                              With the end of the war, raw products were freed up from the war effort and things could be mass produced were the war effort had produced goods for the war.  No longer was the refrigerator a luxury item only a few could own.  Appliances like this need production/manufacturing plants to produce the product.  These new factories created mid level semi skilled jobs for workers. 

                              A new chapter was opening for the American worker.  Here at these new factories, the worker could get a job.  It provided enough income, for a house, an automobile and few other amenities in the home.  No longer was the American worker standing on the street corner begging or later being a soldier.  Now he could live the American dream.  Have his own home, own a car and provide for his family. 

                              What had been considered luxuries, were now in reach of the average person.