1950s

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1950s 1960sChanges for Canada
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The Baby Boom
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The Baby Boom

• Birth rate rapidly increased after WWII
• By the mid-1960s half of the population was below
  the age of 25
• Massive growth in schools occurred during this
  period requiring governments to spend more tax
  dollars in this area Education was seen as a
  right
• Students stayed in school longer, more graduated
  high school, and more colleges universities
  were built to accommodate the growth

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Urban Life
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Urban Life

• The development of better cars in the 1950s led
  to the birth of the commuter age
• These new cars became a new focus of society
  (house with a garage, more roads, parking, etc.)
• The first suburbs began to emerge to the north
  and east of Toronto (York, North York
  Scarborough)
• A new set of values emerged. (pg 216)
• This began to change cities into the
  urban/suburban layout we have today

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Household Life

• After WWII women were again expected to return to
  work in the household. Many did, but as with
  WWI, many did not.
• The single-income family was considered typical
• There was pressure to maintain appearances
  within your town, so more families attended
  church, community social functions, etc.
• Mothers, on average, did 99 hours of housework
  each week.

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Entertainment
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Entertainment

• Television was emerging in the 1950s show like
  Hockey Night in Canada and Front Page Challenge
  were popular
• TV dramas and comedies, like Father Knows Best
  and Leave It To Beaver re-enforced the idea of a
  nuclear family and gender stereotypes.
• Drive-in movie theatres became widely popular in
  the 1950s through to the 1970s
• Drive-thru restaurants became very popular

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Entertainment
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Rock and Roll
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Music

• The early 1950s saw a period of conservative,
  traditional music
• By the mid-1950s Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly and
  Paul Anka had introduced Rock and Roll
• This began the generation gap phenomenon
• By the 1960s the impact of Rock Music had become
  far more widespread with Neal Young, Joni
  Mitchell and Gordon Lightfoot. (The Rolling
  Stones, The Beatles, etc.)
• Rock counter-culture became a source of social
  protest and social unrest (hippies, psychedelic
  movement, peace protesters rejecting nuclear
  weapons Vietnam War)

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Bigger and Better!

• With the increase in population and the emergence
  of suburban culture consumerism runs rampant.
• Shopping Malls become places to socialize and the
  opening of a new one was a major event.
• The mall replaces the front porch or the corner
  store of previous times.

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Significant Events that brought Canadians together

• Red River Flood 1950
• Hurricane Hazel 1954
• Springhill coal mine explosion in Nova Scotia in
  1958 (74 deaths)
• Polio epidemics struck each summer during the
  early 1950s

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Interesting Tidbits

• Women couldnt wear shorts in public
• Movies and books were censored
• Between 1945-1967 the Toronto Maple Leafs and the
  Montreal Canadiens each won 9 Stanley Cups.
• The Grey cup came to represent East-West rivalry
• Barbara Ann Scott won the World Figure Skating
  Championships in 1947 and a Gold Medal at the
  1948 Olympics
• Marilyn Bell first person to swim Lake Ontario
  and the youngest to cross the English Channel.

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Culture and Government

• The Massey Commission recommended that Canada
  needed to be protected from American cultural
  influences
• Canada Council was established in 1957 to award
  tax-funded grants to writers, artists and
  theatres.
• Stratford Festival opened in 1957
• First Canadian Television established by the CBC
  in 1952

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Questions

1. Is viewing American television programs harmful
   to the Canadian identity? Make a two column
   chart to examine the question. Rank the pros and
   cons you have identified and then state your own
   opinion. Be prepared to share this with the
   class.