Document 26-2: Doreen Spooner, Soda Fountain (1950)

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.

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Source: Doreen Spooner, “Soda Fountain.” Hulton Archive/Getty Images.

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