Teaching the 1950s in History Classes
Fun & Creative Ideas to Teach a Colorful 20th Century Decade
It was the time of Elvis, the birth of McDonald’s, TV dinners, bomb shelters, and consumerism. White Americans were moving to the suburbs, Detroit was developing new lines of popular autos, and the nation was at peace. For many decades after the 1950s, Americans looked back on this time of conformity with nostalgia as the “good old days.” Teaching the 1950s probably offers more creative opportunities than any other era in American history.
Fun Projects and Activities that Highlight Life in the 1950s
Highlighting foods associated with the 1950s is a good way to show changes in social and cultural habits. Students can bring in aluminum trays to simulate TV dinners. Divide the students in groups so that each group is responsible for bringing in finished ingredients to put into the trays. Using video or DVD, teachers can show TV shows popular with Americans at meal time. Laura Shapiro’s excellent book, Something from the Over: Reinventing Dinner in 1950s America [Viking, 2004] gives a wonderful history of food and how it was prepared and served during this decade.
If the teacher has access to books from the 1950s, a very creative lesson plan can highlight how certain literature affected life and thinking in the 1950s. These can be history books, parenting books (such as the Childcraft series), and even magazines from the 1950s. Divide the sources among student groups with instructions to identify specific 1950s advice, advertisement, and, in the case of old history books, what was left out (African American contributions, women’s contributions, etc.).
Using 1950s and early 1960s board games as part of a lesson plan can be very rewarding. The original, vintage board game Life, although making its appearance in 1961, is an excellent example of how such games were used to teach social expectations: getting married, making money, buying insurance, and working toward the American Dream of “Millionaire Acres.” The game also includes warnings for the non-conformist: nobody wants to end up at the “poor farm.”
Another fun class room project can involve turning the room into a mock bomb shelter. Have students research family bomb shelters and bring into class as many items as possible to turn the class into a shelter. Students can explain their artifacts (or modern equivalents). Focus the lesson plan on the birth of the atomic era, the fears of atomic war, Civil Defense, and why Americans no longer follow such practices. End the class showing the famous “Duck and Cover” commercial that can be obtained on YouTube.
Individual or Group Presentations
Although there are many creative activities that can be formed into a daily lesson plan, allowing students to do presentations on a variety of aspects of the 1950s encourages classroom engagement and student creativity. In order to avoid duplication and highlight the most salient elements of America in the 1950s, teachers can post and distribute project topics that students can select from.
Using the 1950s as a contrast to 2009, students can explore why the 50s decade was prosperous in contrast to contemporary times. Lessons in consumer spending, manufacturing, and consumer credit may produce good discussion and analysis. This can also include comparisons of the early Cold War years with the current “War on Terror.”
Teaching the 1950s can be the most exciting and interesting unit students will explore. For contemporary teens, the 50s marks the first step in young America achieving a unique and distinctly different identity from earlier decades. This may be one reason students can’t get enough of the 1950s.
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