The Fifties
"America at this moment," said the former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in 1945, "stands at the summit of the world." During the 1950s, it was easy to see what Churchill meant. The United States was the world's strongest military power. Its economy was booming, and the fruits of this prosperity–new cars, suburban houses and other consumer goods–were available to more people than ever before. However, the 1950s were also an era of great conflict. For example, the nascent civil rights movement and the crusade against communism at home and abroad exposed the underlying divisions in American society.
- 1997-1997
- 1 season
- History Channel
- Documentary
"America at this moment," said the former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in 1945, "stands at the summit of the world." During the 1950s, it was easy to see what Churchill meant. The United States was the world's strongest military power. Its economy was booming, and the fruits of this prosperity–new cars, suburban houses and other consumer goods–were available to more people than ever before. However, the 1950s were also an era of great conflict. For example, the nascent civil rights movement and the crusade against communism at home and abroad exposed the underlying divisions in American society.
Season 1 Episode Guide
7 Episodes 1997
Episode 1
The Fear and The Dream
Wed, Oct 22, 1997
Following the victorious end of World War II, America was looking forward to new prosperity and relief from the shortages and rationing that the war required. New affluence, new low-cost suburban homes, and dreams of the good life resulted in a baby boom. With the advent of the Hydrogen bomb, a growing awareness of the communist threat and the beginning of the cold war, those dreams threatened to morph into nightmares.
Episode 2
Selling the American Way
Wed, Oct 22, 1997
Still haunted by the Great Depression, Americans needed to be coaxed into enjoying their new-found affluence. This shows how the invention of television and the perfection of the art of advertising were used in both commerce and politics. Highlights advertising gurus Norman Vincent Peale and Rosser Reeves, shows how Richard Nixon applied slick new media techniques to save his career and how Washington learned to manipulate the media, hiding undercover operations in places like Iran, Guatemala and ultimately, Vietnam.
Episode 3
Let's Play House
Wed, Oct 22, 1997
Conforming to the idealized visions of family as depicted on their new televisions, Americans settle into enjoying their American Dreams but discordant voices are beginning to be heard. Grace Metallious's Peyton Place, Sloan Wilson's The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, and the opinions of feminists like Betty Friedan begin to make Americans question the idealized nuclear family.
Episode 4
A Burning Desire
Wed, Oct 22, 1997
During an otherwise repressed time, Americans again question their ideas of "normal" when the Kinsey report is published, Marilyn Monroe debuts as the centerfold in Hugh Heffner's Playboy, and Margaret Sanger and "Goody" Pincus begin to make noise about "The Pill."
Episode 5
The Beat
Wed, Oct 22, 1997
Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and Elvis. Conformity is questioned and homogenized America begins to differentiate. The teenager as a class is born. Popular music is forever changed by the advent of Rock n Roll. Beat poets push our boundaries and America begins to question everything.
Episode 6
The Rage Within
Wed, Oct 22, 1997
"The Rage Within" shows how America in the fifties is finally forced to examine issues of racial discrimination through the murder of Emmet Till, the rise of athletes like Bill Russell and Willie Mays, school desegregation, the Montgomery bus strike, and leadership by Martin Luther King, Jr.
Episode 7
The Road to The Sixties
Wed, Oct 22, 1997
Fast food and fast cars occupy Americans' thoughts until the Soviets launch Sputnik and the space race begins.