The view of automobiles changes radically with the end of WW2

Life Magazine, Dec 7th, 1942, Vol 13, #23, pg. 21
Life Magazine, October 31st, 1955, Vol 39, #18

In the General Motors wartime ad, we do not see a car but rather a man working on an airplane engine. I looked through two entire wartime years of life magazine and failed to find an ad where an automobile was actually pictured. This says something about the position of automobiles in society during the war. They were neglected in the face of war production. This would later be responsible for creating the pent-up demand that fueled the spectacular auto boom after the war. During World War Two carmakers were still advertising their brands- they just weren’t showcasing their cars. The postwar implication of this is clear. Because they contributed substantially to the war effort, the automakers name became associated with a sense of patriotism in American industrialism represented in the flags and stripes in the ad. After the war ended you could buy a sense of that pride by buying a huge American car with a powerful engine (the father’s Dodge 440 in Blue Sky Dream).

The carpet advert from 1955 illustrates some features of the new postwar society and the automobile’s role in it. In this ad, the car ceases to be an extension of the heroicised, masculine wartime image but instead has become a delicate and stylish art object, representing a hip, modern, design-conscious “lifestyle” -certainly something to impress the neighbors. The minimalist style of the house shows the influence of European design that was brought back from the war. In fact, the origins of the Ford Thunderbird pictured here lie in Europe as well. In Paris, Ford executives saw a Jaguar xk120 sports car and vowed to imitate it when they returned to America. The change in values represented in the postwar image can be seen in relation to Riesman’s “other-directed” person, who spends a large part of their life trying to look good (and "very today!") in the eyes of others. The way the second image depicts the Thunderbird as part of the house shows the new position of consumer goods in representing extensions of one’s personality, hinting at Riesman’s other idea of the beginning of classlessness where social status is determined by taste, not wealth. The popularity of the sportscar is also an indication of the importance of the idea of leisure in the postwar climate.

Media's Portrayal of Women and War: 1940's-1950's

The 1943 Royal Crown Cola advertisement published in Life emphasizes the large number of women entering the workforce during the war.  Actress Mary Martin represents women across America who are actively engaged in an effort to maximize economic and industrial production and to help win the war.  Seated at what appears to be a local joint, Mary, still dressed in her work attire, takes a brief respite from her patriotic work as an actress to spend some time talking with men while sipping on Royal Crown Cola.  The ad reads, "War work and screen acting don't allow lovely Mary Martin much time for relaxation.  But when she does take time out, it's Royal Crown Cola that gives her a fresh start."  Written below in capital letters, the reader is instructed to "BUY MORE U.S. WAR BONDS AND STAMPS TODAY."  Though actress Mary Martin most likely leads a life that is far less ordinary than this ad might suggest, Mary is, nevertheless, portrayed as a good American woman who tends to her duties as a citizen of a country at war.  The fact that the advertisement features a woman as the consumer of a general product is significant, as it emphasizes the replacement of men at war by women.  Royal Crown Cola is not a distinctly feminine consumer item like perfume or lingerie, and so it is noteworthy that a man does not take center stage in an ad for an unisex product.

Fast-forwarding twelve years to the mid-fifties, this ad, sponsored by the United States Brewers foundation, presents the reader with a very different depiction of what life is like for women in America.  This image highlights a number of important changes that have taken place during the post-war period and into the McCarthy era, including the complete re-structuring of time and a shift in gender roles.  The image illuminates the new ideas about foreign relations and national security, domesticity, work and leisure, and, more generally, what it means to be an American.  The advertisement is entitled "Home Life in America," which suggests an image of both America as a nation and Americans as people that are unified, singular, and homogeneous.  The women pictured in this ad lead distinctly different lives than Mary Martin; however, both the women in the beer ad and Mary Martin are offered as good models for how the average American woman should serve her country.  Mary Martin and her piers were principally concerned with helping their nation win World War II by participating in the production of goods.  In contrast, women of the fifties are instructed to strengthen their country and fight communism by raising and supporting a "good American family with good American values."  Marchand (1982) writes, "with the home symbolizing the security and stability recently thwarted by war and depression, the paramount role [for women] [i]s homemaker."  Through ads like this, "the popular media romanticize[s] domesticity and elevate[s] it to the status of a national purpose" (Marchand, 172).  Indeed, at the bottom of the full-page ad, one reads "in this friendly, freedom-loving land of ours...Beer Belongs - Enjoy."  "Beer belongs" in America, the land of democracy, prosperity, and "good Christian values."  Communism, on the other hand, does not.  In order to ensure that this is a reality, women must fulfill their duties as devoted wives, gracious hostesses, good mothers, and, most of all, patriotic Americans.  Unlike women of World War II, modern women of the fifties are warned against spending their time outside the home.  As Ladies' Home Journal puts it, "You Can't Have a Career and Be a Good Wife."  The United Brewers ad communicates to the reader a number of shifts that have taken place.  Leisure, rather than work, is central to this advertisement, reflecting a broader change in the way Americans spend their time.  In an era of opulence, American families enjoy their new homes with spacious lawns.  With the man grilling and the woman serving cold beers to her guests, this ad exemplifies women and men stepping into new roles and allocating their time in a very different manner than before.  This is how "home life in America" is and ought to be if America is to remain strong in light of communist threats at home and abroad.

Media Research Project: Harper's Magazine - Bell Telephone Systems

For my first media research project I decided to use two images printed in Harper's Magazine from January, 1945 and November, 1957.

The first image (Harper’s Magazine, Vol. 190, No. 1136, p. 96 – January, 1945) displays a volunteer member of the "Signal Battalion" from Bell Telephone as he strings new telephone cable aside a recently bombed bridge in Europe. The written piece of the advertisement notes that 59,000 Bell employees (men and women) volunteered to go overseas to assist with the United States war effort. During World War II many men and women in the United States made tremendous sacrifices for their country. Bell Telephone is using this advertisement to represent their mission and sacrifice in helping the United States achieve victory. At the same time, Bell wants it's customers at home to realize they are not forgotten and service will be available promptly. The advertisement concludes with an apology from Bell for the lack of service at home as a result of the enormous demand abroad.



The second image (Harper's Magazine, Vol. 215, No. 1290, p.2 - November, 1957) displays the "Seven Ages of the Telephone" and promotes Bell Telephone Systems as a vital part of life beginning in early childhood. At this time, in 1957, several years after World War II, Bell Telephone is back on the map domestically and appears to be commanding a strong audience. The advertisement begins as a child is born, progresses through adolescence and teen years, and finishes with marriage, family life, and becoming a great-grandparent. Whew! I believe there are several ways this ad could be used to promote Bell's services: 1) To demonstrate Bell Telephone's critical importance to Americans of all ages and sexes, 2) As a way of predicting Bell Telephone's role in the lives of Americans for years to come, and 3) To show that Bell Telephone has successfully made the transition from a war-time communications provider to an easily accessible everyday mode of communication for Americans.



The images from Bell Telephone advertisements are different as they promote Bell's services in two distinct environments. One, behind enemy lines - essential for survival and victory in war. The other, in the household - essential to holding the family unit together. These images depict how companies in the United States decided to represent themselves during and after World War II. During the war as a patriotic fighter and afterwards as a consumer friendly provider of services.

- EAP

Buckley Dies

This article (see link) is quite appropriate given that Buckley authors one of this week's readings.

Interracial Marriage implies Communism?

This column in the National Review looks at Obama's family history and asks whether there is communism in his past.

Economist Calls for Return of HOLC

February 24, 2008
ECONOMIC VIEW
By ALAN S. BLINDER

From the New Deal, a Way Out of a Mess

During the Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Congress dealt with huge impending foreclosures by creating the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation. Now, a small but growing group of academics and public figures, including Senator Christopher J. Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut, is calling for the federal government to bring back something like the HOLC. Count me in.

....
It is said that history never repeats itself. But sometimes there are sequels. Now is the time to re-establish the Incredible HOLC.

Putin's Iron Grip on Russia Suffocate His Opponents

More on Putin. This is really interesting-

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/24/world/europe/24putin.html

Cuba to Name New Leader to Succeed Fidel Castro

More on Castro's resignation...

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-cuba-castro.html?scp=2&sq

Twilight Zone- The Mirror

Here's the wikipedia synopsis of a Twilight Zone episode that's interesting in terms of McCarthyism and Castro's resignation (the main character is supposed to look like Castro)

Synopsis
A Fidel Castro lookalike, played by Falk, celebrates the victory of the “people’s revolution”, led by himself and his four life-long confidantes. The ambitious Central American farmer faces down the overthrown leader, who warns him that he will soon see his enemies everywhere, including in an ornate mirror on the wall.
When the new leader begins to use methods much like his predecessor, his friends begin to argue with him over the course of the revolution. One by one, he believes he sees each of them try to betray him as he looks in the mirror. One by one, he has them executed, until finally he falls victim to his own paranoia. In the end, he indeed sees that the true enemy in the mirror is himself.

The episode is here:
Link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiYnVlPycvI&feature=related

Housing, Taxes, and the sub-prime crisis

This article in December's Atlantic gives a current perspective on the relationship between tax policy, the housing market, and the economy. One of its arguments is that the benefit of mortgage deductions tends to accrue to people with expensive houses and to encourage people to spend more than they, perhaps, should on their houses.

The current deduction costs nearly $80 billion a year in forgone federal revenues. It is available only to the minority of households—typically affluent— that itemize their taxes. Households at the margin of choosing between renting and owning are not, for the most part, itemizers. The deduction has no effect on their choice, and thus does almost nothing to promote homeownership. What it does promote, studies show, is spending on housing—that is, people who would have been owners anyway pay more for their houses. Prices are higher than they would otherwise have been, and mortgages are bigger. As many owners have learned abruptly, this can worsen economic insecurity.

Atomic Fashion + Rock'n'Roll

After reading the section of the Caputi article "The Metaphors of Radiation" about "Atomic Fashion," I thought of The Stooges' "Search and Destroy." The song was originally released on the 1973 album, Raw Power LP. The song's title is rumored to come from an article heading in Time Magazine about the Vietnam War.

While I feel we always need another excuse to listen to Iggy Pop, I also thought this song was important because it plays an important part in American pop culture. It was rated 468 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, has been covered by over 25 bands, has appeared on many movie and videogame soundtracks, and was even used by Nike in their 1996 Olympic campaign.

Listen here!

The Oak Park Strategy

In class on Monday I mentioned that it is unlawful to post “for sale” signs in my town, Oak Park, IL. After doing a little internet research, I found that Oak Park instated a neighborhood stabilization program in the late sixties, creating a number of committees and programs to ensure that the town became integrated smoothly. Many of the programs remain in place to maintain integration and keep the village from reverting to block-by-block segregation. Here is a summary from the Encyclopedia of Chicago, maintained by the Chicago History Museum and Northwestern University (www.encyclopedia. chicagohistory.org/pages/917.html).

Oak Park devised a different strategy, which would use planning to ensure that desegregation would not lead to resegregation. The village board created a Community Relations Commission charged with preventing discrimination, forestalling violent neighborhood defense mechanisms, and setting a high standard of behavior as the community prepared for imminent racial change. Village officials, often joined by clergymen, visited blocks to which families of color might move and carefully sought to control the fears and rumors generally associated with neighborhood succession. They identified white families who would welcome the newcomers. They encouraged African American families to disperse throughout the village to counter concerns of clustering and ghetto formation. In 1968, after lengthy and angry debate, and the passage of the federal Fair Housing Act, the village board passed an open-housing ordinance allowing officials to control many aspects of racial integration that otherwise were likely to lead to resegregation. Real-estate agents were banned from panic-peddling, blockbusting, and the use of “for sale” signs. A community relations department would address rumors, monitor the quality of services and amenities throughout the village, and establish block clubs to promote resident cohesion and local problem-solving. The police force expanded by one-third, with a residency requirement whose impact was magnified because police generally lived in areas most likely to be threatened by resegregation. An equity assurance program for homeowners would reassure residents that they were financially protected against a downward spiral of property values. Leaders acted on a vision of Oak Park as a community strong enough to achieve integration, and able to challenge the Chicago pattern of block-by-block resegregation with a policy of managed integration through dispersal.

The most controversial policies involved racial steering. A group of residents led by Roberta (Bobbie) Raymond established the Oak Park Housing Center, which retrained real-estate agents to prevent racial steering and encouraged black home-seekers to live throughout Oak Park. The center worked with the village to improve areas that white home-seekers or residents might find unattractive and steered whites towards these areas to limit the concentration of black residents in a particular neighborhood. A public relations campaign targeted white home-seekers across the country to promote an image of Oak Park as a multicultural, cosmopolitan middle-class community, close to the city, with good transportation and schools.

Despite these programs, during the 1970s the village experienced a net loss of 10,000 white Oak Parkers, coinciding with a net increase of only 5,500 black residents. Urbanologists' predictions that the ghetto would roll over Oak Park, however, proved inaccurate. Oak Park maintained its majority white population through extensive and white-oriented planning, and has remained an integrated village. Pockets of racial segregation have persisted, but the community has succeeded in maintaining a public culture that takes pride in racial diversity.

I found a few other articles on the “Oak Park Strategy.”

“Reconsidering the Oak Park Strategy: The Conundrums of Integration” Evan McKenzie and Jay Ruby – this article is the most extensive and has the most details about specific programs started by the village. It is also clear and easy to read.
http://astro.temple.edu/~ruby/opp/3qrpt02/finalversion.pdf

“Neighborhood Stabilization: A Fragile Movement” Jane Saltman – this article is not specifically about Oak Park, but a study of a few towns that had similar programs.
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0038-0253%28199024%2931%3A4%3C531%3ANSAFM%3E2.0.CO%3B2-P

Book Review “The Oak Park Strategy: Community Control of Racial Change” Nancy Beale Boss
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0014-1704%28198101%2991%3A2%3C339%3ATOPSCC%3E2.0.CO%3B2-L

Fidel Castro Resigns as Cuba's President

Link

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/20/world/americas/20castro.html?hp

Twilight Zone- "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street"

Link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4LEmrQ3sxs
This Twilight Zone episode from 1960 takes place in a little suburban town.

Kitchen Debate

Here is the transcript of the kitchen debate.

A Flawed Feminist Test

Link


The "Women in Politics" reading reminded me of this Maureen Dowd op-ed piece from a few days ago about the current presidential race and the prospect of the first female president. I wonder how much of an impact articles like the ones in the reading and in women's magazines throughout the 1950s have on the politics of today.

ColdWarBlog: Violence against Kremlin Critic

ColdWarBlog: Violence against Kremlin Critic

Violence against Kremlin Critic

Senseless street crime or a premeditated assassination attempt? Washington, DC police officials in conjunction with the Prince George's County (a MD suburb) Sheriff's Department have continued an investigation in the murder of  Kremlin critic Paul Joyal. This article speaks to the still unresolved tensions that exist between Russia and the United States. Although a lot of the evidence points to the idea that the crime was a random "robbery gone wrong", many Beltway pundits have included the possibility of an assassination attempt. As the article points out, "The onetime master spy, a frequent lecturer on  Russian activities in the U.S., said he has received anonymous threats in letters and telephone calls." Many pundits wondered why it took so long for such an event to happen. But, rumors aside, the issue at hand, now more than a year old, invokes similar sentiments from over a half-century ago. A man's murder has evolved into a global argument--a series of rumors that have, despite contradictory evidence, morphed a single murder into a global dispute. 

http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=hsnews-000002672601

More on Missile Defense and Satellites

The NY Times takes up the issue today with this article that discusses, in part, the Cold War history of anti-satellite tests

Putin Again

It's only been a couple of days since Putin recalled Cold War tensions.

Now, he is threatening to point nuclear weapons at Ukraine. The issue is NATO membership and, again, anti-missile defenses.

Also on the issue of anti-missile systems, there is speculation that the Pentagon is shooting down one of our own spy satellites not so much because of the danger the satellite might pose, but to do a test of our anti-missile system.

Attorney Firing, Executive Privilege, and Contempt of Congress

House OKs contempt citations against Bush aides
Los Angeles Times
By Richard B. Schmitt, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
February 15, 2008

The vote targets Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten and former Counsel Harriet Miers, who failed to answer subpoenas in the U.S. attorney firing case. Republicans stage a walkout.
....

The panel was investigating the 2006 firings of nine U.S. attorneys, which Democrats think was politically motivated. The controversy later contributed to the resignation of Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales.

...

Only twice since the Watergate investigations of the mid-1970s has the full House voted to hold an administration official in contempt of Congress. Both cases stemmed from congressional investigations of the Environmental Protection Agency during the Reagan administration.

Usually, disputes about congressional access to documents and testimony are resolved through negotiations. The White House has agreed to make officials available for interviews in the U.S. attorney case. But lawmakers have said the conditions attached -- the White House has insisted the interviews be done privately without a transcript -- are unacceptable.

"If the House Democrats try to bring a civil case in federal court, they will be met with opposition at the courthouse door and at every step of the way," Perino said, adding: "We are confident that the administration will prevail against this unprecedented and wholly unwarranted vote of contempt."

This story echoes a couple of elements of the Watergate incident. One is the firing of attorneys (the Saturday Night Massacre) and the assertion of executive privilege.

Further background on these recent events can be found here

Can We Uninvent Suburbia?

http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/10/can-we-uninvent-suburbia/
This dotearth article is really interesting- and it relates to one of next week's topics- suburbia.

Senate Votes to Expand Spy Powers

This is the article/news event that was mentioned in class today.

Report Warns of Threat to Campus Reactors

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/12/us/12nuclear.html?_r=1&ref=education&oref=slogin

I had not known about a lot of things mentioned in this article... It also mentions the Union of Concerned Scientists- a group founded in 1969 to "initiate a critical and continuing examination of governmental policy in areas where science and technology are of actual or potential significance" and "devise means for turning research applications away from the present emphasis on military technology toward the solution of pressing environmental and social problems."

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_of_concerned_scientists)

Navy intercepts Russian bombers

A yahoo news headline that i thought was appropriate for this blog/future discussions.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080211/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_navy_russian_bombers

Castro, McCain Spar Over Cuban Torture in Vietnam

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/washington/politics-cuba-castro-mccain.html

Though we haven't talked about Vietnam or the Cuban missle crisis yet.. it could be interesting to follow this. The politics of the past few decades seems to continue to resurface, especially during election times.

Truman's Speech on the Railroad Strike

A Return to Cold War Tensions?

Anyone have thoughts on this? Is Putin on target in arguing that missile defense an aggressive act?

'A new phase in the arms race is unfolding' says Putin

Vladimir Putin has used one of the last major speeches of his presidency to deliver a defiant message to the West, accusing it of unleashing a new arms race that left Moscow no choice but to retaliate in kind.
...
It's clear that a new arms race is unfolding in the world," said Mr Putin, one that Russia did not start.

...

Mr Putin went into overdrive yesterday, painting Russia as the victim of Western aggression and expansion, and promised a Russian response. He said Western countries spent far more on defence than Russia, and also returned to a theme he has raised many times before – that of Nato enlargement towards Russian borders. "We pulled out of bases in Cuba and Vietnam," he said. "And what did we get? New American bases in Bulgaria and Romania."

He also complained about US plans to build elements of a missile defence system in Poland and the Czech Republic. "They try to persuade us that all these actions are not aimed against Russia," he said, "but they have no constructive answers to our well-founded concerns."

Triumph of the Will

Here is the movie we viewed last week.  The Hitler Youth segment comes at about 40:00.  The most famous segment, which we did not view, begins at about 61:05

New Weight in Army Manual on Stabilization

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/08/washington/08strategy.html?hp

I know it's completely different, but was anyone else reminded of some of the U.S. stabilization policy post-World War II? Of course the goals and intention are very different and unique... but after just having read about stabilizing war torn nations after World War II (to prevent the spread of communism, etc), it seemed relevant to wonder what all the goals and intentions are this time around. Maybe this is reading into it too much and maybe both times the U.S. did have the best interest of the other countries in mind (as defined by the U.S.) but it will be interesting to find out what happens with this policy. Hopefully it will more successful for the countries the U.S. is trying to help than the policies that fought the leftwing uprisings in Greece.

U.S.-Backed Russian Institutes Help Iran Build Reactor

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/07/washington/07nuke.html

How far / or not have we come since the Cold War? Also what role does the government still play in science?

Twilight Zone

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlYaXkj6uUM&NR=1

There are tons of Twilight Zone episodes from the Cold War era that offer commentary about the social and political context in which they were made. Do you think people at the time were aware of this commentary? What can we learn by looking back on it now?
Look for more and post them! There are a lot!

Release of 1950s US Grand Jury Transcripts Is Sought in Rosenberg Atomic Spy Case

This article is interesting both in terms of our class and also in talking about how historians often disagree. What do you think about the release of the Rosenberg documents?

The Cold War as Ancient History

I thought this New York Times op-ed piece might be an interesting way to generate a first discussion for this blog. Roger Cohen talks about the idea that what high school students learn about communism and the cold war is very limitted but that at the same time it is all available at their fingertips through the internet. I am curious about what people think in terms of how high school students learn about the Cold War in American history class (if you can remember back to then) and maybe what was left out that you have learned so far in this class at Wesleyan? What was left out and why? Also interesting is the impact of technology on the availablity of knowledge to students. Do you think they use the technology wisely?