Figure 1.--
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Figure 1.-- |
Some basic cultural notes and historacal overview may provide readers with useful background for understanding how post-World War II styles and fads evolved. The United States emerged from World War II as the strongest power on earth, one of two superpowers. Europe had again been devestated by the War which also reaked great destruction in Asia. The American economy which had sufferd a decade of depression was invigorated by the War and achieved levels of productivity that neither the Germans and Japanese or for that matter the British had believed possible. America was now a largely urban society. The affluence Americans experienced after World War II had a huge impact on the youth culture that had began to exert itself even before the War. Youth continued spending ever increasing time in school. Virtually every child was now finishing primary school and now most were finishing secondary school as well as entering university. Children were increasingly dependent on their parents into their late teens and early 20s. This development had given rise to a youth culture that was affecting fashion and dress. As one academic reports, "... growing numbers of college-bound young adults created a functional peer-group culture that helped them learn to compete, to cooperate, and to consume in a modern capitalist economy." [Graebner] The new youth culture began to exert itself as never before in American life and culture. There were many other less benign consequences. Newspapers reported on youth "gangs" and "juvenile delinquency" in the larger cities. This concern over youth and juvenile delinquency had given rise to the Boy Scouts and other youth groups in the early 20th century. Many American boys became Cubs and Scouts or participated in other youth groups, especially in the 1940s and 50s. Particupation began to decline in the 1960s.
Youth culture is not a completely new phenomenon, although it is in fact a relatively new historical development. Modern media rather suggests that youth culture began with the post-Word War II Elvis and American Grafitti generation or the pre-World War II booby sockers. The beginnings of youth cilture, however, can be seen in the 1830s and are a result of several ling term social and demographic trends, especially urbanization and industrialization which undermined the agrarian farm and craft economies of the 18th century. Boys had earlier had a few years of schooling and then were aprenticed at about age 12 at which time he was separated from his family and often children his own age. This changed in the 19th century with the increasing importance of education. Children began spending more time at home as dependent teenagers and more tume with other children and youths their own age. Adolescence increasing became a school based experience. Urbanization and a variety of associated factors gave rise to "juvenile delinquency" and urban gangs, generally associated with poverty, which continue to be a major problem today. Children from more affluent families attending high school fraternities and sororities. Although not vilonent like street gangs, there were of suuficent concern that several states prohibited them during the Progressive Era. After World War I, more children began attemding secondary schools generally called high schools in America. This was a major shift as most of the increasing number of high school students in the 1920s would have entered the work force in the 19th century. The percentage of children attending secondary schools was much higher in America than in virtually any other country. [Graebner, p. 11.] For the first time large numbers of adolscencts were spending years together--explaining why youth culture became especially apparent in America during the 1920s-30s.
The growing influence of high schools had a major impact on youth culture. American teenagers increasingly began to identify with their school and teen culture at the school than the his or her family. One factor here was the increasing percentage of American children attending high schools. More American attended high school in the 1920 than was common in Europe, but still this was less than a third of the 14-17 year population. (An American senior high school is a 4-year school. Children begin as Freshmen or in grade 9 at 14 years of age and begin their Senior year or grade 12 at age 17. Many are age 18 when they graduate.) That percentage steadily increased: 1940 (73 percent) and 1960 (87 percent). [Graebner] The American high school experience was also different than in Europe as they were primarily comprehensive schools, bringing together students of widely different academic capabilities and interests. Europeans were more likely to separate children of different abilities and vocational interests in separate schools. Thus American teenagers would not only tend to meet each other at school rather than through family or church associations, but they would meet other youths from a wider social spectrum than was common in Europe--with the exception perhaps of NAZI Germany. The high school this became a key institution in the development and spread of youth culture in America.
American youth had a very differnt experience in World War II than European youth many of which became civilian casualties or in Germany actual combatants. In America, children engaged in a variety of efforts to support the war effort from buying 10 cent Victory stamps to collecting materials from tinfoil to newspapers. Youth played an important role by joining the workforce to fill the job vacancies created by servicemen as well as the new jobs created by phenomenal expansion of industrail pfiduction. It was not just Rosy the Reviter that went to work, but large numbers of teenagers as well. The War created jobs for many youths that only year or so earlier had as a result of the Depression been only minimally involved in the national economy. [Graebner, p. 18.] The American economy which had sufferd a decade of depression was invigorated by the War and achieved levels of productivity that neither the Germans and Japanese or for that matter the British had believed possible. The youths themselves brought home pay checks that they could not earlier have imagined. This money not only went to support the family, but there was more money in the hands of teenagers for clothing, records, and many other artifacts of youth culture. While many of these jobs were lost to returning servicemen, the increasing affluence of post-War America was to continue to financilly fuel youth culture.
The United States emerged from World War II (1939-45) as the strongest power on earth, one of two superpowers. Europe had again been devestated by the War which also reaked great destruction in Asia, but America itself had been largely untouched with the exception of the painful loss of life on the battlfield. Even here, American losses were much lower proportionally than the other major combatants. America at home was now a largely urban society, although beginning especially after the end of the War (1945) the suburbs became an increasingly important factor. While there were a few occassional economic down turns, the America economy expanded at an unprecedented level creating a prosperity of epic dimensions. This propperity affected youth culture dramatically. Suddenly most families not only could supply their basic necesities, but lavish money on their children who could have extensive wardrobes of clothing which they increasingly selected themselves. The money fueled other aspects of youth culture sich as music and in America--cars.
Servicemen returning from the War had one major interest and that was to get married and persue their careers and families. The resulk was the largest baby boom in American history. A mahor factor in the youth culture of post-War America was that there were just so many children all at one tine, creating a dynamic all in itself. Some parents must have been appalled to see these styles, though. We tend to think of this era as
staid and colorless, but beneath that apparent placidity a really modern youth culture was
developing. It didn't reach full force until the baby boomers had come of age. Although this boom was followed by what demographers call a baby "bust", the "youth culture" genie, propelled by mass marketing and consumerism, was out of the bottle.
The post-War generation was the first to grow up under the threat of nuclear warfare. Most of us had little awarness of this beyond the duck-and-cover exercizes at school. Interestingly, one of the most characteristic aspects of post-War youth was "Despite these anxieties, postwar middle-class youth appeared remarkably and intensely optimistic, convinced that every problem had its solution and that progress
depended on what they thought and did." [Graebner, p. 23.] American youth were convinced that their country could solve any problem it tackled. This feeling was best summarized by President Kennedy in his inagural address that America "could meet any difficult, bear any burden". Surely overconing the Depression and prevaling in the War had fueld America's optimism. This was to be a wuidely held belief until the Vietnam War. It strongly colored the outlook of young people and the direction of youth culture.
The affluence Americans experienced after World War II had a huge impact on the youth culture that had began to exert itself even before the War. The affluence of post-War America gave children and teenagers the ability to persie their interets and express their taste in music, fashions, and other aspects of culture as never before. Families whose father as children might have had one good suits and two-three changes of other outfits now had children with whole closests buldging with clothes. Children now demanded trendy new styles way before they actually outwore their existing clothes.
Youth continued spending ever increasing time in school. Virtually every child was now finishing primary school and now most were finishing secondary school as well as entering university. Children were increasingly dependent on their parents into their late teens and early 20s. As one academic rreports, "... growing numbers of college-bound young adults created a functional peer-group culture that helped them learn to compete, to cooperate, and to consume in a modern capitalist economy." [Graebner] The new youth culture began to exert itself as never before in American life and culture.
HBC has noted that throughout the 19th century and earlier periods that fashion was set largely by the nobility and affluent classes. This cahnged in the 20th century when middleclass youths were strongly influenced by urban subcultures, working class and minority (largely black) culture. HBC has noticed this in the 1980s with the rise of hip-hop music and clothing like baggy shorts and gang paraphenelia. One reseracher notices this influence much earlier and attributes it to the rise of the American high school as a key institution in American youth culture during the 1920s. He writes about Buffalo, but his comments pertain to other areas as well, although in the South fewer balcks attended highschool and those that did went to separate schools. American high schools brought together blacks and whites, working class and middle class, those who wanted to be there and those who didn't attended high schools . The schools tried to homogenize these diverse groups but produced instead "a certain middle-class admiration for, and emulation of, working-class and black subcultures". [Graebner, p. 14.] This emulation of lowe-class sub-cultures rather than the upperclass is a major departure in fashion trends and high school-based youth culture first in America and later in Europe is a major factor in this development. In this regard, European youths appear to have followed the American fashion lead (jeans, sweatshirts, baseball caps, baggy shorts, ect.) rather than developing their own fashion trends.
Post-War America developed a truly national media and marketing mechanism. The movies was probably the greatest influence in the 1949s, but by the mid-1950s television had established its dominance. The fashions depicted in the media can have a powerful influence over popular fashions. This is true for children as adults as well. It is perhaps especially true of teenagers. They have less parental control over their close as is the case of children and less job and social pressure as in the case of adults. Of course children and teenagers attending a school with a uniform are in a slightly different category.
Youth culture had a wide range of affects on clothing. Here we should stress that youth culture was not monolithic. Youths varied greatly as to to the fashion statements that they wanted to make. Throughout the postwar period, there were fashions which both endorsed and cahallenged the hegemony of the established cultural values. Youth subcultures which adopted what seemed to some "extreme" fashions" often had a powerful affect on other youths--and adults. Many adults saw such fashions as a challenge to closely held cultural values. Thus children were not allowed such fashions, but teenagers proved more difficult to control.
There were other less benign aspects to youth culture. Newspapers reported on youth "gangs" and "juvenile delinquency" in the larger cities.
This concern over youth and juvdenile delinquency had given rise to the Boy Scouts and other youth groups in the early 20th century. Most middle-class American boys became Cubs and Scouts or participated in other youth groups, especially in the 1940s and 50s. Scouting was almost a rite of passage for most American boys--at least uin the middle-class. Particupation began to decline in the 1960s, as Scouting began to be seen as a little old fashioned. The staid social values of Scouting were seen by many boys as diamerticall opposed to the new emerging youth culyure of the 1960s. Another important factor was that many new alternative activities appeared for boys. Even traditional Scouting, however, affected youth culture. As we have seen above, urbanizationa nd industrialization separated fathers and sons as did the time spent at work and school. Scoting was another organization in this process. While some fathers got involved in the program. Most did not. Scouting and other yputh groups, however, was looked upon favorably becaise they channeled young peopleinto activities acceptable to their elders.
Engelhardt, Tom. The End of Victory Culture.
Erikson. Childhood and Society.
Graebner, William. Coming of Age in Buffalo: Youth and Authority in the Postwar Era (Temple University Press, 1990). Mostly on teenagers. While he focuses on Buffalo, his interesting insights provide a wealth of information on American youth culture in general.
Gilbert, James. Cycle of Outrage: More on teenagers.
Hawes and Hiner, American Childhood.
Jensen, ed. The Children's Culture Reader: Has some great essays and primary documents.
Kaplan, Linn and Judy Shapiro, ed. Red Diapers: Has memoirs of many "red diaper babies" who grew up in the 50s and 60s.
May, Elaine. Homeward Bound.
Nekola, Charlotte. Dream House, Coming of Age in Mississippi: Memoir of 1950s childhood.
Tuttle, William. Daddys Gone to War.
Tyler May, Elaine, Homeward Bound.
Willard, Mike and Joe Austin, Generations of Youth: collection of essays.
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