The world of the Play: Macro The 1950s was the decade that ran from January 1, 1950 to December 31, 1959. During the early 1950s in the United States manufacturing and home construction was on the rise as the American economy was on the upswing. The 1950s in the developed western world are generally considered both socially conservative and highly materialistic in nature.

American influence on European teenagers was huge. Rock and Roll idols including Elvis Presley, Bill Hayley, Jerry Lee Lewis and film stars James Dean and Marlon Brando set fashions almost unwittingly. The main looks for teenagers were greasers and preppies. Greasers followed the standard black leather and denim jeans look set by Marlon Brando in "The Wild One" (1953) and later emulated in the 1978 film called "Grease". They raced about town on motorbikes and were consider outrageous. Preppie qualities were neatness, tidiness and grooming. Teen girls wore full dirndl or circular skirts with large appliqués on their clothing. Neat pleated skirts were also popular. The pleated skirts were made from a then new fabric called TERYLENE (polyester) which helped maintain razor sharp sunray pleating.

Social norms are the behavioral expectations and cues within a society or group. This sociological term has been defined as "the rules that a group uses for appropriate and inappropriate values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors." These rules may be explicit or implicit. Failure to follow the rules can result in severe punishments, including exclusion from the group." They have also been described as the "customary rules of behavior that coordinate our interactions with others." The social norms indicate the established and approved ways of doing things, of dress, of speech and of appearance. These vary and evolve not only through time but also vary from one age group to another and between social classes and social groups. What is deemed to be acceptable dress, speech or behaviour in one social group may not be accepted in another. Social conservatism is a political or moral ideology that believes government and/or society have a role in encouraging or enforcing traditional values or behaviors based on the belief that these are what keep people civilized and decent. Social conservatism was really pushed then because they didn't want there townspeople necking or changing the rules it was a problem, that's the reason why the Mayor was trying to get Chad out of the town.

Civil Rights- In the early 1950s the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling by the Supreme Court of the United States opened the door to the beginnings of the right for all Americans to an equal and fair education regardless of race, creed or religion. During this time, racial segregation was still present in the United States and other countries. The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s would soon begin. Key figures like Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and Rosa Parks highlighted and challenged those who were against equal rights and freedoms for black Americans. These developments among others would be key talking points in the advancement of equal rights across the world over the years to come. Civil Rights played a major role blacks didn't have the same freedom as whites did, even though in this show the blacks were a little more privileged but not when it came to dating.
Anti-miscegenation laws, also known as miscegenation laws, were laws that banned interracial Marriage and sometimes interracial sex between members of two different races. In the United States, interracial marriage, cohabitation and sex have since 1863 been termed " miscegenation."Contemporary usage of the term "miscegenation" is less frequent.
I used this info about Anti miscegenation to show how the laws were very strict when it came to interracial dating, the characters Dean and Lorraine were on the hide out through out the show because they knew that it was a problem in society's eyes.
Music- Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977; middle name sometimes spelled Aron) was an American singer and actor. Presley began his career in 1954 as one of the first performers of rockabilly, an up-tempo fusion of country and rhythm and blues with a strong back beat popular—and controversial—as did his uninhibited stage and television performances. Presley had a versatile voice, and had unusually wide success encompassing many genres, including rock and roll, gospel, blues, country, ballads and pop. To date, he has been inducted into four music halls of fame. Throughout his career, he set records for concert attendance, television ratings and recordings sales. He is the best-selling solo artist in the history of music,selling over one billion records internationally, and he is regarded as one of the most important figures of twentieth century popular culture.
I used this info about Elvis to represent the inspiration of the writers and producers of the show, also to get a more detailed background about Elvis.
James Byron Dean (February 8, 1931 – September 30, 1955) was an American film actor.Dean's had a lot of status as a cultural icon he was best embodied in the title of his most celebrated film, Rebel Without a Cause, in which he starred as troubled stereotypical high school rebel Jim Stark. The other two roles that defined his star power were as the awkward loner Cal Trask in East of Eden, and as the surly farmer Jett Rink in Giant. His enduring fame and popularity rests on only three films, his entire starring output. His death at a young age helped guarantee a legendary status.
In the play the character quotes "I think you look like James Dean about to enter an old folks home." I used James Dean info just to give a brief bio about him so that our audience will have an idea of who he is once he is mentioned.
Fashion-Nothing was more poplar then the saddle shoes. All the preppy girls would wear them! Today all girls of the fifties miss these fashion shoes. Even though they were very heavy and rather stiff. They were black and white and looked like a sneaker.Leather Jackets: Leather jackets were very famous for teenage boys during the 50's.The leather jackets help them attract girls. The collar of the black leather jacket must be turned up to be a “hep”. The jacket is also very expensive but worth it! But one thing that the guys back in the 50's wont let go of was his Leather Jacket and his comb! Skirts: Poodle skirts were very popular in the fifties. Young teenagers and women wore them. It is a wide swing skirt with a fabric poodle placed on the right bottom part of the skirt. It is well known and it is very popular. Another type of skirt was the pencil skirt! No wardrobe was complete without a pencil skirt. Pencil skirts are long below the knee and not wide as the poodle skirts are. They're very tight together to your legs. They were a bit sexier. None the less the girls looked great.
I chose to discuss the fashion in the 50's era to give more history about the style and how the girls were very conservative at the time the guys were more on the cool side with the leather jacks. Throughout the show you see how Chad comes and changes the mood of the show.

Juvenile delinquency-Crime committed by young people has risen since the mid-twentieth century, as has most types of crime. The level and types of youth crime can be used by commentators as an indicator of the general state of mortality and law and order in a country, and consequently youth crime can be the source of moral panics .Theories on the causes of youth crime can be viewed as particularly important within criminology. This is firstly because crime is committed disproportionately by those aged between fifteen and twenty-five. Secondly, by definition any theories on the causes of crime will focus on youth crime, as adult criminals will have likely started offending when they were young. I chose to bring up juvenile delinquency just to demonstrate how they law in the play was so strict and soon as anyone made a mistake they were gonna be told or penalized.