America in the 1950s

America in the 1950s

Tennessee Williams• Born Thomas Lanier Williams on March 26, 1911

• Always had desire to be a writer

• Tense family life -> Parent’s marriage

• Battled with father to write

• At 28, moved to New Orleans to write and became successful

• Became one of country’s best playwright by 1947 with A Streetcar Named Desire

• Cat on a Hot Tin Roof also won a Pulitzer Prize in 1955

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

• Mississippi Delta of the 1950s

• Margaret “Maggie”

• Brick

• Big Daddy – “Mississippi Redneck”

• Big Momma

Cold War• “National Security Rational”

• Federal Civil Defense Act of 1950

• Korean War

• Heightened sense of alert

Televisions

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqIIeGmhL2Q

• Popular mode of communications in the 50’s

• Lots of PSAs• Duck and Cover• Dinner Etiquette

• Present in 90% of homes by end of 1950s• Advertisements

• Helped distract Americans from Cold War

Automobiles• Military vehicle production drawn to a close by end of WWII

• Spurred by advertising

• Fueled by the war• Higher wages• Cheap gas• Highways

Economy• Decade of Prosperity

• G.I. Bill

• Credit

• Increased standards of living in US

Referenceshttp://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~mwaltos/lis506/project/1950s/cars.html

http://www.shmoop.com/1950s/economy.html

http://www.shmoop.com/cat-hot-tin-roof/plot-analysis.html

http://www.sparknotes.com/drama/cat/summary.html

http://www.coldwar.org/articles/50s/index.asp

http://www.biography.com/people/tennessee-williams-9532952?page=2

http://www.shmoop.com/1950s/culture.html