Television In The 1950's

How much television do you watch a day? Has it increased as you get older? In the history of not only America but the world, television is a relatively new invention. Being a part of popular culture for only around 70-80 years has not given us much time to adequately research the specific side effects TV has on people. This especially connects to the recent changing behavior of the most vulnerable group of television watchers, children. American children's television since its conception has had an effect on children across America leading to varying degrees of cognitive, developmental, and behavioral changes as compared to children not exposed to television. The 1950’s was a renaissance for television in America. Although TV in its early stages was created in the late 1920’s, it wasn’t yet affordable for the

Author Juliet Schor highlights some specific media that surfaced in the 50’s, “In 1954, ABC aired its highly successful Mickey Mouse Club in the after-school period, and Mattel advertised on the show. By the late 1950s, the popularity of Barbie solidified a long and profitable relationship between television and toy commercials. Saturday morning programming also began at this time, and Kellogg's created its classic characters Tony the Tiger, Rice Krispies' Snap, Crackle, and Pop, and the Trix rabbit to sell cereals” (Schor 39). These brands and characters created in the 50’s are still vastly popular today and demonstrate the influence television had on the 1950’s and how vital the era was for the revolutionization of TV. As seen in the examples from the previous paragraph, lots of shows created for TV during the 50’s targeted young and adolescent audiences. Children and teens were a previously untapped market and after the economic boom WWII provided, the US experienced a baby