26 Triumph of the Middle Class

1945–1963

Following a decade and a half of economic depression and war, consumer spending burst from the constraints imposed by an era of sacrifice to power a postwar boom. The economics of the Cold War era resulted in an expanding economy and a rising standard of living that swelled the middle class. Returning veterans benefitted directly from the federal government’s generous subsidies. Men who filled the growing ranks of white-collar employment were able to provide the material comforts mass media and advertising defined as indispensable to suburban living. The full-color spreads in leading magazines helped propagate an idealized image of America as a middle-class nation. The glossy images of contented housewives and happy children, however, represented only one face of Cold War America. Not all housewives were content, not all children were happy, and not all Americans could afford to live in the middle class. A small but swelling chorus of social criticism pierced the veil of apparent middle-class satisfaction. These counterpoints portrayed Cold War America not as the middle-class utopia many imagined themselves living, but as a fool’s paradise, presenting a social critique that would gain traction among the generation coming of age in the Sixties.