1950s+Teenagers+LLHI

Research  Topic 1: Fashion- Fashions have changed to reflect freedom of expression. It was a way for teenagers to deal with changes to express their emotions and deal with the world changes. In the 1940’s fashion was very plane due to rationing, the zippers were smaller, they had less pockets, and the height of heels was smaller. This was when the two piece bathing suit came out too because it was less clothing being used. America saw Paris’s new looks and off of that we created the “American look,” which consists of comfortable clothing fashions. In 1957, a new look for women was created by Christian Dior. This new look wasn’t all boxy like the usual cloths, but it was tight and close fitting. This influenced pencil skirts, jeans, pedal pushers, and sweater sets. Due to this teenagers demanded their own styles too. The first teen style was the mini skirt for the girls created in London, England. Teens in England started to demand for more color in their cloths, and this was the outbreak of the colors and hippie styles. The cloths related to their music, and jeans became very popular. Teen styles changed men’s too adding more color, patterns, and textures to the cloths. Styles filled the streets and change just like today.  Topic 2 : movies- Teen movies began to change when teens began to change. Boys wanted to see more of the hero figure, while girls were more into the romantic stuff and seeing the good looking men. To keep teens more interested most of the adult characters became more of the background and teens became more of the main characters. Teen music also began to influence movies and movie stars were put as main characters. They put the music stars in there to keep the teens attention to the movies like Elvis Presley. Then teens got more focused on the horror films and films that had the party beach scene in them. When drugs were introduced you began to see more of them being used in the movies too. Teens were pretty much the target of film makers. Drive-ins for movies also became a big thing for teens. Movies were to appeal to the younger age, today they target both young and older people.  Topic 3: music- the 1950’s gave a new era of music known ad rock ‘n’ roll. This music was first considered “black music,” also jazz and the blues were included in this music. When African Americans migrated north not only did they bring personal items with them, but they also brought their music. This music became popular with the teenagers because they wanted something to define themselves. The first song was “Rock around the Clock.” This was the main stream to “white music.” Radios started to play this music and African Americans started to pitch in with their vocals too. In 1954, the king of rock came out, Elvis Presley. He appealed to both black and white people because of his vocals and his amazing moves. Most parents didn’t like this music because it talks about drugs and sex. Religious groups tried to ban the radio stations from playing the music because it was insulting. This was a new start to American culture.  Topic 4: schools- Schools were very different in the 1950’s from now. Teens used type writers instead of computers. There really weren’t any bullies and gangs then in school too, but there were clicks. They had the usual bells and fire drills too. There usually was one high school in town that everybody went to that lived there. Schools usually didn’t take field trips and they also didn’t have lockers so they were responsible for all their books. The internet wasn’t available then too so therefore they had to go to the local library to get their books and research. They had most of the sports we have today the big one then was baseball and cheerleading for the girls. After school they also had dances, and fashion shows, along with plays. Segregation was also still in affected too, so they had different dances and different sports teams. Schools also gave little homework so the kids had a lot of free time.  Topic 5: restaurants- the fast food restaurants industry was very big in the 50’s. The economy was sky rocketing in these industries. These places were important to teens because it was cheap and they could grab it and go. A good example of this would be McDonalds. This was a place where teens could hang out for a little and get a cheap meal. With this the fast food restaurants got a lot of money from the teens and they expected to franchise more and more so teens could buy more. These were also beneficial to families to eat on the go. With the busy life styles the families could get it and go like the kids today and then.

During the 1950’s the teens had their time to shine. Teens developed a new meaning to their own generation. New music was out, new styles came out, and the teen’s attitudes changed along with them to have that “it” factor. Due to the music though, the teens got in trouble for the language used in the lyrics. Due to this the radios were going to be closed down because it became such an outrage to people. The good thing about this time was teens had a voice, and wanted change. With their demands they got new cloths, music, and new attitudes. Movies had also changed in this time and they targeted the teens. The adults in movies became the background and teens were main characters. Teens wanted a voice for independence and they got it. This became a new era and generation for teenagers of the 1950’s

Primary Sources:  

Work cited

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