1950s; Happy Days?
The 1950s in America was filled with prosperity and anguish. Happy days were experienced by returning veterans and the growing middle class, which constituted the majority of American society. Unhappy days were lived by women, African Americans, and the poor. The decade was home to a nuclear arms race which many Americans feared. It also was home to tremendous economic prosperity, a welcome change from the Depression and from a lack of spending during World War II. Depending on the perspective taken, the 50s were happy days, but they were also unhappy days for several groups of people. Overall, however, the 1950s were, in fact, happy days because the greatest amount of people experienced prosperity. The fifties were a time of economic prosperity that had not occurred in many people's working memories. People were haunted by the hopelessness of the Depression and the stunted domestic economic spending of World War II. The economic experience of the Fifties was the polar opposite. "Between 1945 and 1960, the gross national product grew by almost 250 percent, and per capita income by 35 percent." 1 This was made possible by the saving efforts of people during the war. "During the war, Americans had saved at a rate more than three times higher than that in the decades before or since."2 The only spending during the war was to support the war effort. No one bought new cars because none were made. Factories that manufactured domestic products were transformed to factories that produced wartime materials. After the war, people had an exponential amount of money to spend on newly manufactured goods. The increases in demand for manufactured goods led to the expansion of industries, partially aided by government funding, which created more jobs. This led to an expanding middle class. "By the mid-1950s, nearly 60 percent of the population had what was labeled a middle-class income level." 3 More people had more money and more people had a