1950s+Teenagers

__**5 Facts**__

> He rode motorcycles, wore leather jackets, grew long hair and showed how he did not trust authority.
 * 1) The word, “teenager was created in the 1950s. Youth during the 1950s lost their innocence through new emerging counter culture. Teen self -images and their lifestyles were greatly impacted by social environment, entertainment, fashion, media, family values and expectations among other influences. This was a time when teenagers felt a since of freedom, independence as well as self-worth. Teenagers were able to buy more things like clothes, food music because of an increase in spending money.
 * 2) In the 1950s, there was an increase in sexual experimentation, juvenile crime and rebellion among teenagers. The new liberalized culture allowed teenagers to make decisions for themselves and in many situations, their parents did not agree with their decisions. This increase in teenage delinquency could be traced to several new cultural phenomena. Teenagers had greater access to automobiles. This enabled teenagers to escape the control of their parents. Many car dealers marketed to Americans teens and Hollywood filmmakers helped to create new up and coming teens idols. Many of these teens became bored with the suburban culture and became rebels like James Dean.This is also an era were more teenagers wanted and were encouraged to attend college or learn a skill to be successful. Their parents had had experienced several wars and the Great Depression and wanted more for their children. This resulted in teenagers receiving spending money and having more time to socialize with other teenagers. This new found independence many of times resulted in conflict between the parents and teenagers.
 * 1) Before WWII, a teenager’s exposure to music were limited to radio and an occasional record purchase. Teenagers’ parents decided what music would be played in the house. The music of the parents was "white" music, like that of Tin Pan Alley or melting pot black music adapted to white tastes, such as swing or the blues. In the 1950s, teens actually began to purchase their own radios and watch television for entertainment. Disc jockeys and radio stations were able to attract advertisers and the clout of the radio stations and deejays playing rhythm and blues grew. Disc jockeys began to appeal to the listener’s taste of music. Teen choices of new music began influencing society. A "generation gap" was formed between teenager and parents. A teen way of dressing, speaking, social mores and beliefs differed greatly from their parent’s generations. Elegant and mainstream fashion was still very popular throughout the 1950s. However, by the late 1950s, a new market was being targeted-teenagers.
 * 2) The rise of youth clothing and fashion culture changed in the late 1950s. The fashion designers target market was teenagers. Teens began to purchase their own clothing because they could afford it. New fashions were being introduced. They may not have been yet widely accepted by society as a whole, but subgroups of teenagers were wearing what was considered to be “radical” at this time. For example, teen girls and teen boys wore similar garments such jeans, boots, and leather jackets. Another popular trend during this time was some teen girls would attend dances dressed in all black. Girls also wore cardigans with a basic skirt and many times accessorized with a beaded necklace. Either that or they may wear a pinafore dress or tight pants with ballet shoes. One of the more cumbersome of outfits for teen girls during this time would most likely be the bulky cotton skirt that was worn with layers of petticoats underneath. These were often not allowed in schools.
 * 3) After World War II, teenagers left out and ignored. They were sandwiched in between the generations of new postwar families and the boom of babies was a generation of teenagers. Teens were made to feel powerless and unimportant adults who didn't want to be bothered with the very different values of teenagers. There were a few television shows for young children, nothing for teenagers, and nothing on the radio speaking to teen life. They were longing to be recognized. When they heard music about their world -- high school sweethearts and fast cars, they embraced it. They began to create their own image and style. With the increase teen presence came disapproval, condemnation by parents and the authorities. Many of their parties were shut down, records were banned and many teens were suspended from school for disciplinary reasons. During this time, there were major problems between parents and teenagers. Parents did not approve of their lifestyles and values and set many restrictions and rules on this generation. Examples of some of these rules are: boy’s hair touching the ears was not allowed, girls weren’t allowed to wear pants, boys were not allowed to wear blue jeans, and any talk about sex was taboo. In the 1950’s, teenagers where more inclined and encouraged to attend college, find a skill, and seek a successful career. Their parents had more than likely gone through the depression and a number of wars, and now wanted something more for their children.

__Primary Sources__ This is a picture above show what teenage girls wore in the 1950s. This picture was taken in 1953 and the picture wants to show what thee girls woree on the bottom half.This was a very popular fashion during this time, girls wore a dog collar around their ankle on their socks. If you seen a girl with the collar on the left side it meant she had a boyfriend and if the girl wore a dog collar on the right it meant she was single. In the 1950s girls wanted people to know if they were single or not.

The picture above shows a family watching the Kennedy debate as you can see the sitcoms were still in black and white. During this time period families really valued their tvs because that was one way how they got their entertainment and communication. One sitcom that families loved watching was I love Lucy. This sources tells me that families enjoyed spending time together by watching sitcoms like all in enjoy. The poilitical shows help inform the kids about what was going on in the world. Tvs are a big thing for families that wanted to get entertained. Now families really dont enjoy watching the same tv shows because we have more of a variety of what shows we want to watch.

__Loss of identify and emergence of teens in the 1950s paragraph__

My research defends the loss of innocence and emergence of identity experienced by many teenagers in the 1950s. My findings on the following points, fashion, school and social environment, entertainment and family values clearly documents how teenagers of the 1950s claim their independence and freedom. They rebelled against their parents and created their own lifestyle that was vastly different from the parent’s generation.

Works Cited

Escovar, Matthew. "rock and roll." In Winkler, Allan M., Charlene Mires, and Gary B. Nash, eds. Encyclopedia of American History: Postwar United States, 1946 to 1968, Revised Edition (Volume IX). New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2010. American History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE52&iPin=EAHIX215&SingleRecord=True (accessed November 15, 2011).

Goldberg, David E. "teenagers, post–World War II." In Winkler, Allan M., Charlene Mires, and Gary B. Nash, eds. Encyclopedia of American History: Postwar United States, 1946 to 1968, Revised Edition (Volume IX). New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2010. American History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE52&iPin=EAHrIX260&SingleRecord=True (accessed November 15, 2011).

Gómez, Andrea. "fashion, post–World War II." In Winkler, Allan M., Charlene Mires, and Gary B. Nash, eds. Encyclopedia of American History: PostwarUnited States, 1946 to 1968, Revised Edition (Volume IX).New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2010. American History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE52&iPin=EAHrIX091&SingleRecord=True (accessed November 15, 2011).

"Fashion Trend for Teenage Girls in the 1950s." Library of Congress. Prints and Photographs Division. New York World-Telegram and the Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection. American History Online. Facts On File, Inc. [] ItemID=WE52&iPin=AHI2568&SingleRecord=True (accessed November 15, 2011).