Howdy Liz,
Again, I apologize for the time this has taken. Even
though I "knew" the answer to your question, finding the
supporting documentation on the internet, as it sometimes
happens, was not quite as easy.
Let us start with why birth control availability was
not that much of an issue in the 1950s. Essentially,
the "pill" or readily available oral contraceptives,
did not come to be until the 1960s.
From the PBS (Public Broadcasting System)/WGBH web
page on the movie aptly titled "The Pill".
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/pill/peopleevents/e_revolution.html
"Changes in Values"
"In the midst of the civil rights and anti-war movements,
the young generation of the 1960s questioned authority
and rejected their parents' values.
...
Though social conservatives blamed these sweeping
changes in American values on the oral contraceptive,
most historians now believe that in reality the Pill
did not cause the sexual revolution in America. Rather,
the two collided."
So, we have to turn to the availability of automobiles
to the youth of 1950s in the U.S.
This Houghton Mifflin Company outline of chapter 30 of
"A History of Western Society" (Seventh Edition) by John
P. McKay, Bennett D. Hill, and John P. McKay shows that
the buying power of young Americans increased in the 50s.
http://college.hmco.com/history/west/mckay/western_society/7e/students/outlines/ch30.html
"Cold War Conflicts and Social Transformations, 1945-1985"
...
"Youth and the counterculture"
"1. Prosperity and increased democracy in the late 1950s
and 1960s led to a youth culture that rebelled against
authority and the status quo.
2. In America, the youth rebellion grew out of the "beat"
generation of the 1950s ...
...
- This culture was encouraged by ... travel, by the large
proportion of young people in society (the baby boomers),
and by greater youth purchasing power."
You will need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the PDF
document referenced below. If you do not have it, you can
download it from the Adobe website.
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html
Also be aware that the below referenced PDF file is a
bit large, so you might have to wait for it to download
before you can view it.
This excerpt (and referenced chart) from the PBS web
pages of "The First Measured Century: An Illustrated
Guide to Trends in America, 1900-2000", by Theodore
Caplow, Louis Hicks and Ben J. Wattenberg, indicates
that there was a large jump in automobile ownership
in the 1950s.
http://www.pbs.org/fmc/book/pdf/ch5.pdf
"Chapter 5 - Living Arrangements" (page 11 of the PDF)
"As the upper chart shows, the rise in motor vehicles
per thousand population seldom flagged. The brief halt
in car production during World War II was made up as
soon as the war ended. Multiple vehicle ownership was
not common until the 1950s ..."
The chart referenced above is shown on page 12, and
indicates that after 20 years of relatively flat growth
of car ownership between 1930 and 1950, the number of
automobiles almost doubles between 1950 and 1960.
The state of Illinois showed this same increase of auto
ownership, as indicated by this excerpt from the 1977
"Illinois: A Bicentennial History" by Richard Jensen
as reproduced on the AOL user's website.
http://members.aol.com/dann01/illinois6.html
"The Suburban Era: Climax and Collapse of Modernity"
...
"Automobile ownership in the state doubled between 1945
and the early 1950s ..."
The 1955 movie "Rebel Without a Cause" starring James
Dean, who somewhat ironically died in an automobile
accident that same year, epitomizes the connection
between youth rebellion and the automobile, as this
review from "The Austin Chronicle" illustrates.
http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2000-05-19/screens_set12.html
"... filled with stunning performances from all three
doomed leads, a near-perfect summer summary of fast
cars, faster kids, and perfect death."
Further influences that connect the automobile and
youth rebellion include the Beat Generation writer
Jack Kerouac's 1957 novel "On the Road" about (among
many other things) driving across the U.S. From the
BookRags.com summary of the book.
http://www.bookrags.com/notes/otr/SUM.htm
"The next year, Sal decides to go on the road and travels
to Denver with plans to go to Mexico. Dean shows up at
the last minute wanting to drive him to Mexico City."
If you need any clarification, feel free to ask.
Search Strategy: various Google keyword searches including:
"the pill" 1960
://www.google.com/search?q=%22the+pill%22+1960
automobile ownership 1950s
://www.google.com/search?q=automobile+ownership+1950s
"automobile ownership" 1950s youth
://www.google.com/search?q=%22automobile+ownership%22+1950s+youth
"Rebel Without a Cause"
://www.google.com/search?q=%22Rebel+Without+a+Cause%22
"jack kerouac" "on the road" summary
://www.google.com/search?q=%22jack+kerouac%22+%22on+the+road%22+summary
Looking Forward, denco-ga |
