Most early Park Foresters were young couples with small children and one car. Fathers commuted long distances every day, mainly to jobs in downtown Chicago. Many commuters traveled by company-sponsored vans, car pools, and rush-hour-only public transportation in order to leave the car with the family.
The car gave women more mobility and more power to structure their own days. Park Forest was a bridge between the old railroad and the new automobile suburbs.
Many early residents took the train to jobs in Chicago. Building the backyard barbecue, Park Forest, Illinois, mids. Courtesy of Park Forest Public Library. The men were away from the community all week. They made up for lost time on weekends, doing home improvements, playing with the kids, and participating in community groups.
Kids in the tot lot, Park Forest, Illinois, Unlike older cities, towns, and suburbs, with their mix of people of all ages, the new postwar suburbs were inhabited primarily by young families. There were few older people or even older children in the early years. Coffee klatch, Park Forest, Illinois, In the s, one-third of Park Forest wives were college-educated, but few worked outside the home or even left the neighborhood during the day. Many women met over coffee, attended self-improvement classes, and became involved in local community issues.
One of the most striking features of the new suburbs was their uniformity: they were filled with young, white families. Black families, even those who could afford to move to the suburbs, were often unwelcome.
Park Forest was not officially segregated, but developers gave preference to white World War II veterans with families. The first African American family moved into Park Forest in , more than a decade after the village was founded.
Yvonne Robinson, an educator in a nearby suburb, moved to Park Forest with her family in Only about a half-dozen black families lived in Park Forest at that time, and the Robinson children were the first to integrate their elementary school. Before the Robinsons moved in, the Park Forest Social Action Committee canvassed the neighborhood, calming concerns and getting an idea of how neighbors would accept the family. This level of community involvement was important to Mrs. Protesters had burned down her brothers' house in a nearby suburb the year before.
After the hardships and deprivations of World War II, the s promised prosperity and a better life for many Americans. More families earned more money, bought cars, and bought or rented their own homes. New government home construction and mortgage programs helped draw builders and white residents away from aging cities.
Massive new developments such as Park Forest, Illinois, promised affordable housing, open spaces, safe streets, and similar neighbors. Depression and war had created a postwar housing crisis. To help make decent, affordable housing available, the federal government passed laws that encouraged suburban housing development.
Middle- and working-class families rushed to buy or rent homes in the new developments. By , more than 8, people lived in the two-year-old development. By , Park Forest had nearly 30, residents. The open spaces and kid-friendly environment of suburbs like Park Forest made large outdoor toys like this pedal car increasingly popular.
Owning a bicycle gave children a certain amount of freedom. This was especially true in the suburbs, where roads were less crowded and drivers were used to large numbers of children moving through the neighborhood. In the s, as new suburbs prospered and spread across postwar America, cities suffered.
Rising car and truck ownership made it easier for businesses and middle- and working-class white residents to flee to the suburbs, leaving behind growing poor and minority populations and fiscal crises. Transit systems lost riders and money, and traffic jammed city streets. Soon after World War II, and years before the federal government funded the interstate system, city planners dusted off a superhighway planning document. They began construction of a system of expressways that they hoped would accommodate the car and stem the flow of people and investment out of the central city.
In the s, U. The station wagon became a symbol of postwar suburban life. Suburban parents came to rely on these large cars to commute, cart the family, shop, and ha ul household goods.
In the s, Chicago built expressways that linked the suburbs with the center of the city. Intended to ease traffic flow, these high-speed corridors instead drove away residents and businesses and tore apart inner-city neighborhoods. The cars pouring into Chicago had to park somewhere. The automobile industry was booming, with companies like Ford adopting assembly lines and drastically increasing production.
Families had delayed having children because of poverty and wartime circumstances, so the US underwent a baby boom during the improved conditions of the s. The suburbs became an increasingly popular location to live, and affordable housing caused a great increase in the population there. The addition of shopping centers and fast food restaurants added to the ease of living in the suburbs and further increased its popularity. What was life like in the suburbs in the s? Aug 6, There were many aspects of life in the suburbs in the s.
Explanation: The American Dream was finally becoming attainable, and families had the opportunity to purchase their own houses and cars. That's why the s is fascinating for so many people, and the subject of many paranormal or horror films, TV shows, or other works of media-- underneath those smiling faces and happy families were deep wounds that were never healed.
Tradwife is a combination of the words traditional and wife. The aesthetic is anti-feminist, preferring women play their "traditional roles" of wives and mothers. The movement glorifies domestic tasks like cooking, baking, cleaning, and laundry. A major part of the aesthetic is pleasing the husband.
While it always glorifies an idealized picture of the s, some supporters especially men also glorify domestic violence under the guise of "keeping the wife in line. Many stores that offer vintage clothing include rockabilly and greaser styles in their s collections but those styles should be avoided as their are from different aesthetics which are more sexual.
Aesthetics Wiki Explore. Home Wiki Staff How can I help? How to find your Aesthetic FAQ. Site Rules. Recent blog posts. Explore Wikis Community Central. Register Don't have an account?
0コメント