The 1950s
...ial Security benefits were extended and the minimum wage rose to $1.00 and hour. He also backed a $27 billion plan to build 42,000 miles of sleek, fast interstate highways. The construction of these modern roads created countless jobs and speeded the sub urbanization of America. This shows that president Eisenhower’s conservatism and acceptance of the New Deal made the 1950s an age of political conformity. The 1950s was a decade of social and cultural conformity. Diner’s club introduced the plastic credit card in 1950, and four years later, the first McDonalds’s hamburger stand opened in San Bernardino, California. These innovations were indications of an emerging new life-style of affluence that was in full flower by the 1950s. In 1946 virtually every American home had a television . Popular music was also transformed and accepted in the 50s. The chief revolutionary was Elvis Presley. Fusing back rhythm and blues with white bluegrass and country styles, he created a new musical idiom known forever after as rock and roll. A...