Download Areas out in the country. Urban Areas

Life on the Cold War Homefront
5-5.2 Summarize the social, cultural, and economic developments that took place in the United States during the Cold War, including
consumerism, mass media, the growth of suburbs, expanding educational opportunities, new technologies, the expanding job market
and service industries, and changing opportunities for women in the workforce.
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Rural Areas- Areas out in the country.
Urban Areas- City areas. Usually very industrial section on the INSIDE of the city.
Suburban Areas- The areas on the OUTSIDE of cities. Usually where people make
their homes.
Mass Media- Media technology used to communicate to LARGE audiences at one
time.
Consumerism- The act of buying and using consumer goods.
Service Industries- Industries and businesses that provide a service, rather than a
consumer good.
CHANGES IN CULTURE
7.Cultural changes in the United States after World War II were the result of returning prosperity and returning
soldiers.
8.When the war ended, many women returned home from the work they had been doing for the war effort and became
homemakers and consumers once again.
9.American factories were able to switch their production back to consumer goods.
10.People who had worked during the war now had money to spend and products that had not been available during
the war, such as automobiles, were in high demand.
11.The resulting post-war prosperity allowed many people to spend money on new American products.
12.Soldiers returning from the war married, started families, and wanted to buy new homes.
13.The explosion in the number of suburbs was made possible by the greater availability of the automobile.
14.The trend of moving to the outskirts of cities had begun in the in the early 1900s with the invention of electric
streetcars and continued in the 1920s with the automobile.
15.Suburbs were created when large areas of land on the outskirts of town were bought by developers then divided
into hundreds of plots on which new houses were built.
16.Americans began to leave the cities in which they worked to buy new homes in these new suburban developments
and commute to work.
17.A new highway system to link major metropolitan cities increased suburbanization.
18.Mass media, such as the widespread availability of radios, movies and the new medium of television, helped to
spread popular culture to urban, suburban, and rural communities throughout the United States.
19.Radio spread the new Rock and Roll music.
20.Increasingly, television became the center of American family entertainment.
21.Advertisers used the television to spread their message and get people to want to buy their products.
CHANGES IN THE ECONOMY
22.During the war, the economy of the United States experienced a boost, lifting the nation out of the Great
Depression.
23.After the war, the United States experienced an economic boom, as well.
24.Industries that had focused their efforts on war materials shifted to the production of consumer products.
25.Advertising encouraged people to buy things and an increasing consumerism dominated American culture.
26.As consumers had more money to spend, service industries such as dry cleaners and restaurants expanded.
27.The automobile and new highway system gave rise to motels and fast food restaurants.
28.More consumer credit was available in the form of credit cards.
Changes to the automobile such as automatic transmissions, radial tires and power steering made them safer and easier
to drive.
29.Jet engines changed the airline industry by providing faster, more efficient air travel.
30.Technological advancements in telephone services and television made communication must faster and easier.
31.The invention of air conditioning made parts of the U.S. more easily inhabitable.