Consumer Society

[biancamota]

How did social realities in the 1950's differ from the ideals portrayed in mass culture?

[dot.hawkes]

Well for a start there was still food and clothing rationing going on in the towns and cities, and whilst the USA was developing a huge consumer industry using the labour force utilised during WW11, Britain was slow to bring that consumerism to the masses. People in the USA were using vacuum cleaners and automatic washing machines whilst most Britains were feeling lucky to have a dolly tub and a carpet sweeper, the TV shows in the US in the 50s showed a middle class way of life that just seemed so advanced, even now if you watch shows broardcast in the 1950s in the US they seem modern compared to the way of life experienced here during the same decade.