As you know, we’ve been looking at the development of the world and daily lives after the war in the 1950’s and today in class we looked at the importance of Disneyland in 1950’s America. The history of Disney itself is a tale unto it’s own, however, today I would like to talk about the idealistic life of the 1950’s that was highlighted and still is to this day in Main Street USA.
As you may be familiar with, there was an idea that became very popular after WWII called the nuclear family which depicted the ‘ideal’ American life, a fantastical world where life was always perfectly perfect. If you think about it, it would be a great idea for a horror story. But getting back on topic, obviously this is only a fantasy, no such world could exist but it would be nice to pretend. Which is exactly what this part of Disneyland is, a fantasy that allows you to live in a perfect world of pastels and pavement. The interesting thing about it though is that it’s specifically a fantasy of the 50’s and yet we still find it comforting.
This, I think really speaks to the idea of continuity and change. Although our views and ideals of a society has changed in the almost a century after its opening, our want for a carefree fairytale life has stayed.