1Suburbia in the 1950s Family Life in an Age of Anxiety Peter Filene In 1959, a builder of bomb shelters staged an interesting

event. The builder invited newly married Melvin Mininson and his bride to enjoy an unusual kind of honeymoon. For fourteen days, whi h allegedly was !the ru ial "eriod of fallout danger,# the Mininsons would live in an eight$ by fourteen$foot shelter twelve feet underground. %ife maga&ine "ublished a story about the event, om"lete with "hotogra"hs of the Mininsons 'in tu(edo and white wedding dress) ha""ily kissing as they lowered themselves into the shelter. *+ugust 1,, 1959I mention this story as a kind of "arable for understanding "ost$.orld .ar Two +meri a. The /old .ar was not only taking "la e !out there,# beyond the shoreline. It was sha"ing events at home. It took the form of the 0ed 1 are that we asso iate with 1enator 2oe M /arthy. 3ut it hit even loser to home. The /old .ar was infiltrating family life. 4vertly there were the bomb shelters buried under ba kyards, and brothers or husbands being drafted to fight in the 5orean .ar. /overtly, it lurked under the mental surfa e, in +meri ans6 sub ons ious, as a hroni an(iety.

1. SUBURBA PARA!"S#
3a k in .orld .ar Two, 0osie the 0iveter seemed to be fore asting a women7s movement for e8ual rights in the work"la e. 3ut when the war ended, the s ri"t for gender roles hanged abru"tly. Men wanted their jobs ba k. +nd women wanted to go home, or at least they were told they should go home. They had good reasons for doing so. They had endured ten years of the 9reat :e"ression, then four years of war, when they ouldn6t easily afford to marry or have hildren. ;ow it was time to at h u" with lost "leasures. First ame a marriage boom. :uring 19<5$55, the "ro"ortion of +meri ans who were married rose to un"re edented si&e. %ove and marriage and then, "redi tably, the baby arriage. %ots of arriages. For a entury and a half the birth rate had been de lining. In the 19<,s it rose, and in the 195,s it rose even more stee"ly. This was an un"re edented baby boom. In 19<5, =1"er ent of white women thought the ideal > of kids was four. In 1955, <1 "er ent. ?0ay and I are just ra&y about new little babies, and I love being "regnant.? 2ust as "redi tably, a housing boom took "la e. Thirteen million new homes were built in 195,s to shelter these new families. @leven million of them were built in the suburbs. +s early as 195,, one$third of +meri ans were living in a /a"e /od$style house among hundreds of other, almost identi al houses. The most famous

e(am"le was %evittown on %ong Island outside ;ew Aork /ity. Mr. %evitt built the largest housing develo"ment ever "ut u" by a single builder. 3efore the first B,, houses were finished, ustomers were standing in line. .ithin a few years, %evittown in luded 1C,,,, families, ea h living in a C5,$ s8uare$foot houseD living room, two bedrooms, and an unfinished atti waiting for the baby number three or four. These houses marked the growing "ros"erity of middle$ lass +meri ans in the "ostwar years. These were white families, I should note. %evittown, like most of the new suburban develo"ments, banned bla ks from living there 'but they ould work as maids or gardeners). It6s easy to be s ornful of suburban life and values. 1o ial riti s then and sin e have obje ted to the onformity of suburban life. 1ee The Man in the 9ray Flannel 1uit, whi h be ame a "o"ular movie with 9regory Ee k. 0ead the stories of 2ohn /heever, or look at the artoons in the ;ew Aorker or the 1aturday @vening Eost. 3ut the truth is more om"li ated. %isten to what suburbanites themselves had to say. Fere6s what a man told a so iologist about the lifestyle he and his wife found after moving out of the ity into a suburban ommunity. ?.e have learned not to be so introverted. 3efore we ame here we used to live "retty mu h to ourselves. 4n 1undays, for instan e, we used to stay in bed until around maybe two o7 lo k, reading the "a"er and listening to the sym"hony on the radio. ;ow we sto" around and visit with "eo"le or they visit with us. I really think the e("erien e has broadened us.? *.m. /hafe, G;FI;I1F@: 24G0;@A, 1H,+ se ond riti8ue fo used s"e ifi ally on suburban women. In 19B= 3etty Friedan "ublished The Feminine Mysti8ue, based on her interviews with ollege$edu ated housewives. 1he re"orted that these women tried to be ontent, "retended to be ontent, but in fa t were unha""y for reasons they ouldn6t identify. Friedan argued that housewives needed to es a"e from their ! omfortable on entration am"# and enter the labor for e where they would find self$fulfillment. 3ut again, if we listen to the women themselves, the truth is more om"li ated. For one thing, an un"re edented number of middle$ lass wives were already em"loyed outside the home. Ty"i ally they were in "art$time jobs, earning money to hel" "ay for the mortgage or junior6s ollege edu ation. Eollsters asked themD ?.hat are some of the things you do whi h make you feel useful or im"ortantI# 4nly B, "er ent of the em"loyed wives found self$ esteem in their jobs. .hat would they do if given a windfall of moneyI .omen would use it

;4T to travel, but to im"rove their homes. %isten to 2ane Fill6s letter to the Ladies' Home JournalD !In late 19<9 we led both our ollege lasses in infant "rodu tivity. .e think we still hold the title. /andy Terry and :ebbyJC, 5 and <Jand 3rian, born last 2uly. These are our kids, "lus a "et du k and one turtle. !4f ourse we think we have the most wonderful daddy in all the world. %ately, he has been made a"tain of the .estminster ;ational 9uard Gnit, and his duties have taken u" mu h of his free time. his regular "osition is "lant engineer at /ongoleum, In . !I make all the kids7 lothes, most of my own, and "ajamas and ne kties for 0aymond, on my new sewing ma hine. !It7s been fun telling you this. .e live by you and your every hel"ful editors. My devoted "assion for the %adies7 Fome 2ournal is, I believe, just a natural woman7s love for something womanly.# .hat about the hildren of these seemingly ontented suburban "arentsI If anyone in the family would be restless or rebellious amid this bland domesti environment, one would e("e t youth to be. 3ut teenagers mimi ked the values of their elders. %ike their "arents, they hose se urity over adventure. +s the %adies6 Fome 2ournal re"orted in 19<9, ?every high s hool student must be "re"ared to fit into a "attern in whi h "o"ularity, so ial a e"tan e and emotional se urity are often determined by the single 8uestionD do you go steadyI? + 1959 "oll found that 5C "er ent of +meri an teens had gone or were going steady. +s a sign of her status, the girl wore her boy friend6s lass ring or letter sweater or identity bra elet. 1he took on his identityK In rural Iowa, boy and girl wore mat hing orduroy ja kets, merging. In other words, teenagers were auditioning for adulthood, ena ting a "remarital version of !togetherness.# +s ;at 5ing /ole sang in his hit song of the 195,s, !They tried to tell us we6re too young, too young to really be in love.#
*3eth 3ailey, ?0ebels without a /auseI Teenagers in the 195,s,? Fistory Today, <, 'Feb. 199,), H5$=1, re"rinted in The +meri an 0e ordD Images of the ;ation7s East, sin e 19<1, ed. .m. 9raebner and 2a 8ueline 1wansinger, BB$CH.-

1 @
1o far I6ve argued that, ontrary to so ial riti s at the time and sin e, suburban families were enjoying their lives. +t least so the family members said. 3ut now let me give the "lot line another twist. 3eneath the surfa e of "ros"erity, onformity and se urity, there was a fault line. 1omething wasn6t right. In /leveland in 195H, %ouis 3. 1elt&er, editor of the /leveland Eress, sat down at his ty"ewriter and wrote an editorial. !.hat is wrong with usI It is in the air we breathe. The things we do. The things we say. 4ur books. 4ur "a"ers. 4ut theater. 4ur movies. 4ur radio and television. The way we behave. The interests we have. The values we fi(. !.e have everything. .e abound with all the things that make us omfortable. .e are, on the average, ri h beyond the dreams of the kinds of old. Aet something is not there that should beJsomething we on e had. !+re we our own worst enemiesI 1hould we fear what is ha""ening among us more than what is ha""ening elsewhereI ;o one seems to know to do to meet it. 3ut everybody worries.# For days afterwards, %ouis 1elt&er6s life was a madhouse. Ehone alls and letters flooded his offi e. 1trangers sto""ed him on the street to wring his hand and tell him he sure had hit it right. Forty$one "ubli ations throughout the G.1. re"rinted the editorial.
*@ri 9oldman, /ru ial :e ade, H1L-

1elt&er didn6t define what he had in mind. 3ut in retros"e t we an dete t sym"toms of an insidious an(iety. I6ll fo us on four sym"toms, one having to do with teenagers, another with women, a third with men, and the last with families. 1. A4GTF :uring the early 195,s, +meri ans went through a "ani about ?juvenile delin8uen y.? The F3I re"orted huge in reases in juvenile rime. 3oy 1 outs, @lks, and hur h grou"s organi&ed lo al anti$delin8uen y "roje ts. /ongressional ommittees held hearings on delin8uen y. %isten to Mrs. %ouis .eber as she testified before a 1enate sub ommitteeD ?I am a mother of a teenage boyJa juvenile delin8uent, to be e(a t. The ause is what they see on the s reen in movies, on TM, reading those foul omi books that are sold in every drugstore, bookstore, or the orner news stand.? Follywood made si(ty movies featuring juvenile delin8uen y. +mong the better ones wereD The .ild 4ne '195=) with Marlon 3rando

 3la kboard 2ungle '1955) with 9len Ford and 1idney Eoitier It featured 3ill Faley7s ?0o k around the /lo k? as the first ro k$musi s ore for a movie. The +meri an %egion, 3oy 1 outs, and tea her organi&ations denoun ed the movie. Mem"his banned it. 0ebel without a /ause '195B) with 2ames :ean. 3ut there were ountless other grade$3 movies that e("loited the "ani . For e(am"le, 0o k +ll ;ight and :ragstri" 9irl. +fter wat hing these movies, a woman told the 1enate sub ommitteeD ?Isn7t it a form of brain$washingI 3rainwashing the minds of the "eo"le and es"e ially the youth of our nation in filth and sadisti violen e. .hat enemy te hni8ue ould better lower "atriotism and national morale than the onstant "resentation of rime and horrorI? '9ilbert, 155) %isten to that last senten e again. What enemy technique could better lower patriotism and national morale. The "ani about juvenile rime was a sym"tom of the fears about /ommunists. I all it a "ani be ause the "ubli alarm e(aggerated the fa ts. In reality, rime rates and drug use by youth didn6t rise dramati ally in the Fifties. 3ut many +meri ans were ready to believe the worst be ause they were feeling an(ious during the /old .ar. + fallout shelter was su""osed to make Mr. and Mrs. Mininson and the readers of %ife maga&ine feel se ure. 3ut "arado(i ally, in so doing it also reminded them of reasons to feel inse ure. H. .4M@; 4ne of every three "res ri"tions was for a tran8uili&er, es". the newly invented Malium. +nd the great majority of those "res ri"tions were given to women. 3etty Friedan was right. @vidently the readers of %adies6 Fome 2ournal and 9ood Fousekee"ing were not as ontented as they laimed to be. *.m. %eu htenburg, Troubled Feast, CCL-

=. M@; %ikewise, we find sym"toms of dis ontent among men. In 195= a new maga&ine hit the newsstands and 8ui kly attra ted a large readershi" among men. The maga&ine was Elayboy. +s editor Fugh Fefner announ ed in the inaugural issue, Elayboy offered men !a little diversion from the an(ieties of the +tomi +ge.# The maga&ine featured "hotos of naked large$ breasted women, ads for high$end onsumer "rodu ts, and arti les about living a so"histi ated ba helor Ns lifestyle. +longside this urbane version of mas ulinity, a more traditional version

also regained "o"ularity. The western. More than 1, "er ent of all novels "ublished in the 195,s were westerns. @ight of the to" ten television shows were !horse o"eras.# Fifty$four western feature films were "rodu ed in 195L alone. +nd who was the man that +meri an men most admired in the Fifties and 1i(tiesI 2ohn .ayne.
*Mi hael 5immel, Manhood in +meri a, H5H$55-

If suburban wives wanted to be tran8uili&ed, their husbands wanted to be energi&ed. The organi&ation men wanted to wriggle out of their gray flannel suits, at least in fantasy. ;o wonder "arents were afraid that teenagers were running amokK They themselves were vi arious rebels without a ause.

<. F+MI%I@1 1o how would middle$ lass families resolve this internal onfli tI They turned to religion. In the 195,s there was a religious boom. + greater "ro"ortion of +meri ans attended hur h than at any time in +meri an history. *1F4. 4M@0F@+:They sought a "arti ular kind of s"iritual answer. +s the ads in buses saidD ?3ring your troubles to hur h and leave them there.# ?The family that "rays together stays together.? The hur h would be a kind of fallout shelter "rote ting +meri ans against doubts and an(ieties. 0eligion would "rovide The Eower of Eositive Thinking. That was the title of the 0everend ;orman Min ent Eeale6s best$selling book. ?Flush out all de"ressing, negative and tired thoughts,# he wrote. !1tart thinking faith, enthusiasm and joy.? The Eower of Eositive Thinking was se ond on the best$seller list for two years in a row. ;umber one for both years was the 0evised 1tandard Mersion of the 3ible. 0eligion also be ame government "oli y. In 195<, /ongress added ?under 9od? to the Eledge of +llegian e. + year later, it made ?In 9od .e Trust# mandatory on all G.1. urren y. :uring the /old .ar against godless /ommunism, the government was rallying +meri ans to trust in 9odO. but also to build bomb shelters in their ba k yards.

$on%lusion
.e need to look beneath the usual hara teri&ation of suburbia in the "ostwar era. /ontrary to !%eave It to 3eaver# and !Fa""y :ays,# middle$ lass white +meri ans were struggling with an(iety. 4utside their suburban refuge lurked the threat of /ommunism and war. Inside their minds lurked doubts about how they were living their lives. For the moment these dis ontents remained dormant or disguised. They would eru"t into so ial "rotest after 19B,, after +fri an +meri ans in the south laun hed their "rotests against segregation. Then the hildren of white suburbia would bring out in the o"en the dis ontents of their "arents.