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The growth and spread of consumerism was a mass culture ideology that was accepted by many due to the promises it gave and how it reshaped the economy. Consumerism has been implemented into American society since the 1920’s when Herbert Hoover was in office. Consumerism in the 1950s was a cultural ideology that, in addition to social changes, brought us our convenient economy and our modern ideas about American life. From the end of the Great Depression to the end of the 60s, the American people had this desire to reshape their economy for the future. This was because they wanted to set America to a new frontier and this was the perfect time to do so. After World War II, America witnessed an economic boom unlike any other, and due to the prior position many Americans were in they wanted to prosper and pass this new life throughout the family. America was looking a lot more promising, adults were finding good paying jobs, students were graduating college at a higher rate, and children became the focus of this new economy, but why and what were they being promised?
The postwar period saw an increase in Americans’ access to financial products. Throughout the 50s and into the 60s virtually all measures to promote commercial goods, consumer demands, financial products, and services have become more widely dispersed. This started the dispersion of the ideology of consumerism, which started in the 20s but became largely available to all in the 50s. A larger variety of assets was held by more and different types of US families, especially those with lower incomes and net worth, as well as among racial and ethnic minorities.
With a growing economy and new industries making their way into America it was more than likely to carry credit card debt over this period. Consumers at nearly all income levels had more mortgage debt, although again there was the least change in the top quintile. This was supposed to happen though and the banks ended up rewarding people if they were to spend enough on their credit cards eventually, this ideology that was made possible by the adults in America soon targeted the youth of America. The shift to revolving credit that took place in the 1950s and early 1960s allowed borrowers to customize their repayment plans. Suddenly, consumers could choose whether they would repay the entire balance or only a required minimum. By the 1980s, required minimum monthly payments were dramatically reduced, such that a consumer could finance a dinner at a restaurant over the years.
Consumerism came closely involved with patriotism. This is seen right after the war this ideology was mass spread, and this was because Americans were required by law to spend a portion of their income every year. Americans were making more money than before, and that was a reason for the spread of consumerism after World War II. Ads started targeting children and adults saying that the reason to buy this was because it was better and more efficient and they wouldn’t just say that they would prove it by showing all smiles of the people who have the product, infomercials did the same, but at the end the sole purpose was to support your homeland in any way possible.
The realties that the American people could grasp at this time were more extended than the money in their account. This is what fueled the American people in knowing and being encouraged to get the latest and greatest product and in turn, they would be helping their country. Assets were held by more U.S. families than your typical family, such as ones with lower incomes as well as racial and ethnic minorities. This ideology reached a lot further than your typical Caucasian family and the determination to get what you wanted was possible for all and was encouraged. The new intended target audience went from adults to children.
In this time the most important thing was buying and having the feeling of having the newest and most efficient product so in turn paying the bank back was the topic for many families. This further supports the idea that banks wanted families to spend more and to keep this ideology in their heads to hopefully influence the next generation, which worked. The fact that families could choose to pay for a dinner in 6 months tells you that interest was really low and that this would only encourage consumers to spend more even if they might not have the money available at that time. The question of who was really in charge of the money, the bank or the borrowers didn’t seem to affect anyone. The bank was good at making the consumer feel that money was nothing and this new idea of credit would soon take over and so in the end everyone feels like they have control over their cash that comes in and out.
It was smart for a family to capitalize on this because interest rates were really low. This is because they wanted Americans to buy and buy after the fall of the market and how the Great Depression brought about a harsh reality for all American people. No one wanted this to happen again, so banks gave the people what they wanted, which was encouraging them to buy and buy even if they couldn’t afford it at the moment because interest rates were low and credit cards were introduced. In return, people bought and bought and contributed to the new growth of America’s economy to ensure that it would never happen again.
Expendability was indeed a central aspect of much of the culture of the 50s & 60s: it was both a physical fact of many products and a symbol of belief in the modern age. Obsolescence was not only accepted by the fashion-conscious young, often it was positively celebrated. An awareness of the role, meaning, and significance of expendability is, therefore, crucial to a full understanding of 1960s culture. But ‘style obsolescence’ was not a 1960s invention: it can be traced directly back to the ‘high mass- consumption’ stage of post-Second World War consumerist America and has its origins even earlier in the century. The idea that one disposes of artifacts or products before one needs to to buy a more up-to-date or desirable version is at least as old as consumerism and capitalist society. It is only in the twentieth century that products themselves have been designed and manufactured with some form of conscious style obsolescence.
The social changes are what was expected to come from this new way of living, the “throw-away” culture. This presents the fact that during the 50s and throughout the decade expendability was part of the culture of the time. This means that the good could be used a certain amount of time productively and efficiently until it would finally become obsolete. This is what fueled consumerism and what was believed to be a symbol of the modern age. Obsolescence also plays a big role in understanding why consumers wanted more from the businesses and thought there was no need to keep this product because the new one introduced something else. This is what created competition between businesses and introduced the competitive market we know today of always innovating and re-creating to survive.
Obsolescence then helps establish an understanding of what was ideology back then and how strong of a presence it had on the American people. The loss of frugality and the introduction of excessive spending is quite evident, this is because the people have placed their wants in front of their needs and this is purely for self-gain and to prove oneself in this new society. This idea that one should throw away their old product to buy the new one most likely means that the American people have always wanted to buy and spend excessively. Americans before this era weren’t in the financial position to do so or just didn’t find the old American market to be as efficient or productive as imagined. This explains why consumerism just found its way into American society and wasn’t forced and that’s because we’ve always wanted it and were just waiting for the businesses to appeal to more people and steadily produce and produce more goods and to bring about these goods something they wouldn’t have done before by taking more risks in whichever way the consumer saw fit.
Large corporations also developed holdings overseas, where labor costs were often lower. Workers found their own lives changing as industrial America changed. Fewer workers produced goods; more provided services. With such changes, labor militancy was undermined and some class distinctions began to fade. Farmers, on the other hand, faced tough times. Gains in productivity led to agricultural consolidation, as farming became a big business. Family farms, in turn, found it difficult to compete, and more and more farmers left the land. Other Americans moved too. In the postwar period, the West and the Southwest continued to grow — a trend that would continue through the end of the century. An even more important form of movement led Americans out of inner cities into new suburbs, where they hoped to find affordable housing for the larger families spawned by the postwar baby boom. Using the techniques of mass production, Levitt cut costs for both sides. Levitt’s houses were prefabricated, or partly assembled in a factory rather than on the final location. As suburbs grew, businesses moved into the new areas. The number of these centers rose from eight at the end of World War II to 3,840 in 1960.
Many Americans at this time had the realization that with consumerism came a demand for fast repetition and similar quality through and through and if it can be repeated then it can be replaced. This made the workers use their skills to survive and move from working in the factories by producing goods for 10+ hours a day, and then assessing their skills by finding services that many Americans would want. This drastic change caused smaller businesses to fall behind and corporate businesses to grow bigger, this is because the bigger businesses moved to more prosperous cities and busy suburbs to meet the demand of the consumers. This ends up creating a monopoly causing small businesses to leave and go further out from the populous cities to try there.
The growth in production benefits the people who want to live and fulfill the ideals of the American life. William J. Levitt an American real estate developer, who wasn’t new to the idea of consumerism and made houses for the people living in the suburbs and throughout populous cities. To save money for himself, the houses were all identical and this allowed for them to be mass-produced. Since they were mass-produced, these houses didn’t have premiums or upgrades to add on, which allowed for a non-competitive price for the consumer. Houses during this time were important and one wanted to live in the city because they were close to all the businesses and companies and didn’t have to wait for a long time. At this time the ideology of consumerism made everyone have an interest in buying and then in turn selling or disposing of the goods.
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