1 Urbanisation and affluence
Growing ownership and use of cars:
● With the post-war economic boom, people had more job security and more money to
spend.
● In 1955 alone, 7.9 million new cars were manufactured.
● Growing car ownership greatly changed the American lifestyle:
○ indicated social status
○ gave young people and women a greater sense of freedom
○ created a new on-the-road culture that led to explosive growth in the service
industries
○ contributed to suburban growth and urban decline.
The interstate highway system:
● The Republican president, Dwight D. Eisenhower was typically American in that he
loved cars.
● Although Eisenhower disliked excessive federal government intervention in the lives
of Americans, he initiated a great highway construction programme.
● This was because:
○ Upon returning to the United States after the Second World War, Eisenhower
described American roads as in 'shocking condition' compared to German
autobahns.
○ Fuelled by the nation's unprecedented prosperity, car ownership rocketed
from 39.3 million in 1950 to 73.8 million in 1960.
○ As Eisenhower told Congress in 1955, an interstate highway system was vital
to handle the increased traffic.
○ Persuaded by Eisenhower's arguments, Congress authorised the construction
of 41,000 miles of interstate highways that opened up the continent to travel
and changed American society and culture.
The impact of automobiles on US society:
Social status:
● The automobile helped reflect and define one's social status.
● Wealthy white men favoured the most expensive and spacious models such as
Lincolns and Cadillacs.
● Middle and working-class Americans usually bought Fords and Chevrolets.
Young people and women:
● Automobiles reflected and encouraged the desire of young people to gain
independence and to escape from parental control.
● Cars became an important part of dating
, ○ the 1953 Kinsey sex survey found that young people had almost as much sex
in automobiles as they did in their homes.
● Young men expressed their individuality by customising the cars in order to
emphasise speed and style. T
○ they turned respectable, safe family cars into chrome-covered, souped up hot
rods' or 'grease machines’.
● In some ways, cars helped to free women, such as when they used their cars to visit
shopping malls.
○ However, automobiles designed for women reflected traditional attitudes.
○ For example, the 1955 Dodge La Femme came with matching lipstick and a
shoulder bag.
○ Sometimes the family car became a source of conflict, as men attempted to
assert dominance by monopolising the driving seat.
The on-the-road culture:
● Americans could get to places faster and more comfortably.
○ They could obtain fast food, watch movies and even attend church from the
comfort of their car.
○ Americans became exceptionally mobile and their new on-the-road culture
required cheap accommodation and fast food.
○ In 1952, the modern American motel chain was born when the first Holiday
Inn opened near Memphis.
○ By 1960 there were 228 McDonalds.
○ Such roadside motels and restaurants created tens of thousands of jobs
marental in the service industries and also changed the landscape.
○ Large areas of rural America were covered with roads and most as adjacent
motels, restaurants, stores, huge parking lots, neon signs and
advertisements.
White-collar jobs and service industries:
● An increasingly large proportion of Americans were employed in service industries
and in associated office based work.
○ By 1960 there were 7.6 million service workers.
○ The number of white-collar workers had grown from 21.2 million in 1950 to
27.2 million.
● In the first half of the twentieth century, a large proportion of American workers were
blue-collar workers, but new technology left the American economy less dependent
upon heavy manual labour in factories and mines in the 1950s.
○ By 1960, the 34.8 million service workers outnumbered the 25.6 million
manual workers.
○ These statistics were significant in that the fall in manufacturing jobs would
lead to economically depressed areas in the old industrial heartlands of the
Midwest and Northeast.
