When was life in America basically 'modern'? (Roman, greatest, influence)

[munna21977]

New York World Fair of 1939 was an interesting event. USA was world super power by that time.
[Amateur film: Wathen collection: New York World's Fair, 1939-40] (Part II) : Wathen, R.W. : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive

Interesting clips there.

[chirack]

Originally Posted by Trimac20

Here's one definition of modern:


Of or relating to the present or recent times as opposed to the remote past.


It is, of course, partly subjective, but I'll define the modern lifestyle as having these features:

1. Electricity. This is easy enough to figure out, we just have to look at when electricity was 'discovered' or rather utilised, and when the majority of households had it. These dates, we'll say, were about 1880 and 1935 or so respectively in the US.

2. Appliances. This like refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, washing machines. Of course you need electricity to powers these, so mostly electrical appliances. I'd say most of the common appliances were common by the 1940s.

3. Globalised Media: Largely electronic-based, so again relating to electricity (a trend here). I'd say the 'modern era' thus began with the wireless radio, which was common in most homes by the late 1930s, and the television which became more common than not by the early 1960s. The later modern period was characterised by computers, which became mainstream by the late 1980s.

4. Automated transportation: Probably by the early 20th century, first with rail/streetcars, then automobiles. Now both co-exist, of course. The later modern period was characterised by the wide availability of air travel.

5. Modern way of thinking/talking, pluralism, liberalism: I'd say judging by movies, novels.etc people started 'talking' like they do earlier than we think. The quaint way of speaking, 'thou' and 'ye' seemed to have died off well back in the 1800s, so I'd say as early as the First World War people talked pretty 'plain', especially in America.

Street Cars and are 19th Century. First horse drawn omnibuses, then cable cars and finally electric cars.

Autos too are 19th century, but won’t be cheap/used by commoners till the early 20th century.

Appliances are an interesting lot. The 20ies would be when most come out but some like refrigerators would be too expensive for the working man till the 50ies (and WWII interrupts these luxuries of life). Washing machines have a long history that dates to the 19th century and the definition changes a bit (i.e. Do you mean ringer washers from the 20ies?)

Ah the telegraph also enabled fast global communication as well as the previous version of radio(radio originally did not carry voice it carried Morse code..i.e. Titanic taps out it’s distress signal). And people know about the disaster before the survivors have arrived in new York.

[Johnhw2]

I agree that technology step changes define when modern life began. Perhaps a chart with energy use per capital in the US would show us when the sharp rise as we left the out dated more manual effort times for the modern times. Without the time savings from technological devices we wouldnt have time to spend on CD to share ideas nor find time to deal with some of the social changes cited earlier. Social changes could occur when we had more time to address them as the basics of life...because less time consuming with automation/technology.

[Escort Rider]

Originally Posted by munna21977

New York World Fair of 1939 was an interesting event. USA was world super power by that time.

Sorry, but USA was definitely not a super power in 1939. Although we did have a lot of industrial capacity, our military was small and weak, and the prevailing political attitude was isolationist. More than a dozen countries had military establishments larger than ours as late as 1941. It took enormous efforts of organization and training to prepare and equip the soldiers, sailors, and airmen for our participation in World War II. It took a year or so before we were ready to project significant numbers of troops, tanks, guns, airplanes, and ships far from our shores. The initial efforts at ground combat on our part, in North Africa and at Guadalcanal in the Pacific, had relatively small numbers of fighting men committed. Gradually, of course the numbers grew and grew, and we became a super power through our inovations of designing better and more advanced aircraft as well as other advances such as more sophisticated radar, and more importantly, the atomic bomb.

[Trimac20]

Originally Posted by jtur88

I think life in America took a huge turn in the 60s-70s, when civil rights became politically correct, the N-word was abolished, people wore smiley buttons that said Have a nice day, women assumed visible authority, dress became casual, Christian fundamentalists became widespread and conspicuous, war and imperialism were no longer virtues, nudity and profanity became commonplace in movies. The general social attitude of the people was very, very different in the 70s than it was in the 50s. Which I think is a more profound change than the introduction of consumer and household technology.

Because the changs in the 60s was more recent, that would be the beginning of "Modern" America.

I think Christian Fundamentalists didn't change, the society around them changed. If you hear sermons from MAINSTREAM Protestant preachers from 1880, they'd sound extreme even to some Fundies today! Society as a whole was a lot more Fundies, I mean most people believed in the literality of a 6 day creation, Noah's Ark, miracles.etc back then, but now it's considered being a fundie.

[Trimac20]

Originally Posted by Escort Rider

Sorry, but USA was definitely not a super power in 1939. Although we did have a lot of industrial capacity, our military was small and weak, and the prevailing political attitude was isolationist. More than a dozen countries had military establishments larger than ours as late as 1941. It took enormous efforts of organization and training to prepare and equip the soldiers, sailors, and airmen for our participation in World War II. It took a year or so before we were ready to project significant numbers of troops, tanks, guns, airplanes, and ships far from our shores. The initial efforts at ground combat on our part, in North Africa and at Guadalcanal in the Pacific, had relatively small numbers of fighting men committed. Gradually, of course the numbers grew and grew, and we became a super power through our inovations of designing better and more advanced aircraft as well as other advances such as more sophisticated radar, and more importantly, the atomic bomb.

Yes WWI basically affirmed the US's status as top dog, as the European Empires declined (look how easily the once great France was toppled by the Third Reich).

[Escort Rider]

Originally Posted by Trimac20

Yes WWI basically affirmed the US's status as top dog, as the European Empires declined (look how easily the once great France was toppled by the Third Reich).

Take a look at the numbers of soldiers fielded by the U.S. in World War I as compared to the numbers under arms fielded by the British, the French, or the Germans. We perhaps did indeed tip the balance for victory, but it was not our victory. And we were not "top dog" following that war.

When we read the details of the German Blitzkrieg against France and the low countries which was unleashed in May of 1940, one thing that emerges from all accounts is that it was a much closer run thing than is apparent from a glance at the end result. The French deficits in command and communications combined with new concepts in rapid mobile warfare put into effect by the Germans kept the French off-balance and unable to respond properly. In actual numbers of tanks, airplanes, and other such measures, the two sides were reasonably close to equal. It was the leadership which was dramatically unequal.

Let's not forget that the first encounter between U.S. and German troops in North Africa resulted in the U.S. getting its a** kicked in no uncertain terms at the Kasserine Pass. We learned quickly, however, and were willing to promote the right men to command positions such as division and corps command (and beyond) ignoring strict seniority. Therefore, our leadership improved rapidly in the hard school of actual combat as the nation embarked on its path to becoming a super power.

[ciceropolo]

I think life in America was basically modern in 1950/60's. The dominant technologies invented in late 19th and early 20th century did not get high penetration and distirbution throughout the USA until after WW2, when, the industrial capacity previously dedicated to war efforts switched over to civilian consumer products. In a way it was economic nirvana as the USA being the only industrialized country not adversely impacted by the warfare of WW2, had all its engines on full bore - while that generation which was rebuilding the former war torn world in many aspects - enjoyed the economic fruits of the labors.

This continued the in migration into major metro cities from rural areas for war employment, women getting a heavy dose of working for pay in industries formerly closed to them, and rapid build out / distribution of telephone, radio, tv, auto and air flight which served to 'shrink' the known and 'experienced' world to most people alive by major magnitudes. This continues on obviously, but from a stand point of feeling modern I'd say late 50's.

As for thinking /talking I'd say 1960's/70's just because there seemed to be a magnitude in shift of public discourse on many social oriented issues which were first broached in late 50's but due to advent of mediums of coverage became focal point of 60's (Race, Sex, Females exerting themselves, mass consumerist centric acculturation via media etc...). Whether the ways these manifested themselves is 'modern progress' with its fits and starts would be a different topic, but I think that pivot point to modernity as we know it in todays age, occured right around those two decades and has amplified - good, bad, and indifferent.

[tvdxer]

Originally Posted by Trimac20

Here's one definition of modern:


Of or relating to the present or recent times as opposed to the remote past.


It is, of course, partly subjective, but I'll define the modern lifestyle as having these features:

1. Electricity. This is easy enough to figure out, we just have to look at when electricity was 'discovered' or rather utilised, and when the majority of households had it. These dates, we'll say, were about 1880 and 1935 or so respectively in the US.

2. Appliances. This like refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, washing machines. Of course you need electricity to powers these, so mostly electrical appliances. I'd say most of the common appliances were common by the 1940s.

3. Globalised Media: Largely electronic-based, so again relating to electricity (a trend here). I'd say the 'modern era' thus began with the wireless radio, which was common in most homes by the late 1930s, and the television which became more common than not by the early 1960s. The later modern period was characterised by computers, which became mainstream by the late 1980s.

4. Automated transportation: Probably by the early 20th century, first with rail/streetcars, then automobiles. Now both co-exist, of course. The later modern period was characterised by the wide availability of air travel.

5. Modern way of thinking/talking, pluralism, liberalism: I'd say judging by movies, novels.etc people started 'talking' like they do earlier than we think. The quaint way of speaking, 'thou' and 'ye' seemed to have died off well back in the 1800s, so I'd say as early as the First World War people talked pretty 'plain', especially in America.

1. Electricity - Snippet from Wikipedia:

Household electrification

The electrification of households in the U.S. began around 1905 in major cities and in areas served by electric railways and increased rapidly until about 1930 when 70% of households were electrified. Many of the remaining mostly rural households were electrified before 1950 by the Rural Electrification Administration.[26]
Rural electrification

In the U. S. in 1930, only 10% of farms had electricity. Partly through the establishment of the Rural Electric Administration (REA) in 1935, the percentage of farms with electricity increased to 33% in 1940. Farms were electrified in Europe before the U.S.

2. Appliances - The U.S. experienced a boom in household appliance ownership (refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, etc.) in the 1920s, partly through the extension of credit to the normal citizen. The post-war period also saw major growth in domestic appliances.

3. Globalized media - Radio broadcasts started in 1920 and by the end of the decade, it seems as though most households owned a radio set. Rural households without electricity could own sets, too, that ran off battery power. TV set ownership was a rarity in the U.S. in 1949 but by 1960 had spread to most homes. Color TV was the norm by the early-mid 1970s, by which time an increasing amount of homes were wired into the cable system for better reception of local channels and reception of non-local "independents" distributed through microwave networks. Satellite distribution of premium services as well as very early cable channels (ESPN, HBO, CBN, Showtime, etc.) began in 1975. Backyard satellite dishes, which tapped into services intended for cable companies, began to appear in the early 1980s but experienced a steep decline with the introduction of encryption in 1986. FM radio existed in the 1930s and commercial broadcasts started in the 1940s, but it did not dominate over AM radio until about 1980-1985. Mini-dish satellite service appeared in 1994.

4. Automated transportation - Electric streetcar networks existed in most U.S. cities by 1900. The private automobile made a big appearance in the 1920s and by 1930 the majority of American homes had one.

[WestCobb]

Originally Posted by Trimac20

That's what fascinates me. Dolly Parton talks about growing up in the Great Smokies in the 1950s, and she could be talking about the 1850s or even the 1750s. She was of the minority who didn't have electricity.etc. The difference between 1950 and today is that the modern lifestyle is now ubiquitous, even in deepest Appalachia.

It fascinates me too to think of the disparity and differences between Americans depending on region and class. I lived in North Idaho in the mid 90s for a brief time. Many of the people up there had just installed indoor plumbing. They were totally modern and didn't seem that different than the folks of southern California (where I had moved from), but it was still so bizarre to me ... people were living without indoor plumbing in America in the 1980s -- and this was the norm. These were regular, middle class people. I have a buddy who grew up there who is a bit younger than me (he was a kind in 80s) and he told me the house he grew up in didn't have an indoor bathroom, but they did have running water in the kitchen.