Introduction
Analyze the Photograph
Why is a picture of a family watching TV significant to postwar history? If someone from the 1940s or 1950s was transported to the present, what two changes in technology do you think would be most surprising? Type your ideas in your 8.05 Notes Outline.
Families watch television together in 1950s. IRC, 2005. Image. Discovery Education. Web. 15 July 2014.
- It had existed before the war, but in the generation after the war, television sets became commonplace in every household.
- In the postwar period, television became the world's most popular medium for entertainment and education.
A victorious America celebrated the end of World War II in August 1945 as troops returned home from their overseas posts. President Truman and Congress passed legislation to help returning servicemen with jobs, housing, and education. An economic boom followed the war and Americans became avid consumers of household products and other goods.
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