Life in the 1950s

Complete the following cloze passage about life in the 1950s. Use the words from the box below.

Supermarkets, work, Bill Hailey, baby boomers, optimism, rose, tennis, corner shop, conservative, Frank Sinatra,’ lucky country’ suburbs, earlier, 1956, Sundays, family, Melbourne, opportunity, prospered, Dawn Fraser, to buy a house, British, hire purchase, both, outdoor, fish and chips, Ken Rosewell, Jack Brabham, Elvis Presley, ‘The Wild One’, ‘I Love Lucy’, market, widgies

During the 1950s, Australia _______________ and the standard of living ______________ . Young

people moved out to the newly emerging _______________ in search of the ‘Australian Dream’ to

________________________ . With a new ________________ for the future, people tended to

marry ________________ and start a family.

The birth rate soared and the generation of children born after the war became known as

the ___________________________ . Their parents had endured so much and now wanted to

ensure that their children had every ___________________ to succeed. This led in part to an

emphasis on owning material goods. ______________ finance boomed in the 1950s as people

borrowed money on credit to buy the latest in radios, washing machines, furniture or cars. Secure

employment, high real wages, and opportunity for married women to go to __________ convinced

many Australians that it was safe to acquire the latest consumer goods through borrowing.

Australian society in the 1950s was both _________________ and pro-________________.

The _______________was very important and people in authority-teachers, doctors, police, bank

managers and other professionals-were seldom questioned. Most children lived in a household in

which __________parents lived. Divorce was difficult and social problems were seldom discussed as

the prosperity of the 1950s led to a belief that Australia was the _____________________. Most

people appeared to live a happy, secure existence which was the envy of the world.

In the 1950s, suburbs were spreading and homes were much larger than those earlier in the

century. Sewerage was gradually extended throughout the suburbs, but for most people an

_______ toilet, usually at the back of the quarter-acre block was still normal. The _____________

was within walking distance of home in the more established suburbs; ________________ did not

begin to appear until the late 1950s. Most people ate home cooked meals and the family sat down

to eat together. ‘Take-aways’ were either _____________________ or hamburgers from the local

milk bar.

Sport was an important part of life in the 1950s. Sport was still banned on ____________ but

Saturday afternoons were an opportunity for people to go to watch their favourite team. In ____

Australia won the Davis Cup eight times, and was dominated by the likes of Lew Hoad, __________

and Frank Sedgeman. In football and cricket, Australian teams were also successful and attracted

large crowds. The world came to ____________________ in 1956 when the city hosted the Olympic

Games and came third in the medal tally with the likes of swimmers ___________________ and

Murray Rose and runner Betty Cuthbert. _________________________ won the Formula One.

The 1950s also saw the arrival of rock ‘n’ roll. Before this, much pop music had been ‘nice

sedate and white. It was Bing Crosby, _____________________ and Perry Como. That changed with

______________________ and the Comets ‘ Rock around the Clock’ in 1954. However it was ____

___________ who really ignited the rock ‘n’ revolution. He frightened white conservative people in

the US and in Australia. His music was seen as dangerous, sexual and black. Soon artists were

emulating Presley, most notably Johnny O’Keefe who was known as ___________________,

following his big chart success and Col Joye.

Rock ‘n’ roll music was one obvious new style of entertainment in the 1950s. The other was

television, which arrived in Australia in _____________ .By the end of the decade, teenagers were

apparently watching up to 12 hours a week. Televisions were expensive and required a licence.

People would invite friends around for TV evenings or even stand outside shops and watch the

picture. US programs like __________________ proved most popular.

The 1950s saw the beginnings of the ‘teenager’. Before the 1950s, people were either

children or adults, but with the increasing prosperity of the time, the teenager had become a

separate ___________________. US rock ‘n’ roll and films like ‘Rebel without a Cause’ gave

teenagers their own music, their own language and their own fashion, and they were beginning to

challenge conservative Australian values. Bright shirts and tight jeans, riding motor bikes and ‘looser’

morals were concerning older people. In Australia, rebellious boys were known as ‘bodgies’ while

the girls were called ______________________ .