Hello, I'm Mr. Marchant, and thank you for joining me for today's history lesson.

I'll be guiding you through all of our resources today, and my top priority is to make sure that by the end of our lesson, you are able to successfully meet our learning objective.

Welcome to today's lesson, which is part of our unit on society in the USA, where we are asking ourselves, to what extent did American society change after World War II? By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to assess the changes in American popular culture during the post-war period.

There are three keywords which will help us navigate our way through today's lesson.

Those are popular culture, broadcast, and generation.

Popular culture refers to the types of entertainments enjoyed by ordinary people in a country.

Broadcast means to send out a TV or radio programme.

And a generation is all the people in a society or family who are approximately the same age.

Today's lesson will be split into three parts, and we'll begin by focusing on changes in American popular culture.

Popular culture refers to the types of entertainments enjoyed by ordinary people in a country.

In post-war American society, music, radio, cinema, and television were all important parts of popular culture.

During the 1940s and 1950s, there were some major changes in the American popular culture compared to previous decades.

So let's start by thinking about radio.

Radio ownership remained widespread in the USA after World War II.

In fact, a 1947 survey revealed that 82 out of 100 Americans were radio listeners.

However, during the 1950s, radio audiences began to decline and it lost its position as the main form of American entertainment that it'd previously held during the 1930s and early 1940s.

So, let's reflect on what we've just heard.

I want you to write the missing number for the following sentence.

"A survey in 1947 revealed that blank out of 100 Americans were radio listeners." So what's the missing number? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the missing number was 82.

"A survey in 1947 revealed that 82 out of 100 Americans were radio listeners." And so now we can think about TV.

TV became the most popular form of entertainment during the 1950s.

Nine out of 10 households owned a TV by the end of the 1950s.

TV even helped to shape popular culture shared across the entire country.

For instance, at the same time, 44 million people watched a single broadcast of "I Love Lucy," a popular TV show in 1953.

So, let's check our understanding of what we just heard.

Which statement is most accurate? During the 1950s, TV replaced radio as the most popular form of entertainment in America.

During the 1950s, cinema replaced radio as the most popular form of entertainment in America.

Or during the 1950s, radio replaced TV as the most popular form of entertainment in America.

Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was A, during the 1950s, TV replaced radio as the most popular form of entertainment in America.

So now we can turn our attention to cinema.

Cinema remained very popular in post-war America.

90 million Americans attended cinemas per week in 1946, and actors such as Marilyn Monroe continued to be national celebrities.

However, the rise of TV did hurt the cinema industry.

In fact, weekly audiences more than halved between 1946 and 1960.

So whilst there were still around 40 million people attending cinemas per week by 1960, this was much lower than had previously been the case.

In response to falling attendance, cinemas made more efforts to try and attract audiences.

For example, in the early 1950s, multiple 3D films were introduced in an attempt to try and gain more attention and interest in the films being released.

So, let's reflect on what we've just heard.

We have a statement on the screen that reads, "Cinema was no longer popular after 1945." Is that statement true or false? Pause video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that that statement was false.

But we need to be able to justify our response.

So two justifications have appeared on the screen.

The first says that weekly attendance was still nearly half of its 1940 level by 1960, and the second says that actors like Marilyn Monroe continued to be national celebrities.

So which one of those two justifications is best for demonstrating that our original statement was false? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the best justification was B.

We can tell that cinema was still popular after 1945 because actors like Marilyn Monroe continued to be national celebrities.

And so finally, we can think about music as a part of American popular culture.

As in the 1930s, swing and jazz music remained popular in the 1940s.

Artists like Frank Sinatra were very popular at this time.

A new genre of music, rock and roll, did begin to emerge in the 1950s though, performed by artists like Elvis Presley.

Music was broadcast on both radio and TV, so it made the most of some of the other changes happening in American popular culture.

So, let's make sure we have a secure understanding of what we just heard.

What new genre of music did Elvis Presley perform? Was it jazz, rock and roll, or swing? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the correct answer was B, Elvis Presley performed rock and roll music, a new genre that emerged in the 1950s.

So now we're in a good position to put all of our knowledge about changes in American popular culture into practise.

We're gonna split Task A into two parts.

Firstly, I want you to describe one way in which American popular culture changed in the 1940s and 1950s.

And then, for the second part of Task A, I want you to describe one way in which post-war American popular culture remained similar to popular culture before the 1940s.

So pause the video here and press play when you're ready to reflect on your responses.

Okay, well done for all of your hard work on that task.

So, for the first part of Task A, I asked you to describe one way in which American popular culture changed in the 1940s and 1950s.

And your answer may have included: "In the 1940s and 1950s, new types of music gained popularity.

For instance, whereas jazz and swing music were still the most popular forms of music in the early 1940s, new genres like rock and roll gained widespread popularity in the 1950s." So well done if your own answer looks something like that model.

And for the second part of Task A, I asked you to describe one way in which post-war American popular culture remained similar to popular culture before the 1940s.

And your answer may have included: "Cinema remained very popular in America during the post-war period.

Although cinema audiences had halved by 1960, 40 million Americans were still attending on a weekly basis.

Furthermore, film actors such as Marilyn Monroe continued to be national celebrities throughout the 1940s and 1950s." So, again, really well done if your own response looked something similar to our model there.

So now we're ready to move on to the second part of our lesson, where we are going to focus on the emergence of teenagers.

During the 1940s and 1950s, a new population group became noticeable in the USA: teenagers.

It was only during the post-war period that teenagers began to be viewed as a distinctive group in American society.

Before the 1940s, it had been common and necessary for children over the age of 14 to leave school and enter full-time work to begin earning.

In this sense, children very quickly became adults.

However, as a result of increased prosperity in the USA after the end of World War II, many families no longer faced the need to push their children out of school and into work.

Instead, parents, many of whom had grown up through the difficulties of the Great Depression, began to insist that their children remain in education and make the most of the opportunities it could offer.

This change in attitude was closely related to the American dream, part of which suggested that each new generation should be able to enjoy better opportunities than the last.

Therefore, after 1945, there was an increasingly noticeable population of teenagers, older children who remained at home, in education, and continued to receive the support of their parents.

So, thinking about what we've just heard, what did more parents begin insisting on in the 1940s? Was it that children began work as soon as possible, children remaining in education for as long as possible, or children moving out of the house as soon as possible? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was B.

In the 1940s, more parents began insisting on children remaining in education for as long as possible.

A few characteristics were seen as distinctive among teenagers during the post-war years.

Compared to younger children, teenagers had more freedom.

For example, older teens were able to drive, allowing them to travel quite freely.

Furthermore, unlike 13- to 18-year-olds in previous generations, post-war teenagers enjoyed considerable spending power as they benefited from the growing wealth of their parents.

By 1957, it was estimated that the average US teen spent between $10 and $15 per week.

And by 1959, the combined spending power of all American teenagers was $25 billion.

Meanwhile, compared to older Americans, teenagers enjoyed much more leisure time.

Teenagers also gained a reputation amongst older Americans for their independence and even rebellious behaviour.

Many parents worried about teenagers engaging in dangerous activities, including joining gangs.

The tastes of teenagers often differed from those of their parents, so that many people even spoke of a generation gap emerging between them.

So, let's reflect on what we've just heard.

I want you to change one word to correct the following sentence.

"Teenagers in the post-war period had less money to spend than previous generations." So consider, which word in that sentence seems incorrect and what should it be changed to? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the word "less" should have been changed to "more." "Teenagers in the post-war period had more money to spend than previous generations." In fact, by 1959, the combined spending power of all American teenagers was $25 billion.

And let's try another question.

What was the generation gap, which some Americans referred to in the 1940s and 1950s? Was it the difference between teenagers' wealth and that of their parents, the difference between teenagers' education and qualifications and that of their parents, or the difference between teenagers' tastes and behaviour and that of their parents? So pause video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was C.

When Americans spoke of a generation gap in the 1940s and 1950s, they were often referring to a supposed difference between teenagers' tastes and behaviour and that of their parents.

So, we're now in a good position to summarise our learning about the emergence of teenagers.

I want you to describe two features of teenage identity which emerged in the 1940s and 1950s.

So, your answer may consider what made teenagers distinctive from other groups in America and from previous generations.

So pause the video here and press play when you're ready to reflect on your responses.

Okay, well done for all of your effort on that task.

So I asked you to describe two features of teenage identity which emerged in the 1940s and 1950s, and your answer may have included: "One feature of teenage identity which emerged in the 1940s and 1950s is that teenagers had a large amount of spending power.

It was estimated that the average teen spent $10 to $15 per week in 1957 and, by 1959, the collective spending power of American teenagers was equal to $25 billion.

Another feature was that teenagers were often considered to be rebellious.

The involvement of some teenagers in dangerous activity like gang membership and differences in the tastes of teens led many older Americans to worry that there was a growing generation gap between them." So well done if your own answer looks something like those responses which we see there.

And now we're ready to move on to the third and final part of our lesson for today, where we are going to think about teenagers and popular culture.

The emergence of teenagers impacted American popular culture in the post-war period.

Advertising, music, cinema, TV, and radio were all affected by, and able to benefit from, the emergence of teenage audiences in the USA.

The wealth of teenagers was important for American society.

This was because businesses recognised the potential advantages of targeting this new audience.

Many adverts often began to feature teenagers in scenarios which might affect their lives to promote their products.

An example of this can be seen on the screen from this 7-Up advert.

Similarly, although some adults opposed the independent identity of teenagers, Hollywood films increasingly promoted ideas of teenage rebellion.

In the early 1950s, films like "The Wild One" and "Rebel Without a Cause" were released, starring lead characters who smoked, drank, raced cars and motorbikes, and became involved in gangs.

Actors James Dean and Marlon Brando, who played leading characters in such films, became teenage icons during the 1950s.

Fashion styles associated with Dean and Brando's characters, especially leather jackets, were quickly copied by many teenagers across the country.

So, let's make sure we have a secure understanding of what we just heard.

I want you to study the poster shown on the screen.

Four details have been highlighted and labelled from A to D.

Which two details suggest the advert was targeted at teenagers? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answers.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the two details which suggest this poster was an advert targeted at teenagers are A and C.

We can see in detail A, it says, "Homework must've been awful before they invented this," referring to 7-Up, telling us that it's talking about a scenario that teenagers might find themselves facing.

And detail C shows us a young woman, a teenager.

So, again, we can see the advert clearly appealing to a teenage audience.

And let's try another question.

What was the main reason why advertisers began targeting teenagers? Was it because younger audiences are easy to influence, because teenagers had a lot of money to spend, or because advertisers wanted to be fair to all groups? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was B, advertisers began targeting teenagers because teenagers had a lot of money to spend.

They had considerable financial power in the 1940s and 1950s.

Rock and roll music proved particularly appealing to new teenage audiences during the 1940s and 1950s, who used it to help assert an identity that differed from their parents.

In part, the popularity of rock and roll came from its frequent references to sex, drinking, hanging out in gangs, and other activities which parents often disapproved of.

This contrasted strongly with music from popular artists in the mid-1940s, such as Frank Sinatra, who had often sung about topics such as dating and romance.

For these reasons, rock and roll was widely criticised by some adults for being dangerous and encouraging poor teenage behaviour.

Sinatra himself complained that rock and roll music was brutal and complained that it encouraged almost totally negative and destructive reactions in young people.

Nevertheless, because of teenagers' growing importance as consumers, rock and roll was able to gain influence as part of the USA's national culture.

Radio and TV programmes looking to draw in large audiences increasingly booked popular rock and roll artists such as Elvis Presley.

In fact, a TV performance by Elvis in 1956 attracted an audience of over 60 million Americans, meaning that 82% of all TV owners in the country watched the show.

So, let's make sure our understanding is really secure of everything that we just heard.

We have a statement on the screen that says, "All adults criticised teenage interests and cultural tastes." Is that statement true or false? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that that statement was false.

But we need to be able to justify our response.

So two justifications have appeared on the screen.

The first says that films like "The Wild One" targeted teenage audiences by starring rebellious characters.

And the second says that Frank Sinatra argued that new music genres like rock and roll encouraged positive behaviour.

So which one of those two justifications is correct? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct justification was A, films like "The Wild One" targeted teenage audiences by starring rebellious characters.

So it's clear that not all adults were turning against new teenage culture.

And let's try another question.

How many people watched Elvis Presley's 1956 TV performance? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was 60 million.

60 million Americans.

In other words, 82% of all TV owners in the country watched Elvis Presley's 1956 TV performance, demonstrating the growing popularity of rock and roll as a genre of music in the 1950s.

So, we're now ready to put all of our knowledge into practise.

We have a view from Aisha, where she says, "The emergence of teenagers had a transformative impact in the USA." So, I want you to explain why Aisha's view of American popular culture could be considered correct.

Keep in mind that transformative means completely changed.

Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to reflect on your response.

Okay, well done for all of your hard work on that task.

So we had Aisha's view, and I asked you to explain why it could be considered correct.

Your answer may have included: "Aisha could be considered correct because the emergence of teenagers meant that American popular culture began to target new types of taste.

Teenagers in the post-war period had significant spending power, totaling $25 billion by 1959.

This meant that businesses began to focus more on teenagers, rather than just those of adults in order to attract the interest and spending of this new group.

Adverts increasingly featured teenagers and associated their products with teenage lifestyles.

Similarly, radio and TV programmers attempted to attract larger audiences by featuring rock and roll artists who were popular with teenagers, despite some older Americans' disapproval.

For example, in 1956, Elvis Presley performed on TV, which attracted an audience of 60 million Americans, extending the popularity of rock and roll even further." So well done if your own response looks something like that model which we've just seen.

So now we've reached the end of today's lesson, which puts us in a good position to summarise our learning about post-war American popular culture.

We've seen that televisions became widely available and the most popular form of entertainment in post-war America.

New genres of music, especially rock and roll, became part of American popular culture.

Teenagers emerged as a distinct group in the 1940s and 1950s, but some older Americans worried about a growing generation gap.

And teenage audiences were targeted by advertisers and were critical to the growing popularity of rock and roll music in the USA.

So, really well done for all of your hard work during today's lesson.

It's been a pleasure to help guide you through our resources, and I look forward to seeing you again in the future as we think further about the extent to which American society changed after World War II.