American
popular culture during the 1950s was the most influential of cultures in the
world especially to the younger generation who were called the baby boomers.
Many other western countries were actually influenced by America in one way or
another. The major threat to the American way of life during this time was from
communism. The 1950’s culture is central to the events of the Cold War, where
America was in a battle against communism within the country. Radio
would have been a popular medium of Cold War popular culture, although the new
forms of mediums like Television, music and comic books during this time would
have had more influence. Children and youth during the decade of the 1950s was
influenced by different forms of popular culture and the technology that bought
about changes to the way they lived, which continues until the present day.
Television was in its infancy during this time period and was used as a tool
for education and entertainment. Reading material like comic books and even
some forms of music were subject to harsh scrutiny, which would pave the way to
their reinvention and censorship. Events which occurred during this decade
shaped the future until the end of the Cold War. America at the time was
against communism and this lead to hearings by Senator Joseph McCarthy into
communists within the government and the entertainment industry being regulated
by HUAC in search for supporters of communism, who were thought to over throw
the government, thus the silver screen released anti communist style movies.
The Atomic bomb was now possessed by the Soviets, bringing with it the fear the
United States and other countries would be attacked, which started with the
civil defence movement. The Korea War
occurred, when America started fighting against communist forces of the Chinese
that lead to Korea being divided to the north and south. Towards the end of the
decade the Soviets caused a stir, when they launched the first satellites
before America that entered the Space Race.
Popular
culture during the 1950s was heavily influenced by events during the time
especially in regards to the Cold War. Important parts of the decade were the
McCarthy hearings and the HUAC style inquisitions were influential as they both
involved with hunting for communists. While Joseph McCarthy was hunting for
communists amongst the government with his list of communists and direct accusations,
HUAC was doing the same within the various industries that would eventually
lead to the use of popular cultural items that had a slant towards being anti
communist when items and people seen to be supportive of communism were blacklisted
and nor published. The Russians were very aware of the propaganda that was
being used against them through all forms of mass media that was used as
popular culture during the 1950s. Spies had reported back home about the use of
anti Soviet and anti communist material was being directed towards the middle
class American families.
The youth of this time started standing up to their peers when a culture of
their own had been created. The Rock and
Roll craze bought about hysteria that would continue onto the next decades to
follow. Movies about the youth rebel at the time started appearing.
At
the start of the decade Senator Joseph McCarthy pointed out there were
communists within the government and this lead to hearings to find proof.
McCarthy was one of the most famous anti communists during the decade for
voicing his opinions publically. This in turned coined the word McCarthyism,
which became part of the American culture during this time. HUAC and McCarthy were seen as working together when they here actually two separate
inquiries although they were working towards the same goal of stamping out
communism within their country. This was in part known as the second Red Scare
as a whole new fear of the communist gained ground and Senator McCarthy were
actually feeding the fear by attacking those who he thought were the enemy.
Joseph McCarthy would go on in 1954 with hearings against the army, where he
thought there were communists. This was broadcast live on Television for a
short period of time. Joseph McCarthy
was the biggest threat to all forms of communism during the 1950s until the
other senators decided to censure him and the hearings vanished.
Early
in the 1950s, Hollywood was told they had a positive duty to make anti
communist films by one of the people in HUAC by the name of Richard Nixon, who
would later become the president on the United States.One of the most active anti communist groups in America during the 1950’s was
HUAC also known as the House on Un- American Activities Committee. They had
been active in the 1940’s and their aim was to find those who were involved
with communist activities that could be used to overthrow the government. They
were most active within the entertainment industry and had a reputation for
getting people into trouble and out of work. The most famous group that had
been blacklisted shortly before the decade started was the Hollywood Ten, a
group of men who were not allowed to work within the movie industry in America
as they had not answered the questions given to them and opted to remain silent.
The 1950’s bought about more people being interviewed by the group and more
people were blacklisted with suspected ties to the communist parties or other
groups. Other people were listed in the Red Book as being suspected of being
involved with communism. There was a view, anything or anyone who showed signs
of being un-American would lead to the downfall of America. During the time of
HUAC hearings, Hollywood was using the silver screen to portray the communist
as evil people. Hollywood used scare tactics of lies and smearing as a strategy
to show Communists as those who would take advantage and exploit those in times
of need or incite hatred.
During
the decade the testing of atomic bombs on American soil; scientists were
worried about the long term side effects of using an atomic bomb especially
when they knew so little about the radiation and the dangers of it. Popular
culture at the time played on the effects of radiation and fallout from the
bombs. Books and movies both portrayed what could happen from giant ants in
Them! And even On the Beach, where the world was slowly being wiped out by a
radioactive cloud and the setting for the end of the world was in Melbourne,
Australia. The movie and book of the same name were discredited as being
further from the truth by the Eisenhower Administration.
Spies during the 1950s, who publicised their exploits through popular culture,
drove home through the media the perils of the Red Menace. This was through the
different mediums such as books, films, TV shows and radio. This gave a face to
the public of the fears of the communist that would use the atomic bomb for
war. Popular media turned the understanding of the Russians into a stereotype that
the general public believed, why would the government have a reason to lie
about the greatest threat to their country.
The
world had changed once the Soviets detonated their first atomic bomb in 1949,
making the Americans fear they would be the next ones attacked. The Atomic bomb
bought about great changes to how people portrayed the world. The Soviets were
now seen as a threat greater than the government could understand and the
authorities needed something to protect their populace. During the early 1950s
the Federal Civil Defence Administration (FCDA) was formed. Their job was to
design education programs and propaganda material, which would be used to
inform the general public.
The reason for anti communist and atomic war civil defence educational movies
in education was a genuine fear during the cold war that the Americans would
end up in a war with the Soviets.
Civil defence was different in countries all over the world during the Cold
War, but they usually had the same idea. Civil defence usually had four parts
that were to be implemented during at attack. Detection of a possible attack
and warn the civilian population, a policy to evacuate urban areas,
construction of shelters and survival on a national scale.
Children in schools would be educated on what they would do during the
detonation of an atomic bomb. At this time few schools had televisions,
although it was usually up to the various states to enforce. The shows that
were shown were information programs like Bert the turtle in ‘Duck and Cover’. At
one point school children were given identity dog tags, so they could be
identified in the event nuclear war began.
The
civil defence movies like duck and cover were not the only movies shown to
school children and teenagers. Educational films like a company called Coronet
instructional Films gave advice about how young people were supposed to react
in different domestic situations. Many movies including foreign movies depicted
the impact of nuclear weapons being used. The civil defence movies showed the
Americans were ready for an attack coming from the Russians and had movies
about how to spot a communist traitor to their country. Today the series can be
viewed on Youtube in the order of when they were made. Many of the old black
and white educational films from the 1950s can be found online.
The red scare during the 1950’s had an impact on the minds of young people,
especially when everything was suspected with having ties to communism
including the teachers. Schools were basically the front line, where children
could be influenced through the educators and what they taught. Children were taught that communism was not
the correct way of living and it was a threat to modern western society. The
western countries like America and the UK used popular media like propaganda to
shape the thinking of their countries youth.
Books like Biggles pointed out the Soviets were evil people and would do
anything to turn countries against each other for their purposes. They also
made communism to be a bigger threat as well especially to the western
countries like America and the UK.
The Era of the Cold War bought about a new way of teaching the youth how to
react. The use of censorship on popular mediums like music and books were seen
as social control.
Television
during the early Cold War era was seen as way to use culture as a tool for
National Security, national identity, creativity, values of freedom and self
realisation as a concept that could be used overseas, by showing their programs
that depicted the American way of life.
There were some people within the government that did not want Television
to be used as a direct propaganda battle against the Soviet Union communism.
Television became popular during the decade especially in the United States as
it was available since the early 1950s, although Australia did not get TV until
later in the decade. The TV serials shown were not directed at the Cold War,
but showing shows about the ideal American lifestyle like family sitcoms, where
families were near perfect and every problem was worked out within the time
frame of the show. The perfect family was usually a nuclear family consisting
of a housewife who was the homemaker, a Working husband who was the bread
winner and two children. Gender roles are shown as how the ideal life was meant
to be in the suburban household.
Children were watching the same shows their parents were watching, so the
generation was being influenced by a whole new genre of material.
The
spy in popular culture during the decade of the 1950’s was influenced by events
that took place during this time. Spies were seen everywhere during the decade
as Senator McCarthy was trying to oust them from the government and the army.
HUAC was exploring the communist ideals that were appearing within movies and
amongst people who were involved with creating the mediums like the movies. Two
spies at the time were executed for treason in the United States was the
Rosenbergs. Ian Flemming published his first James Bond Novel in England called Casino
Royale. He had moved away from being fully anti communist to a character who
was a gentleman. The Bond novels and later the movies became a very popular
franchise. Television shows and movies
were becoming popular in exploring the spy during this time especially when
people who claimed they were spies for the government appeared. Children
watched television shows that centred on the spy and their exploits against the
communist threat. Cartoons and live action shows included Rocky and Bullwinkle,
Atom Squad and Flying Commando. The characters always triumphed over the
communist bad guys in the end. Heroes from radio were adapted into the new
format of television.
One
of the people who had influence over popular culture in the 1950’s was Walt
Disney, who was a founding member for the Motion Picture Alliance (MPA) for the
Preservation of American Ideals. This group was active by helping and being
involved with HUAC and their hunt for communists with in the entertainment
industry. Walt Disney owned the Disney Company that produced animated movies with
characters like Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. Disney movies try to show
children an ideal world where happy endings always happen by the end credits. Disney movies during the 1950 Cold War times
showed children an ideal world where conformity was the normal part of life,
where the capitalist was the right way to live. Social hierarchy, social norms,
family values were all part of the Disney shows informing children subtly about
how they should live their lives. Disney had its role in shaping the minds of
people especially since it was part of the popular culture that has prevailed
across all time.
Disney is seen as the most influential
of all popular culture that is directed towards children.
Disney
movies during the 1950s showed images of a utopian life that was aimed at the
minds of children. These images of perfection were shown amongst the movies and
even throughout the theme park when it opened in 1955. Disneyland shows
examples of American popular culture along with places of better living.
Disneyland in the decades following its opening had expanded and entertained
children. The theme park had several fantasy areas like frontierland, which all
featured within the opening credits of Disney productions. The atom and its
uses were explained to children by Walt Disney through a film called ‘Our
friend the atom’. The film was meant to be for education through schools to
teach science classes and there was a book published by the same name as well.
During this time the Disney studios were involved with bringing space
exploration to the masses by using one of the men who was involved with the Space
Race, Wernher Von Braun. Walt Disney used Wernher’s expertise in rocketry to
make films about how man would be sent into space during the late 1950s. Both
men knew the benefits of using the new medium that was television to get the
message across and into every house, when asked it was said Von Braun jumped at
the chance to help Disney. Wernher Von Braun would later be part of NASA after
the Soviets had launched Sputnik in October 1957.
Superheroes
in comic books during the Second World War fought the evil Nazis and with the
end of the war the humble superhero had found another enemy to battle. The
Villains of the Cold War were now the communist often seen as thugs, so they
started appearing in the comic books. Various superheroes like Captain America were
portrayed battling communist villains. The 1950s comic books were very popular with
young people. It was not until 1954, which the comic book underwent a great and
monstrous change that would be felt in the decades to follow afterwards. The
story of comic books can be told in two parts, why they were the subject of a
McCarthy style investigation and what the industry would do to regulate the
offending books. This would mean they would be more sanitised and wholesome for
the readers who were usually younger people. During this time the communist
threat was actually the comic book themselves and people exploited this by
spreading fear and hysteria.
In
1953, a publication written by psychiatrist Fredric Wertham called ‘Seduction
of the innocent’ discussed what forms of mass media would be suitable for
children. The book mostly discussed the dangers of the comic books and the mass
media that was corrupting children. The publication ended up with the comic
book industry being reviewed by a senate inquiry that lead to the comic book
code being formed.
The senate inquiry not only looked at the contents of the horror comic book,
but the superheroes were in the firing line as well. Batman and Robin were two
heroes that were viewed upon with suspicion mainly to do with their
relationship and their sexuality was actually questioned. The harmful effects
of comic books on young people are similar to how violence in computer games
today has been placed under the microscope by the media. The comic book
industry opted for their own guidelines instead of the government stepping in
and making the decision for them.
The
comic book Industry in 1954 created the Comics Code Authority (CCA) as a form
of self censorship due to the senate inquiry that was to investigate juvenile
delinquency, which was held around April to June. The main aim of the Comics
code was to restrict the sale of comic books containing sex, crime, horror and
violence set out in the guidelines. To be approved by the CCA comics had to
have good triumphing evil. The bad guys
punished by the law for their misdeeds and show moral decency, which included
not showing current issues like drug use. This meant the horror comic books
that contained excessive use of bloodshed and various uses of horror were now
out of business. The comics that bore the code on their covers promised the
young readers were now safe to read the books. Shops that sold comic books
would not sell the ones that had no comics code stamped on the front cover.Over the next few decades comics would change with the different times until
the CCA approval was actually dropped by many publishers after the end of the
Cold War when new forms distribution opened up.
America
was not the only country looking to ban horror comics as the UK had started
doing the same thing when one of their own researchers had said the comic book
could influence young people to commit crimes they had seen being glorified in
the popular medium.
In Australia during 1954, the comic industry was being publically scrutinised,
when one of the comic artists was on trial for rape and the media pointed out
his work contained violence of a graphical nature. Queensland at the same time
had formed a literature board of review that had banned one comic, called The
Lone Avenger. Australia didn’t have a comic’s code like America, although
censorship of some comics were seen as being similar in nature to what was
being banned overseas. Towards the end of the decade the Australian comics were
in direct competition with the American comic books and had suffered from the
bad press, which had ended up with regulation of the Comic book industry in
America.
Music
during the decade for youth had changed to something the adults actually
feared. Rock and Roll first came into being when Bill Hailey and his Comets
played ‘Rock around the Clock’ in 1954 for the movie Blackboard Jungle. Older
people thought of this music as gangster rebellion and communist infiltration.
This actually bought about bans across America from radio stations of the
music, which had bought about a Rock and Roll scare just like the comic books.
There were groups that were anti Rock and Roll as people was the music as
disruptive especially when it encouraged the youth to dance and sing to the
music. During this time there were some radio stations and groups which
actively destroyed the records either on air or strangely enough as a publicity
stunt in one case one of the disk jockey’s borrowed a hearse to dump records
into the ocean by a mock funeral service.
Towards the late 1950s, one person that became very popular within Rock and
Roll, Elvis Presley appeared on the scene. Elvis became popular for his music
with youth of the day for his music. Rock music was viewed as black music and
it horrified people, when young white Americans were singing and dancing to the
music especially to Elvis who had became an instant icon of the age. Studios
like Ed Sullivan at first ignored him and even censured the songs, but it was
not long before he was shown on Television.
The Rock and Roll movement would become more distinguished during the decades
following for its popularity and the bands playing in the genre.
By
analysing the Cold War period of the 1950’s popular Culture, researchers can
understand what was happening during this time where the fear of threats abroad
and within their country thrown into their laps and fed to them by the mass
media, especially from Television that showed social norms being upheld. Unlike
other decades in the future, the Cold War and its threat of being swallowed up
by the atomic bomb wielding communist beast that was seen slowly taking over
the world. Youth of the 1950’s were subject to intense pressure to conform to
what adults thought was to be right and outsiders who said differently were
thought to be unpatriotic with the possibility they were communists. All parts
of popular culture directed towards the young people from Comic books to
Television showed them the idea of communism was the difference between freedom
and government based slave labour. They were shown images of a perfect society which
was the perfect nuclear family, a mother in the kitchen, the household
breadwinner being the father and two children. At the end of the day the mother
had dinner on the table when her husband got home from work. Other western
countries adopted this style and format for shows of their own or repeated from
recordings. The atomic bomb was a threat that was seen throughout the entire
Cold War, although during the 1950s this was seen as an event that could lead
to the end of the world or War against the Soviets. Not all popular culture was directed towards
the anti communist as Rock and Roll music appeared giving the youth of the time
something they could identify much to the displeasure of their peers who had
thought of the music as disruptive and planting the seed to rebellion. People
of authority identified something as different as being a communist threat when
the new culture was harmless.
