Affluence

American society after WWII experienced a major change. It was a time of unparalleled prosperity. The growth of business and industry provided abundant wealth for the country. The middle class grew and grew and was declared “affluent”. The economy was booming and the middle class soared. The standard of living in the middle class also rose. People were able to own all of the amenities of life. Military spending on the Cold War combined with GI savings and an expansion of the consumer culture meant that Americans had the highest standard of living in the world. Americans, weary after years of Depression and war, had babies in huge numbers (the baby boomers) and flocked to the new suburbs, where they celebrated their new prosperity by buying huge amounts of consumer goods, especially televisions, with the new credit card.

Baby boomers are the most affluent generation ever. The increase of births following WWII was massive, as the graph shows. It was a good thing though. The boomers would have actually been able to increase expenditures on travel, leisure, recreation, health care, home improvement, transportation and education as they would age over the coming decades. To meet the consumer demands of this increasing population, American industry expanded at an amazing pace and turned out new cars, clothing, Frisbees, and a number of other consumer items.

The post war era was especially kind to the United States, where affluence fueled a boom in the availability of consumer goods and use of entertainment media. Before this decade, children would entertain themselves by playing marbles or hide and seek, as the diary shows. Television skyrocketed in popularity as the 40's ended. In 1946 there were about 7,000 television in the US. As we entered the 1950’s the amount of televisions increased to 50,000. RCA's color television system had it's broadcast debut in 1950. Advertising of this new wonder made people want to buy it even more. As the advertisement shows,...