New technologies
1950 – TV remote control- With television gaining wider use, a plug in remote control is released called the “Lazy Bones”.
1951 – Video tape recorder- The first time magnetic tape was used instead of film, making video accessible much more widely.
1952 – Passenger jets- For the first time people could take long haul flights, opening up the world for travel and tourism.
1954 – Commercial solar cell- They were 6% efficient compared to today’s typical solar panel that is 20% efficient.
1956 – First computer hard disk used- Storing 5MB of data at $10,000 a megabyte, the system was as big as two refrigerators.
1958 – Computer modem- Invented to connect sites for the US air defence system via telephone lines.
1959 – Microchip- One of the most important inventions in human history, almost everything we use today contains a microchip.
American ethos
The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States, the set of ideals (democracy, rights, liberty, opportunity and equality) in which freedom includes the opportunity for prosperity and success, as well as an upward social mobility for the family and children, achieved through hard work in a society with few barriers. In the definition of the American Dream by James Truslow Adams in 1931, "life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement" regardless of social class or circumstances of birth
The role of women
Though the 1950s was in many ways a period of conformity with traditional gender roles, it was also a decade of change, when discontent with the status quo was emerging. Popular culture and the mass media reinforced messages about traditional gender roles, consumer culture, and the Cold War ideal of domesticity, but the reality of women’s lives did not always reflect these ideals. African American women faced particular difficulties in the pursuit of postwar material abundance and the “American dream.” Popular portrayals of ideal femininity and home life ignored the lives of minority women and families.
Other famous female icons
Kinuyo Tanaka isuzu Yamanda
Machiko Kyo Gloria Grahame
Grace Kelly Simone Signoret
Thelma Ritter Shelly Winters
Ineko Arima Giulietta Masina
Bibi Anderson Audrey Hepburn
Kyoko kagawa Elizabeth Taylor
Marilyn Monroe Carolyn Jones
Chieko Higashiyama