Soldiers Came Back From World

¶ … soldiers came back from World War II, they were fighting to begin new lives and to forget about the horrors they saw overseas. Their wives, many who had worked in the factories, now headed back home to provide positions for the returning men. Everyone wanted to be part of the middle-class with and be economically independent. Although the government was following up on the supposed "spies among us," and Joseph McCarthy was pushing "the Red Scare" in the early to mid-1950s, most Americans were more interested in building their suburban houses, having and raising children and watching movies and TV. No one wanted to worry about anything serious and intellectual, beyond what was for dinner. Escapism was the norm.

Actually, the first thing the returning soldiers needed was a place away from it all for their escape act. About five million new houses had to be built, because ex-GIs and their families were living with parents or in rented attics, basements, or unheated summer bungalows. Some even lived in barns, trolley cars, and tool sheds. Real Estate developer William Levitt was quick to manufacture an answer to this need. The numerous acres of farmland on Long Island that he owned would be the perfect location to construct "suburban" homes for returning vets (Kallen, 54).

In 1947, Levitt and Sons announced their plan to build 2,000 mass-produced rental homes. Two days later, 1,000 of the 2,000 proposed homes were already rented, and hundreds of veterans were still applying. The Levitts built another 4,000 houses, along with schools, post offices and phone service. Then, the realtors stopped building rental houses and constructed larger, more modern houses, which they called "ranches." A Levitt ranch measured 32' by 25' and came in five different models that differed only by exterior color, roof line, and the placement of windows. The kitchen featured a General Electric stove and refrigerator, stainless steel sink and cabinets, the latest Bendix washer, and a York oil burner. It was a dream come true. Immediately, the demand for the Levitt ranches was so great that even the procedure for purchasing them had to be altered to incorporate "assembly line" methods. By the time Levittown was completed, there were over 17,000 homes. Naturally, other developers across the country dug Levitt's approach and developed their own suburban paradises (Kallen, 54).

The lifestyle of the Americans completely changed during this time. Most men worked in the central city and were being paid very well at local corporations. Socializing was seen as an important part of the job of young executives. One New York Times employment ad read:

Salesmgr: Intangible exp, must be able to move effectively at top mgmt level and effectively understand "Big Business" problems. Should be able to handle 12 martinis (Kallen, 55).

Executives were expected to dress alike, join country clubs, play golf and return to suburbia and a loving family every night. Women, often called "helpmates," were instead expected to rear the children, keep a spotless house and socialize with the other corporate wives. Most women wanted to stay at home, as was the norm, and did not even want to think about that unmentionable -- "feminism." (Our American Century, 40)

Along with the American Dream of houses and cars, family rooms and refrigerators, came a lot of free time -- especially for movies and television. Because attendance to films had dropped significantly with the number of TVs being sold, promoters came up with some new gimmicks -- such as 3-D features, wide-screen CinemaScope and movies that ignored the code of ethics by joking about adultery and using such sinful words as "seduction" and "pregnant." In addition, certain genres such as the western grabbed viewers by the horns and roped them in. The westerns were perfect fare for the macho males who came home after a day in the office and wanted to be entertained (Our American Century, 98).

As the Western Movie Encyclopedia website notes, TV westerns became just as well-liked as the ones in the movie theaters, with their "realistic" Indian battle scenes and shoot outs. Cowboys, such as Audie Murphy, Tom Mix and Johnny Mack Brown, became major idols of a young audience, as did the " Singing cowboys" such as Gene Autry, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans and Rex Allen. Of course, every cowboy had a co-starring horse. Many of them became as famous as the actors themselves. The Rogers/Evans horse Trigger, for example, is now stuffed and on permanent display in a California museum.

Westerns soon developed into a staple of TV land. The independence and strength of the characters epitomized the ideals that made America so unique. Families sat down with their TV dinners to watch such shows as " Gunsmoke," the Lone Ranger," the Rifleman," Have Gun, Will Travel," and " Maverick." You were not anybody unless you could sing the theme songs of each show.

Moviegoers were also being drawn into the theaters by the monster/science-fiction movies. About 500 film features and shorts were produced under this broad theme in the 1950s and early 1960s, explains the 50s B-Movie website. One might argue convincingly that never in the history of motion pictures has any other genre developed and multiplied so rapidly in so brief a period. As Paul Michael comments, "On a sheer statistical basis, the number of fantasy and horror films of the 1950s... has not been equaled in any country before or since." Moreover, Alan Frank points out that the 1950s "saw science fiction at its peak in terms of sheer output and diversity of theme and diversification into various subgenres, notably the monster picture...." (50s B-movie website). From any perspective the emergence and popularity of low-budget Horror, Science Fiction and Monster movies in the 1950s was an extraordinary cultural fashion. One reason for their becoming fashionable was the growth of a cinema based on the development of new special effects. Another reason, as noted previously, was that these movies offered another way to escape into other worlds.

People escaped from the everyday world in other ways as well. Rock 'n Roll was loved by the young people, and disdained by the old. The "Hit Parade," became one of the most watched shows -- like American Idol is today (Americans have come so far since the 1950s!). Broadway musicals, drive-in hamburger joints, picnics and barbeques (and more martinis), Tupperware and S&H Green Stamps made up the good life.

This does not mean that everyone in the U.S. were interested in "never-never land." The Beatniks, some U.S. scholars and intellectuals, were following the more serious Europeans in thinking about profound issues such as existentialism and the reason for living. The idea behind existentialism, advocated by Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus among others in the 1940s and 1950s, was to determine the value of life. Bottom line: if life did not have value, then what was the reason for existing?

As the dialogue from Play it Again Sam aptly portrays:

WOODY ALLEN: That's quite a lovely Jackson Pollock, isn't it?

GIRL in MUSEUM: Yes it is.

WOODY ALLEN: What does it say to you?

GIRL in MUSEUM: It restates the negativeness of the universe, the hideous lonely emptiness of existence, nothingness, the predicament of man forced to live in a barren, godless eternity, like a tiny flame flickering in an immense void, with nothing but waste, horror, and degradation, forming a useless bleak straightjacket in a black absurd cosmos.