Sources for America’s History: Printed Page 654
26-2 | | Teen Culture in the Fifties |
DOREEN SPOONER, Soda Fountain (1950) |
America’s adolescents carved out leisure time and space for their own activities, separate and sometimes hidden from adults’ prying eyes. In addition to dances, movies, and parties, many teens met at their favorite diners or soda fountains, as shown here, which provided public spaces for a flourishing teen culture. With cars and pocket money to spend, teens both indulged and inspired a youth market that defined their lives and raised alarms among anxious parents and social critics who wondered at the liberties their children pursued.
READING AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
What insight into postwar teen culture does this photograph reveal? What can you tell about social relationships among teens?
What function did places like this soda fountain play in the daily lives of young people?
What might this photograph suggest about the role teens played in the postwar consumer economy? How did retailers and other cultural entrepreneurs cater to this emerging market?