How did consumerism change during Eisenhowers administration?
This is the era I grew up in. TV developed in the 50’s; advertising on tv was a driving force betrween much consumerism. Too, this was the post war period of prosperity and rapid population expansion. The middle class really thrived. Magazines, such as the Sat Eve Post, Time, Look were also important vehicles for advertising. And color tv’s began to emerge toward the end of the 50’s or early 60’s. The transistor radio was new in the late 50’s. Fads such as the hula hoop took off. Sometime in the fall of each year every Am car maker would come out with a new model car. Cars and their availabiltiy were important. As kids we used to eagerly await the unvailing of each new car model and marvel as the fins seemed to get bigger with each new lineup. Cadillac I think finally ended up with the biggest, most outrageous fins. Although there was the cold war in the background, the world was generally a more benign place, and people in general were more concerned with the private incomes and expen
