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PREFACE Some people today think of the 1950s as a sleepy, idyllic time when nothing of importance happened in America or in the daily lives of its people. This book addresses the stereotypical image of the 1950s, which is generally that it consisted of a self-satisfied, post- war population preoccupied with conformity, rabid consumerism, driving big gas-guzzling cars, “keeping up with the Joneses,” and staring transfixed at a rudimentary form of TV. Daily Life in 1950s America shows that the decade was anything but uneventful. Apart from revolutionary changes during the decade itself, it was in the 1950s that the seeds took root for the social turmoil of the 1960s and the massive technological advances in decades to come. Along with major events of the 1950s such as the Korean War, the “Red Scare,” McCarthyism, the Cold War, America’s racial crisis, and the threat of a catastrophic nuclear conflict, this book illuminates the effect of those events on the daily lives of average Americans. It places the 1950s in the continuum of American his- tory as well as reveals how the decade shaped the years to come. ABOUT THIS BOOK Daily Life in 1950s America can be studied for academic purposes, as a historical reference, or for the enjoyment of reading for pleasure.