For many of us , it ’s probably hard to ideate a time when there was n’t atelevisionin the living room , telling us story and keep us connected to the world . In fact , television probably consume a moment more of our time than we ’d wish to think ! Of naturally , these 24-hour interval , we hear so much about rain buckets media and the technical advances bearing down on us that boob tube can seem almost quaint , even with all the power – and cash – it still commands .

But only 50 days ago , idiot box was in its babyhood . The privation of the Great Depression , followed by the global immorality and disaster of World War II , led to a full point of successfulness and consumerism that had effects on American fellowship that we ’re still learning about . In the aftermath of the state of war , ethnic changes swept the country , including changes in the way we make and watch television . And in its turn , television shift – and continues to change – the way we interact with each other .

The first video band , station and networks were already being build before the war . During the war , most – but not all – television production end . But afterward , goggle box and the new , post - war visual sensation of America conduce to the creation of the world in which we live today .

In April of 1942 ( when about 5,000 television sets were in operation ) , yield of new televisions , radiosand other civilian broadcast medium equipment was suspended until August of 1945 . But by 1947 , there were about 44,000 TVs , and that number swell to 940,000 in 1949 and 20 million in 1953 . Regular broadcasts on the first internet , DuMont , began in 1946 , and the major networks – NBC , CBS and ABC – were all up and running by 1948 [ source : Douglas ] .

On the next few Page , we ’ll bet more deeply into this flow in the history of American television and its place in post - war society .

Post-war Exuberance

All through the Depression and then the war , Americans were deprived not just of their sumptuousness , but often of the introductory necessities they ’d come to expect . While the U.S. has always been a relatively prosperous nation , masses had a lot of resentment about their inability to provide for their families in the years before and during the war .

But the gravid generation is know for being thrifty ! Public outgo for the warfare start - started the thriftiness , andCold Wardefense outlay help oneself keep it go bad . But so did the average American . In this new boom , Americans could afford center - year requirement , like auto and houses , which they ’d been wish for for a long fourth dimension .

Americans respond to this prosperity by pump as much money into the economy as they could . During the 15 years after World War II , the U.S. experienced swell economic growth and cement its report as the world’srichest country . The gross national product more than double up from 1940 to 1960 , and most Americans began to intend of themselves as center class . Car yield quadruple in the tenner between 1946 and 1955 [ informant : U.S. Department of State ] .

The rapid integration oftelevisioninto American beau monde coincide with the explosive rise of this post - war consumer culture for several rationality . A home appliance that was finally low-priced , TV provided hours of entertainment for what suddenly seemed like a reasonable price . And because the system run – and largely still run – on advertising , company could practice the sales chopine to sell their products .

The American Whitewash & Rise of McCarthyism

By 1960 , three - quarters of American families possess at least oneTVset . And just as owning a television had apace become accept and expected in such a short time , the U.S. was now being aim to aspire to prototype of theAmerican Dreamin entirely new way of life .

The chaos of wartime was quickly replaced by a comforting conformity and , some might say , repression . Men and women , who had adapted to novel employment and societal standard during the war , rush back to their prewar role . Many women werepregnant . Things were normal and roaring – anything less was too confining to the sad , ugly , too - recent mean solar day of the war .

But it was n’t just care - fulfilment and war trauma that made programs about an idealise middle - class – show like " Bonanza " and " Leave It to Beaver " – so ubiquitous . Advertisers themselves wanted programming to appeal to the all-inclusive potential audience , which meant giving us visual modality of a happy , comfortable life sentence free of danger or fear . By excluding diversity and stand by close to conventional images of gender and family , they could be certain to keep eyes on TV screens while helping keep the fires of consumerism glow strong .

When the Republican Party won the Senate in 1952 , a man namedJoseph McCarthyrose to power – and his complex relationship with the television system not only fix the national disposition , but created a precedent for media blame that continues to this day . McCarthy , of track , was consumed with fear and hatred for communism in all its material body , seek to settle down out commie and sympathizers in Washington , Hollywood , New York and other major urban eye .

The problem was , the Russians had been U.S. allies in the recent war , and television set had done its part to trumpet their success . In looking for an enemy to struggle after the warfare , McCarthy play upon the fear and paranoia of a post - war society to locate that young enemy in our hometown , our neighbors ' houses and even our family . In the Cold War , all that Russian congratulations looked very suspicious indeed , and Hollywood was subject to a long and slimy witch - hunt that had an impact on careers and the film and television industry permanently .

The Feedback Loop

so as to persist on the good side of both Washington and affluent Americans , advertisers had no reason to stray from their whitened , middle - class focus . At the same time , McCarthyismand theCold Warwere spark off panic across the body politic – call up about the bomb shelter trend , or schoolhouse " duck - and - cover charge " drills – and most Americans just want to get back to the way they now recollect thing being before the warfare .

Televisionboth reflect and fed this rush to accordance , giving the grateful masses a share experience of go for social patterns . Many classic and familiar television flesh – like thesitcomand the soap opera house – arose in this surroundings , and they carry some earmarks of this desire for ossification and consumerism . Our desires created the computer programming – to keep the advertisers happy – and the programming , in twist , impress our desire .

But American unrest was provoked and documented by television , too . Thecivil rights movementwouldn’t have fare about in the style that it did without first the suppressive whitewashing of television and , by and by , newscast detail the means and reasonsprotesterswere making their voices heard . Television create another feedback loop , in which the scrap for polite rightfulness created the news , and the news created the fight in turn .

In the end , the fib is the same now as it has been since the nativity of telecasting in the year after the warfare : Television both makes the news and report it . We learn about our society based on the stories , fictitious and otherwise , that it fetch us . The agency that we react to that information , as a society , dictate what television does next , and so on .

But the whole cycle per second – which continues even now on cable channels , the Internet and an ever - growing variety of gizmo – got its start in post - war America . Perhaps , having grown up with television system , current generation will be more savvy about the images it ’s sell us .

For more great TV article , gibe out the links on the next varlet .

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