Decade Study: Postwar Australia
The impact of changing technology on everyday life in postwar Australia
The social and cultural features of one postwar decade
1950s
Technology
Housing
It was period of a rapid housing boom and increasing spread of suburbia.
Owning your own home on the quarter-acre block became the ideal and was usually met with plenty of low cost land and low interest rates available for loans. The advent of the (reasonably) cheap car made living in the suburbs possible.
Land was totally cleared of all trees and shrubs which led to suburbs of houses in bare streets.
New building products such as concrete, fibro, masonite and gyprock meant faster building.
Prefabricated homes for self-builders were also developed.
Very few of the new suburbs had the necessary infrastructure such as sewerage, schools and transport, though electricity and water supplies and sometimes gas were installed.
Houses became simplified, functional and boring. It was cheaper.
Lino (an early vinyl) and laminex dominated the kitchen and bathroom. It was utilitarian, hardwearing, durable and available.
Lino was water-proof, stain-proof and colourful and it did not matter how bad the wood was underneath or whether it was laid on concrete. It worked. However, stiletto heels could make a mess of it as they punched holes in the floor.
Laminex meant a durable surface on a cheaply made box-frame underneath using composite woods which could not take being wet. It was used in kitchens, bathrooms and laundries.
The house on its block was fenced in, usually with a paling fence separating neighbours and a low brick wall or brick and wire wall facing the road.
The toilet moved inside and was a separate room from the bathroom.
There was a separate garage at the end of a long drive from the front to the back of the block usually with a ‘workshop’ in the back half.
Home appliances
New electrical whitegoods, generally meant to be labour saving, were becoming cheaper and more affordable.
Electric and gas ovens replaced wood-burning stoves.
Refrigerators replaced the icebox which meant that shopping no longer had to be done daily.
Freezers were incorporated into the fridge and led to an expanding supply of frozen goods.
Electric and gas hot water systems meant hot water at the turn of a tap and not having to wait for the water to boil on the stove.
The Mixmaster by Sunbeam made home cooking easier.
Electric kettles, pop-up toasters and electric irons appeared which was just as well because the wood-fired stove top which used to do these jobs had disappeared.
Table-top electric sewing machines with all sorts of add-ons became available, sending mothers back to producing clothes for the family.
The electric washing machine replaced the copper boiler and wringer and this, in turn, meant more synthetics were used, particularly for bed linen.
Entertainment
Radio and the picture theatres remained the most common forms of entertainment through the early 1950s.
Towards the end of the decade FM radio was introduced and ‘pirate’ radio stations began to broadcast pop music for younger people. Many of these stations became formal stations later and remain youth focused today.
Talkback radio began but was limited by the technology.
Public sporting events drew big crowds particularly to the various codes of local football which were considered ‘common’ and ‘lowbrow’ entertainments by those not involved.
Opera, plays and concerts remained the entertainment of the elite of society and was considered ‘highbrow’ and ‘cultured’ by those involved.
In 1956 television was introduced to Australia but was still extremely expensive and you had to buy a licence to own a set.
In 1956 the first television broadcast was from TCN-9 Sydney, followed by GTV-9 Melbourne, HSV7 Melbourne and, eventually, ABC-TV Sydney just in time for the Melbourne Olympic Games.
Graham Kennedy began In Melbourne Tonight.
Open air film theatres of the 1920s and 30s, which had transformed into drive-in theatres, remained important venues but were in decline.
‘Going for a drive’ became a favourite outing for families. It was cheap, easy to organise and flexible.
Transport
Because of its distances, Australia has always relied on the railway and the motor car and for many years we had the highest per capita ownership of private vehicles.
Railways stagnated from the 1880s with steam remaining the most common form of propulsion but the arrival of diesel technology in the mid to late 1950s changed travel by train to a more pleasant event.
Holden produced its first vehicle designed specifically for Australian conditions in 1953, the FJ Holden, which became an icon of the period and demand always exceeded supply.
In the post-war years heavy trucks, which had been left here by the US Army and were no longer being used by the Australian army, were sold-off and pushed into service to establish long-haul cartage and carrying companies to compete against the unreliable sea-going coastal shipping companies.
Similarly, troop transports formed the foundation for bus companies, which developed to service the growing suburbs and break the isolation of those suburbs where no transport infrastructure had been built.
Aeroplanes, which had proven their worth during the war, were now pressed into service as commercial transport, and returning pilots found work in these industries flying DC3s as passenger transports.
Qantas began its first international service in 1958.
In 1956 the Circular Quay underground railway loop was opened in Sydney.
Communications
Distances made fast communication difficult, hence the development of the postal air service and the telegraph line by the turn of the 20th century.
Postwar, using the telephone to ring a distant telephone number meant going through an operator using a hand-linked machine called a Sylvester Board. Depending on the distance involved this could require several operators to complete the connection. Telephone users in the country also often shared ‘party’ lines where the operator/s and anybody on the same line could hear the conversations.
The telegram was used if there was a special message or an emergency, as it was sent by overland telegraph cable in code and translated at the other end. It was delivered by hand by a telegram boy.
The first Xerox photocopier was invented in 1958 and its use spread quickly across the world from the United States.
Social and cultural features
Fashion
‘Elegant’, ‘conservative’ and ‘stylish’ are the words synonymous with 1950s clothing for both men and women.
Women usually wore a hat and gloves when they went out.
Men usually wore a suit, even if they worked at a manual job, with a white shirt, short back and sides haircut and a hat.
Towards the end of the 1950s, as the austerity of the war receded and rationing ended, clothes became brighter, influenced more by the changing fashions of the United States rather than the conservative fashions of Britain.
In the late 1950s ‘bodgies’ and ‘widgies’ appeared, influenced by the leather bikie fashions of the ultimate rebel, James Dean, in Rebel Without a Cause, East of Eden and Giant. These fashions were to be revived in the musical stage show Grease in 1972 and later the film.
Music
In 1950 Joan Sutherland won the Mobil Quest, after winning the Sydney Sun Aria in 1949 and headed off to Europe to begin an illustrious career in opera.
The early 1950s were characterised by the crooners and bobby-soxers of the Frank Sinatra era, with Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney still favourites of the older generations.
The era of rock and roll began in the mid-1950s influenced by American movies and music, with ‘Rock Around the Clock’ from the film Blackboard Jungle really taking off in Australia, particularly when sung on TV by Johnny O’Keefe.
Elvis Presley became a world-wide phenomenon and younger people flocked to his films and looked for films of his performances wherever they could. The older audiences thought his performances ‘obscene’ because his swinging hips were too suggestive and many of his films were censored.
In 1958 a Sydney radio station published the first Australian Top 40 chart following a common practice in the United States.
Entertainment
In 1955 Barry Humphries’ alter-ego Edna Everage made her first appearance on stage in Melbourne.
Radio was king. Children listened to radio serials in the afternoon or the very popular ABC radio programs in the 5*to*6*pm evening timeslot and Mum and Dad listened to more adult soap opera sagas in the evening.
The radiogram was developed further and became cheaper, and with the advent of the 33*rpm long playing record, it became another important feature of home entertainment.
As the availability of television expanded so did the influence of the United States which flooded the market with sitcoms such as I Love Lucy, game shows and music shows.
British television countered with long dramas and soap operas.
Australian content remained important. Bob Dyer’s Pick-a-box, which had been a travelling theatre show, transferred over to television.
Popular music shows also transferred to television and again brought the American influence to the fore with filmed performances of popular groups and visiting artists appearing on live television.
Bandstand on commercial television and Six O’Clock Rock on the ABC became the icons of the late 1950s rock music scene in Australia and were, for their time, very advanced.
In ‘pubs’ men drank in the public bar and women only entered the ‘Lounge’.
Sport
In 1956 the Melbourne Olympics brought international sport to Australia and created some icons.
In the 1500 metres foot race in the National Championships just before the Olympics, John Landy was running well when his friend, Ron Clarke, was tripped and fell. Landy stopped, went back, helped Clarke to his feet and both resumed the race. Despite the distance lost and with only two laps to make up the distance, Landy went on to win the race—and the hearts and minds of all Australians. He later won the Bronze in the Olympics in the same event.
Ron Clarke set 17 world records in long-distance running.
Betty Cuthbert won three gold medals in the sprinting.
Murray Rose (3 gold) and Dawn Fraser (2 gold, 1 silver) dominated the swimming for Australia.
Ken Rosewall won a series of major titles in tennis in the latter half of the 1950s becoming one of the most enduring tennis players Australia had ever produced.
British or American influences on popular culture
British influence remained dominant with the older generations but was challenged during the 1950s by the United States and, more importantly, the arrival in Australia of more and more non-British migrants.
American films, comic books, fiction, music, fashion and dance all brought increasing influences from the United States building on the changes brought during World War II. The influences were new, energetic, challenging and, above all, different from those of previous generations.
