Ticki-Tacki Boxes
By Esther Chun
During the war, California drastically changed as the government pumped over thirty-five billion dollars into the state’s budget to create a major manufacturing economy. As a result, barriers were broken as men and women from different ethnicities worked to support the wartime effort (Starr, 273). After the war, California transitioned into a new era as thousands of housing projects swept through the Golden State in an effort to welcome back the young soldiers and to have a return to normalcy.
Between 1945 and 1960, many parts of California reinvented itself once more to become a suburban town offering certain veterans the opportunity to fulfill their dreams of creating a picturesque family lifestyle. Specifically, the San Fernando Valley was turned into a “near-continuous suburbia of tract housing, swimming pools, boulevards, and shopping centers” in which veterans could buy a home for $4,000 to $5,000 each (Starr, 238). It was not unusual to see moving cars lined up in a cul-de-sac as thousands of newly weds prepared to start a family in the single story homes all throughout Southern California (Phoenix, 33). Life was very different after the war as women were expected to leave their manufacturing jobs and stay inside their new homes to take care of the children while the men worked. The kitchen windows faced the front yard so that Mother could watch the kids play with neighborhood friends while Father mowed his perfect rectangle piece of lawn. However, this new suburban lifestyle was only beneficial to White-Americans as African, Asian, and Hispanic- Americans were denied these opportunities of housing due to policies and restrictions. The segregation was just another attempt by Californians to build a utopian society in which people looked and acted the same. Ultimately, all of these new homes reflected the ideals and longing for security, permanency, and peace for Americans.
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Suburbia
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further research questions:
1. How does the postwar era reflect society’s reaction to the destruction, chaos, and changes brought by the war?
2. What institutions besides homes were built as an attempt to create a utopian statement? Explain its significance in the context of the 1950s.
3. How were African-Americans, Asian-Americans, and Hispanic-Americans affected by the suburbanization of California?
4. What were the some positive and negative effects of the homogenization of California in the 1950s?
Secondary Sources
Phoenix, Charles. Southern California in the '50s: Sun, Fun, Fantasy. Santa Monica: Angel City, 2001. Print
Starr, Kevin. California: A History. New York: Modern Library, 2005. Print.
Primary Sources
"Schlitz Archives - Brookston Beer Bulletin." Brookston Beer Bulletin. N.p., n.d. Web. May 2015. <http://brookstonbeerbulletin.com/tag/schlitz/>.
"The MGTD/TF in America." The Original MGTD Midget. N.p., n.d. Web. May 2015. <http://www.mg-cars.org.uk/mgtd/mgtd_america.htm#delivery>.
Phoenix, Charles. Southern California in the '50s: Sun, Fun, Fantasy. Santa Monica: Angel City, 2001. Print
Starr, Kevin. California: A History. New York: Modern Library, 2005. Print.
Primary Sources
"Schlitz Archives - Brookston Beer Bulletin." Brookston Beer Bulletin. N.p., n.d. Web. May 2015. <http://brookstonbeerbulletin.com/tag/schlitz/>.
"The MGTD/TF in America." The Original MGTD Midget. N.p., n.d. Web. May 2015. <http://www.mg-cars.org.uk/mgtd/mgtd_america.htm#delivery>.