Cultural Focus: Levittown

Housing boom of the 1950s was caused by a combination of factors, one of them – new housing production on a massive scale. Mass-production technologies for constructing large, inexpensive housing was first used by Arthur and William Levitt, who built planned communities (Levittowns) in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

After World War II "Levitt & Sons" bought fifteen hundred acres of potato fields thirty miles from midtown Manhattan. They built there 2,000 homes, nearly identical in form providing comfortable living space for the family. The houses were rented for just 65 dollars a month to married war veterans, who had families.

To erect other houses, the Levitts established their own lumber mill, nail factory, and electrical-supply company. They mostly employed unskilled laborers, each of whom was trained to perform one task. For example, one man did nothing but moved from house to house and bolted Bendix washing machines to the floor.

All homes looked alike; each had two bedrooms, a bath, a kitchen, a living room and an attic. All the streets in Levittowns curved at the same angle and a tree was planted every twenty-eight feet.

There were regulations each family had to follow – fences were prohibited, lawns had to be mowed, the wash could be hung dry in the backyard only on weekdays. To supply the new communities supermarkets, gas stations, shopping centers and malls were built.

There were many critics of suburban life, who pointed tasteless suburban conformity and planned orderliness of Levittowns. They said that the suburban emphasis on family togetherness tended to isolate families, who now preferred the stay-at-home lifestyle.

However, young married couples gladly purchased the Levitts houses. Levittowns were mostly white communities – not until the mid 1960s, blacks were allowed to purchase a home there. The Levittown communities reflected the all-nation tendencies towards white suburbs and nonwhite cities.

The Culture of the Fifties

American culture of the 1950s was reflected in materialistic values and pleasures of the period, nearly one-seventh of gross national product was spent on fun and entertainment.

The most revolutionary luxury of the period was TV, where entertainment was number one product. The biggest popularity was acquired by situation comedies (sitcoms), which reflected such popular values as togetherness and devotion to family. As there were programs for all age groups more and more Americans spent their free time before the television set.

Advertising, the foundation of the television industry, was popular among suburbanites, as it helped them to keep up with the Joneses and to know what the Joneses were buying. TV's popularity reduced American's interest in newspapers and newsmagazines, but book readership went up.

The reason for it was the mass marketing of inexpensive paperback books (pocket book). In 1939, the first comic book about Superman was introduced, and the popularity of comics grew during the post-war era.

While Americans bought paperbacks and comic books in large numbers, many of them stopped visiting movie theaters, the only exception was a drive-in where car-oriented suburban families could watch a movie without leaving their cars.

The films of the period reflected the values of the time – Americans were portrayed as one big, happy, white middle-class family seeking material success and romantic love. Minorities and the poor remained invisible; women were represented as cute helpmates or "dumb blondes".

The post-war era had its fads (or crazes) as 3-D movies, hula hoops, or Barbie dolls. Some of the fads were short-lived, others (as Barbie dolls or Frisbee), have been popular till our days. Most crazies created multimillion-dollar industries and helped to promote some movies and TV shows.