The 1950’s was a moment in American history when rock and roll was about to turn everything upside down in American culture. Every week hundreds of singles were being released by record companies. Grease is a musical based on the transformation from the 1950’s to the 1960’s not caring about repression and tradition and living for freedom and adventure. Grease was inspired by the success of Hair and shows like it, that revealed great cultural truths about America
Block A/D Era of 1926 - 1950 Era Paragraph Final Draft America has had its ups and downs, but with every death, comes a birth, and with every disaster, comes a creation or idea. This is why, the era of 1926 -1950 was meaningful to America because of the casualties from Adolf Hitler’s actions, the creation of the Golden Gate Bridge, and the series of severe dust storms during the Dust Bowl. The first event that made the era of 1926 to 1950 meaningful to America was the casualties of Adolf Hitler’s actions. Adolf Hitler was an Austrian born politician.
In a time where suffering took place to gain suffrage, women were willing to make any sacrifice necessary to achieve equality. In America during the 20th century, tensions were high between many societal groups and classes. During that time, justice and equality were familiar yet misunderstood concepts to many Americans, and change was forthcoming. Societal change is the shift from night to day, and from day back to night; unavoidable and frequent. One such unavoidable change was the suffrage for all genders, races, religions, and free peoples in the United States of America.
Life in the 1920s and 1950s While some similarities were noticeable between the 1920s and the 1950s, the differences were striking. The 1920s was known as the beginning of modern America. The 1950s was known for its lucrative prosperity and anxiety. Both eras’ were similar in their economics. They differed in politics and society.
During his speech addressed to the UN general Assembly given on September 25,1961, John F. Kennedy stated, “Conformity is the Jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.” In other words, if we all accept the circumstances and go with the flow like dead fish, how can we know what we are capable of accomplishing-how much we can grow, especially as a nation? Conformity can be defined as the compliance with standards, rules, or laws or the moment you willingly chose to fit in when you’re meant to stand out. In the 1950s, a flood of social conformity washed over the country and had people leading similar and stereotypical lives. Many, at the time, strived for the comfort and simplicity depicted in TV shows such as “Father Knows Best” and “Leave it
What We Really Miss About The 1950s In her essay, “What We Really Miss About the 1950s”, Stephany Coontz talks about the myth of the 1950s. She begins her argument by stating some reasons why the nostalgia for the 1950s exists. The main thing Americans miss about the those days is the stability. She acknowledges that this fallacy is not insane.
The time of the 1920’s and 1950’s both saw changes to the political and social structure following the conclusion of World War 1 and 2, respectively. The United States entered into an era of wealth and prosperity after these wars, and with more money and access to material goods, the public desired more consumer products. Also, social movements after these wars dramatically changed what the role of women are in society. While some argue that these eras are completely different, the 1920’s and 1950’s, separated by three decades, still have many similarities relating to the roles of women and consumerism. The roles of women, especially, dramatically altered after the Second World War.
As World War II came to an end, the United States entered the 50s. This decade became a major influential time that brought many cultural and societal changes. Categories such as the economy, where a boom in new products increased, the technology world which incorporated new medicines and computers, entertainment when the television became popular and the overall lifestyles that Americans adapted to. All of these topics reshaped and created several advancements throughout society during the 1950s.
The radio affected America by putting everyone on the same page culturally, and affected how music and news were received by American families in the 1920’s. The radio broadcasted to music and news to an over 10 million homes by 1929. In a 1929 report prepared for RCA by Owen Young, then Chairman of General Electric, he wrote that the radio had, “helped to create a vast new audience of a magnitude which was never dreamed of… This audience, invisible but attentive, differs not only in size but in kind from any audience the world has ever known. It is in reality a linking-up of millions of homes.”
The culture during the 1860s in the United States of America has changed many times and is still changing today. Look back to the times during the Civil War. Clothing was being morphed throughout the decade into different styles and fashions depending on the location of where the people lived such as towns or rural areas. Architecture in the 1860s also had varieties of styles such as the Victorian style.
The 1920's, also known as the "Roaring 20's" or the "Jazz Age", was a time era filled with new inventions, for some wealth, and for others poverty. However, with this time period came along many changes for the United States. Inventions such as radios, automobiles, refrigerators, toasters, washing machines, vacuum cleaners, movies, credit and lay away, the instant camera, etc. we're only a few inventions that helped to make the 1920's as memorable as it is. This time period was a time that America bathed in prosperity which allowed U.S. citizens to enjoy more leisure time.
During the 1920s, Word War I had just ended and people were ready to celebrate. Although 1920 had its good times and perks, some bad things were going on, like cultural clashes. The first major cultural clash was the Great Migration. The Great Migration is known as the relocation of more than 6 million African Americans from the rural south to the urban north cities. The second major cultural clash was the national origins act.
Grease is a romantic-comedy-musical, set in the 50’s, telling the story of two summer sweethearts who met at the beach but are separated by the return of school.
Conformity is behavior in accordance with socially accepted conventions or standards. Also according to Webster's dictionary social repression is is the act of controlling, subduing or suppressing people, groups and larger social aggregations by interpersonal means. I agree to the greater extent that during the 1950’s were a time of conformity and social repression. In American life housing, genders and culture get an impact on conformity and social repression.
Many individuals/Scholars tend to characterize the 1950s as a time of conformity, prosperity, & solidarity. While the 1960s was viewed as the decade of pandemonium, chaos & rebellion. These descriptions of both decades may be accurate. But many argue that there is a correlation between the two periods.
The movie’s setting was in the 1950s – 1960s. As I mentioned earlier about Sandy’s sleepover with other Pink Ladies, as she tried a cigarette for the first time and did not liked it. But on that time, trying cigarette and a series of disco parties back at that time were actually social norms. If the story took place during this time, then they won’t be smoking around the house or going to drive-in movie theatres.