Rise of the American Teenager and Consumer Culture - COLD WAR

Claim your SPECIAL OFFER for MagellanTV here: try.magellantv.com/thecoldwar. Start your free trial TODAY so you can watch How China Got Rich and the rest of MagellanTV’s history collection: www.magellantv.com/explore/hi...
Our historical documentary series on the history of the Cold War continues with a video on the rise of the American teenager and consumer culture.
Taiwan Under the Kuomintang Dictatorship: • Taiwan Under the Kuomi...
What Happened to the German and Japanese POWs?: • What Happened to the G...
Operation Paperclip: • Operation Paperclip - ...
German Expulsions: • German Expulsions Afte...
Soviet Education System: • Soviet Education Syste...
How Khrushchev Fed the Soviet People: • How Khrushchev Fed the...
Novocherkassk Massacre 1962: • Novocherkassk Massacre...
Soviet Tourism: • Soviet Tourism: How di...
Soviet Passport System: New Serfdom or Reform?: • Soviet Passport System...
Kaliningrad: How Russia Got a Stronghold in Europe: • Kaliningrad: How Russi...
How the Soviets Won the Early Space Race: • How the Soviets Won th...
Soviet Television and Radio: • Soviet Television and ...
Top-5 Myths About the Soviet Union: • Top-5 Myths About the ...
Support us on Patreon: / thecoldwar
KZbin membership / @thecoldwartv
✔ Merch store ► teespring.com/stores/thecoldwar
✔ Patreon ► / thecoldwar
✔ Facebook ► / thecoldwartv
✔ Instagram ► / thecoldwartv
#ColdWar #1950s #USSR

[@isaactomangrief9158]

You shouldn't have to feel you need to justify social history. On the contrary, it is this kind of history that matters most to most people at most times. Military history is significant, sure, it's just there's a lot more to history than that. I'm not only very glad this channel recognises social history but is also playing a part in showing it to the legions of military history buffs on KZbin

[@franzfanz]

"I used to be with it but then they changed what it was. Now what I'm with isn't it and what's it seems weird a scary to me. It will happen to you." Abe Simpson. Still the best description of youth culture.

[@albertovelaluis8512]

According to Savage's "Teenage: The invention of Youth 1875 - 1945", the concept of teenagers is older than the Cold War and it is linked to the societal changes of the early XXth century. I recommend the book to anyone interested in the subject.

[@annehersey9895]

I was born in 1950 so this was my life. The reason that teens were given so much freedom and money was because our parents had gone through most of their lives being deprived of everything, even the most basic needs living through 10 years of depression followed by 5 years of war. They wanted something different for us, a childhood without want and one without stress. My mom and I even talked about this on numerous occasions. It was a wonderful time to grow up. The 50's were a time of no worry and happy go lucky everything. The Cuban Missile Crisis changed our lives. My generation was turning into teens when that happened and all of a sudden, the safe cocoon broke open and the world looked different. This coincided with the building up of troops in Viet Nam and the music instead of the swinging soft pop of the 50's hit the hard rock of the 60's. Suddenly, conformity went out the window and uniqueness and individuality was the name of the day. And you know the rest of the story. I will tell you I wouldn't choose to have grown up at any other time!

[@lazysunside]

My father grew up in the 40s and his only way of cooking food was to find what he has and put them all in the pot. He lived through the Japanese, and the Communist camps.

[@TJ-bu9zk]

One part that is neglected here in the drop in family sizes. Instead of people having 6, 8, or 12 children they were having an average of 5 children in 1950s and each decade after saw that number shrunk. Less sibblings meant more freedom from having to raise their young siblings and more wealth from their parents not needing to be split amongst so many children. Less children gave parents physically more time, energy and money for the child they did have.

[@annehersey9895]

@@TJ-bu9zk the real reason for smaller families didn’t come until the early 60’s with The Pill. That really opened the workforce for women. During the war, the birth rate really dropped because of lack of men. Don’t know why birth rates dropped in the 50’s before the pill. Maybe because the military handed out condoms like cigarettes and men used them and saw they worked. I doubt there was more abstinence! 😆😆😆

[@Moses_VII]

Had America been more religious, as people foolishly think was the case in the 1950s, they would have raised their kids tough so that they would endure any repeat of the bad situations through which their parents suffered. They would be thinking of raising strong children instead of giving them as much material pleasure as possible, because religion is all about afterlife and lack of materialism. They would be like Batman in a sense. He doesn't shelter Robin, but instead trains him to endure. This is me thinking out loud. I hope you find this interesting.

[@CrossOfBayonne]

My Uncle was too son of a WW2 Navy vet

[@danculea7865]

I feel like you missed the elephant in the room at the very end of the video, the teens of the early Cold War are the adults of the late Cold War.

[@chrissnyder2091]

This is just the sort of documentary that every kid born in the last 50 years should be made to watch because most of them these days are absolutely clueless of why they do what they do and believe what they believe and act the way they act.

[@smhorse]

...and don't forget the pervasive influence of antisocial media....

[@magellantv]

We loved this social history focus! Very well done!

[@beorntwit711]

So basically, this is tragedy of commons playing out in cultural mores. Having left small villages, where ostracism could protect morality standards, humanity is left defenseless against the urge for individual profit through rebelling against current standards. Guess the conservatives had more of a point than just being judgemental about 'sin'.

[@Moses_VII]

Muslim societies are full of ostracism even in cities yet their society is united and isn't going through a culture war between left and right like America.

[@thaxtonwaters8561]

Dr. Benjamin Spock best-selling book Common Sense Book of Baby & Child Care in 1949 was a HUGE SHIFT in parenting style (from direct "old school" to passive "modern accepting") which led to the Baby Boomers upheaval of the 50's and 60's.

[@bobtaylor170]

I don't know how big an influence the book actually had. It was a staple of my parents' generation to blame Spock for hippies, but was he really all that influential? It may be because I'm Southern, and the culture, schools, and our parents ( mine, anyway ) insisted on discipline and manners from us, but my hunch is that Spock's book, somewhat like the Bible, tended to gather a lot of dust.

[@thaxtonwaters8561]

@@bobtaylor170 from his philosophy, it influenced (the new) teenager pop culture of the 50's - 60's.

[@DannyK1992]

C O N S O O M !

[@WinterReflections]

David, I just made the connection that you narrated the Kings and Generals podcast series on The Mongols. Just wanted to say, I absolutely loved that series and this channel's also great. Keep it up!

[@brokenbridge6316]

Nicely done video

[@number420pencil]

GREAT VIDEO!!!!!! Love the channel. MAD Magazine was a big part of my childhood.

[@pablonicolasangulo4356]

One of the best episodes you had made, guys!

[@Mrgunsngear]

Thanks 😊

[@roniberahaquartet477]

Yugoslavia had huge roll in diffusing western culture in the eastern Europe .British ,Italian ,French songs were translated to Serbo Croatian language and then organised tours of the Yugoslav singers to USSR .

[@halbertconk3756]

A Caste, A Culture, A Market

[@yardleybottles6025]

Excellent and relevant. Thank you!

[@christianehmling5080]

This has to be my favorite channel. Keep it up fam!

[@TullyBascombe]

45 rpm records were small, each side holding only 1 song between 3 and 6 minutes long. The 33 rpm record was larger, the true "album" record. It was able to hold several numbers on each side, both sides together it could hold about a half hour of music.

[@thenewongoam2486]

Can you make the video about Operation Condor?

[@Numba003]

I'm looking forward to the future episode about Western cultural influence on the Soviet youth! Thank you for this one. Stay well out there everybody, and God bless you, friends. ✝️ :)

[@kiyarashreza3654]

@stacey 11:11rh222 The sound quality has an X-ray impact, if you will, on the appeal of the content on a subconscious level. No wonder that channels using better devices on KZbin have more, in some cases way way more viewers than those that viewers have to get by on poor or okay sound and video quality, irrespective of the contents. Working in advertising industry for almost two decades, I know how human psyche works and how those seemingly “Not-a-big-deal” technical things, subtleties, and presentation make us gravitate toward certain products, again regardless of the quality of the product itself. My point here is that this unique channel deserves better, professional equipment and devices, and therefore, more viewers and subscribers.

[@ASLUHLUHCE]

Could you make a video about the hippies/counterculture?

[@zsmarine0831]

I’ve slowly began to enjoy this content more than the WW2 in Real Time series. The many different aspects of the cold war that y’all present is awesome!

[@geoffdean3614]

Hi David, would like to see an episode on Oleg Gordievsky if u don't already have one (couldn't see one) 🙂

[@jovanweismiller7114]

As one who remembers 45 rpm records quite well, let me assure you that you couldn't buy an album on a 45. A single, yes, because that's all a 45 could hold.

[@michaelporzio7384]

Right you are! I think David was referring to the long playing ("LP") record (which was first marketed in 1948) which rotates at 33 1/3 rpm.

[@user-vc5co3fh4h]

Maybe someone could recommend historical literature on the exact topic of youth consumer culture in this period?

[@_Abjuranax_]

Check out the 1984 film Top Secret with Val Kilmer. Nick Rivers goes to post-war East Germany, and inadvertently influences Teen Culture during his stay. Classic tropes and digs, with the hearts and minds of kids being fought over between East and West.

[@markmierzejewski9534]

That teacher is gorgeous, and I am guessing this is the 50’s… add 30 years and it makes sense why in the 80’s every single teacher looked like Betty White … now my daughter (3) goes to pre K… and all the teachers look like kids themselves.

[@saturationstation1446]

more to do with improved diets and lifestyles. if you drink a lot in your 20's you end up looking like you're 50+ when you hit the 30's lol. everyone was hardcore alcoholics up until the late 90's in america.

[@nickfifteen]

When I was in 1st grade from 1988-1989, my teacher was Ms. Strem, who was a fresh new teacher, and was about 25. Of course when youre 5/6, someone of Ms. Strem's age is obviously a grown-up. But I'm about to turn 40, and looking back, Ms. Strem of 1988 looks so young! It really does throw me off as an adult because, yeah, I still expect teachers to look like Betty White, not some fresh kid younger than me!

[@aymonfoxc1442]

I must say, I rather enjoyed the notion that being a teenager is an American invention (which is a bit misleading) but perhaps, given the long economic boom enjoyed by the Western World during the post-war years and the associated socio-economic restructuring, I can understand how it could have felt like that to the average American. Thanks for another entertaining and educational episode.

[@Moses_VII]

So strange that the social norms of conservative 1950s America was for girls to think about boys and parties, and that such a way of life is the correct and responsible way. You would think in a Christian country, the girls would be separate from the boys, praying rather than partying. Mary peace be upon her, the only woman to be mentioned by name in the Quran, and the woman who has an entire chapter named after her in the Quran, was wearing hijab, not trying to get male attention. Eastern Orthodox are the ones who stuck most to Christian tradition. The Protestants paved the way for the modern secular culture.

[@OctaviusRomulus]

I like to think I'm very well versed in cultural history but I learned A LOT from this. Awesome work, thanks.

[@benhooper1956]

Very interesting episode. As a youth myself, I often wonder how my generation's outlook compares with that of generations past. One thing I didn't realise was how youth culture in the US differed to that of the UK. Over here, it wasn't until the Swinging 60s that things really took off, and that was very much youth-driven as opposed to consumer driven, at least as far as I can understand. Looking forward to future videos, maybe one covering young people behind the iron curtain?

[@PaulJWells-ud2eq]

Once again, great episode. Culture is the embodiment of all known input. It is the only way to understand an individual, or individuals. Thanks

[@jaydenclowers2616]

Youth culture in America varies depending the person your speaking to.

[@joeywall4657]

I'm 41 years old. This video is really helping me understand some of my grandparents' attitudes a lot better. And to a lesser extent, my own parents.

[@c0ya1]

Joey, what is your reaction to a potential WW3? I'm worried that if war officially kicks off, I'm definitely of age to fight.

[@joeywall4657]

@@c0ya1 I think you're going to be okay man. 🤞

[@HistoryOfRevolutions]

"To be content with little is difficult; to be content with much, impossible" - Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach

[@juliopeinado2660]

I wonder what's it like to be a teen in the USSR or Communist Countries.

[@vg4917]

Love that JFK quote

[@Clipgatherer]

There were also the “Baby Boomers” to take into consideration. During the late 1950s and especially the 1960s there were simply so many teenagers around, that manufacturers and marketeers had to target them. Especially since the kids had more money to spend.

[@TJ-bu9zk]

There were more children being born in a consentrated amount of time, but also those family sizes were much smaller than the previous generation. Having less kids meant family money didn't have to be divided among so many children.

[@Artur_M.]

The ending makes me excited for the future episodes, covering the influence of western youth culture getting behind the Iron Curtain. Be sure to mention the Radio Luxembourg!

[@BlackPhillip666]

The 'S' sounds are piercing.

[@achiever8008]

Where are the sources?

[@pyeitme508]

Wow

[@asdfman3158]

Is there any evidence that points to U.S. consumer spending during the Cold War being greater due to the fear of future nuclear armageddon? The logic being, why save for a future that may never arrive, instead I’ll just spend more now.

[@wazzupsters]

I wonder how America would've shaped if Conformity and Duty triumphed over Prosperity & Culture happened.

[@blake35745]

Please do a reverse version for the ussr.

[@markmierzejewski9534]

How were teens in the post WW2 era being treated in Soviet Union? but more over I guess every where since so much had to be rebuilt so does society and how we teach our youth. A teen in England who lived through the blitz had to deal with rationing is vastly different from post occupied Poland which is vastly different from what teens in America at the time. This is a very interesting subject.

[@saturationstation1446]

what about teens in south america, asia , africa and island nations? they are humans too you know

[@Zenmyster]

Presumedly as a future cog in the machinery of society.

[@Game_Hero]

@@saturationstation1446 But was there a teenage identity there to begin with?

[@certaindeaf8315]

The contraceptive pill debuted in 1960.. nose rings and green hair in '61. Lol

[@melvyncollins7305]

The 45rpm record was for singles not albums!

[@jaymudd2817]

Right ,seems few remember

[@adelaidefinch6197]

You kinda remind me of Andy Nyman.

[@jaymudd2817]

Bill Haley started it.

[@mat3714]

Algorithm

[@Shinzon23]

Hmm. This helps explain why my parents are so different from my grandparents.

[@beepboop204]

🙂

[@greenkoopa]

I was an American teenager from 2000-2007. I'm sorry

[@TorMax9]

Give them whatever they want. Give them whatever they'll pay for. And give it to them NOW! No matter how uncultured or undermining or unhealthy. Sugary, sweet, sentimental... whatever...It's all about turnover. The Big Buck. The American/Western way. Say "cheese"! Big smile with braces and straight teeth and cool hair/clothes/shoes... An African beat rock'n'roll if that what turns them on, gets them moving and spend money... Who cares about morality? That's old fashioned. Gotta be hip. Gotta be cool. Gotta be with it. The party will go on forever. You'll never get old. There is no tomorrow. There is no price to pay for all the fun. “More doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette." "Have a Coke!" "Have a drink, have a drive - go out and see what you can find... If her daddy's rich, take her out for a meal - if her daddy's poor, just do what you feel"... The Soviet way was - give them dreary, endless lectures on Marxism, give them endless propaganda on how bad the West was, give them fear of the government/bureaucracy/secret police, give them dull clothes and dull cities and dull culture, give them 20 years to wait for an apartment/car, give them 20 years in the gulag if they don't conform... The noise and the opulence from the West spilled over the airwaves into the East Block. Their youth became restless and impatient. They wanted to have cool clothes also. And have fun. And let loose. The Beatles and The Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd did more to bring down the East Block than speeches or threats or space wars. China now blocks all Western media. That's what they fear most. What happened to the East Block will happen to them. Mammon rolling over all ideological strictures. Or will the totalitarian bureaucracy sneak through the back door of the decadent, spoiled, aimless West? Looking at Mayorkas and Garland and the FBI going after all political opposition, labelling parents concerned about CRT "domestic terrorists", opening the southern border to anyone and anything - fentanyl, sex trafficking, cartels, etc. - to wander in in order to heighten chaos and confusion and fear, it's starting to look that way. Bureaucrats abusing ever more restrictive laws - the "Patriot Act". Bureaucrats telling Presidents what to do. Fixing "elections". False flags like nine-11. Manufacturing gone to China replaced by conjured-out-of-thin-air money. Money backed by nothing other than a bloated military - the Petrodollar. Or do we have enough moral fibre, family values, sense of community, to maintain our freedoms? To gamble and make it or screw up in any way we individually choose. Or has the degenerate "rebellion" against a "structure" - religious, social, academic - that is not even there anymore exhausted itself? We live in interesting times. Things at this moment can go very bad very fast. Perhaps we should look back to some perennial, life-affirming, spiritual values. Perhaps we should start manufacturing things ourselves again. Perhaps we should control the border again. Perhaps we should get an honest and noble and transparent government again. Perhaps we should stop blaming Russia for everything. Perhaps we should start making Western Civilization great again. Something to be proud of. Something to fight for.

[@totensiebush]

As you suggest, Hollywood played a major role in popularizing/normalizing teenage rebellion.

[@michealoflaherty1265]

The British upper class adopted a very enlightened approach to relations with teenagers. It's called boarding school

[@PP266]

You don't see your kid from 6 to 26.

[@astronomicvulpine9836]

Interesting that the land of freedom, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness forced all people into certain stereotypes... But then they're taught that the same exact thing was bad in the USSR... Maybe extreme conformity is bad in all cases, regardless of red or blue. Same with extreme individualism, probably.

[@theotherohlourdespadua1131]

Upton Sinclair wrote about it in his novel "Main Street" back in the 1920's. Yes, the Americans have freedom... But there is a caveat, that of extreme conformity...

[@vagus1280]

🐴

[@mohammedsaysrashid3587]

Too global economic, social systems ( capitalism & communism )are having Atrocious, brutal & cheats deal against humanity and human ..but each sides has different procedures & different pretentiousness from other side's..capitalism is finding its legitimately existing from communism threats & communism brutality against humanity...in same times communism disclosures its legitimately from brutality, beasts of capitalism systems...thanks for sharing...

[@-JA-]

🙂👍

[@moniker2804]

First

[@Eclispestar]

Meh teens have no idea what's good. They just want stuff they will grow up and feel different about the world.

[@samwill7259]

You were either too young to work in the coal mine, or you were working in the coal mine. Now we just outsource the coal mining to poor places were we prop up capitalist dictatorships! :D

[@jonathanstevey1748]

Hahaha imagine thinking China is anything but socialism...the west props them up more than any other country.

[@thorthewolf8801]

Capitalist dictatorship? That seems like an oxymoron. Capitalism is defined by the free market, and dictatorship is inherently opposed to that idea.

[@jonathanstevey1748]

@@thorthewolf8801 I'd put good money down that the OP is a fascist/socialist/communist...those weirdos think that ideology is freedom even tho there is a century of evidence to the contrary.

[@samwill7259]

@@thorthewolf8801 Look up the term "Banana Republic" and get back to me

[@samwill7259]

@@jonathanstevey1748 China? The USA's biggest international enemy? The one that opened up its economy to the free market in the 90s to get where it is now? That China?

[@Zenmyster]

I've always considered childhood to be a period of apprenticeship to be an adult. Americans coming to think of it as a period of social alienation is an example of how American commentators get things backwards. Not to mention the American phenomenon of a lifelong man child.

[@kiyarashreza3654]

Even teenage channels with garbage contents these days have better sound quality than this channel. Contents and narrating are perfect but I do not understand why such quality documentaries, contents, writing, narration, research etc. are recorded with a poor microphone and sound system. Sound quality matters!!! Talk to a sound engineer for God’s sake.

[@stacey_1111rh]

Go do some sound engineering for them then lol 🤦🏻‍♂️ the sound is fine I’ll take that over the “garbage” content

[@kiyarashreza3654]

@@stacey_1111rh The sound quality has an X-ray impact, if you will, on the appeal of the content on a subconscious level. No wonder that channels using better devices on KZbin have more, in some cases way way more viewers than those that viewers have to get by on poor or okay sound and video quality, irrespective of the contents. Working in advertising industry for almost two decades, I know how human psyche works and how those seemingly “Not-a-big-deal” technical things, subtleties, and presentation make us gravitate toward certain products, again regardless of the quality of the product itself. My point here is that this unique channel deserves better, professional equipment and devices, and therefore, more viewers and subscribers.

[@Evenst3vn]

I watch a lot of KZbin and never noticed anything wrong with their audio. Most people aren't audio experts like you, w/e they're doing is fine enough.

[@andredeketeleastutecomplex]

You mean the lack of culture 😁