Life in the U.S. and throughout the world in the 1950s was in a state of
flux. It was anything but stable and quiet. Rather, it was a time of
change, rock and roll and international instability.
The United States was undergoing a new "look." Tract homes as those
constructed in Levittown, Long Island, introduced the world of suburbia,
and families started to make their way from urban to the once rural areas.
This move was furthered by the expansion of the nation's interstate highway
system and the affordability and need for an automobile. Speed and
efficiency also started to become part of the American way with the first
McDonald's restaurant that served fast-prepared food. These three
additions, suburbia, highway efficiency and an emphasis on fast service
transformed the country and continue this day to epitomize the American
The supposedly peaceful "life" of the suburbs was also being moved by
a new form of musicâ€"rock and rollâ€"which disturbed many a parent and member
of the clergy. However, teenagers everywhere could not get enough of Elvis
Presley, Buddy Holly and Jerry Lee Lewis. The music dramatically changed
the mode of entertainment and began (although introduced by white artists)
bringing black music into the Anglo world. No one who listens to music on
the radio today can say that this time period did not leave an indelible
Meanwhile, the latest national and international news was entering
suburbia through the ever-increasing numbers of television sets in area
households. Intermixed with the sitcoms was coverage of the Civil Rights
Movement, launching of satellites, and Joseph McCarthy's hearings.
The TV also brought the events of war into the householdâ€"both the
"hot" ones occurring throughout the world and the Cold War with the
Soviets. Bomb shelters and school drills with students cramped under desks...