Booms and Boomers

1955 was an extraordinary year.  It wasn't historic like 1492 or 1776 or haunting like 1941 or 2001, but it was momentous and eventful.  It was a year of booms and boomers and showcased a culture of consumerism.  Economist Victor Lebow expressed the vibe of the times when he said,

    "Our enormously productive economy demands that we make consumption

     our  way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals,  

   that we seek our spiritual satisfaction and our ego satisfaction in consumption.

We need things consumed, burned up, worn out, replaced and discarded

at an ever-increasing rate." 

 

True to his point, a record 8.3 million cars were produced in 1955, more than any other year in the decade.  Americans were on a buying spree that included everything from toasters to televisions.  A record 7.4 million "sets" were sold in 1955.   Amazingly, homes with televisions increased from 9% in 1950 to over 65% in 1955.  The societal effects were enormous.

America was awakening and 1955 was a formative year for the civil rights movement.  It was the year that desegregation of schools began as ordered by the supreme court in the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education.  It's also the year Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to move to the back of the bus.  Her arrest led to the Montgomery Bus boycott which lasted over a year and gave national attention, as well as momentum to the fledgling movement.

1955 also saw the birth of Rock and Roll.  Some will argue that the birth was in an earlier year, but '55 was the year rock and roll music hit the mainstream with the first #1 chart topper, "Rock Around the Clock," by Bill Haley and the Comets.  The new music genre with its often suggestive lyrics and unconventional performers gave identity to a new generation of youth.

As for me, the year marked my beginning.  I was born a boomer in 1955.

 

Swell Times

The middle nineteen fifties saw American culture continue a transition from the post war era to a new social age driven by technology and consumerism.  America was at peace, jobs were plentiful and the appetite for  consumer products grew ever stronger. It was a time of exuberance marked by opportunity, optimism and the pursuit of the American dream.

The Happy Family published in 1955     

For most people, the American Dream was about home and family.  The combination was the basis for success in America. The idealized nuclear family consisted of Dad with a secure, good-paying job, mom, a  happy homemaker and children, active, well behaved students. The home was new and located in the suburbs.  It was surrounded by a manicured lawn and outfitted with all the modern conveniences; a range, refrigerator, automatic washer and dryer.  A television set sat in the corner of the den and a new car in the driveway.  It was a dream of living the "good life," a world away from the old, gritty city.


As the 1950's was one of the most prosperous economic times in American history, for many folks the American Dream became reality. 






The 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air