Topic: Consumerism and the American Middle Class in the 1950s

Thesis Statement: World War II helped pulled the American economy out of the Great Depression, which allowed Americans to spend again. Americans experienced job security and better wages. Government programs allowed couples to live the "American dream" and buy a house in the suburbs. Americans were encouraged to spend during the 1950's. Americans in the middle class wanted to live the "good life". The middle class was defined by materialism in the 1950's. The middle class felt that they had to own items to live "the good life" and fit social norms. This gave the working-class people the feeling that they could achieve the upward mobility they craved. The most patriotic citizens of the 1950s was the middle class consumer, who portrayed the American way of life as a successful antidote to the Communism of the Soviet Union

Outline: Main points you will discuss in your paper.

Post-Depression Economy

Post War jobs

Government Assisted Loan Programs

The American Dream

What Americans thought they had to own to be "middle class"

Sense of ownership and materialism in the 1950's American Middle Class

Why people were buying

What people were buying