Title: The 1950s Lifestyles and Social Trends: Topics in the News | Encyclopedia.com
Headings: The 1950s Lifestyles and Social Trends: Topics in the News
The 1950s Lifestyles and Social Trends: Topics in the News
The 1950s Lifestyles and Social Trends: Topics in the News
ARCHITECTURE
BLACK CHURCH LEADERS AND CIVIL RIGHTS
CARS
TV Dinners
CONFORMITY
FASHION AND FEMININITY
FURNITURE
The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit
Kitsch
RESPECT FOR AUTHORITY
THE SUPREME COURT AND THE FIRST AMENDMENT
Hollywood and Religious Films
YOUTH FADS AND FASHIONS: CHILDREN
YOUTH FADS AND FASHIONS: TEENAGERS
Slang

Content: Eventually, shopping centers were built in the vicinity of these new suburban neighborhoods, consisting of clusters of stores located under one roof and offering plenty of free parking. These malls would be followed by schools, restaurants, libraries, movie theaters, and churches. In the 1950s, life was ordered. The "nuclear family" was the norm. It consisted of a young husband (who more than likely was a war veteran) and his wife, who had settled into their suburban tract house and had begun to add to the family they had started the previous decade. In 1947, a record 3.8 million American babies had been born. Throughout the 1950s, the U.S. population increased from 150 million to 179 million. By 1958, children fifteen years old and younger constituted almost one-third of the U.S. population. All Americans, whether from the city, the suburb, or the small town, were expected to look a certain way, act a certain way, and neatly fit into the mainstream. The husbands and fathers were the breadwinners, while the wives and mothers stayed at home, cleaned the houses, cooked the meals, and raised the children.