How could 1950s families afford to have only a working father, but a stay-at-home mother?
By living cheaply and having different expectations from life.It was common for such families to own only one car, saving on insurance, gas, and maintenance. It was common to park that car on a carport or open drive, not in a garage. There was no central air conditioning, pool pump, Internet, or cable bill to pay. The newspaper was cheap—subsidized by advertising—and TV was free, if you owned a set—which most families didn’t until the late 1960s. With a full-time mom at home, there were no day care costs, no dishwasher, and often no clothes dryer, even in homes that had a washer.There was no eating out. That was something the adults might do once or twice a year. It was a big deal. Even when I was a kid, we only ate out rarely, usually after a family outing, perhaps a dozen times a year. When I was in kindergarten, the big McDonald’s promotional slogan—aimed at stay-at-home moms—was “You deserve a break today.” It was apt and effective. It wasn’t until the disco era that people started viewing fast food as a normal part of their diet, or restaurants as a normal source of prepared meals.If you could grow a garden you did, and the one truly indispensable household appliance was a deep freeze—which made it possible to save leftovers, excess garden produce, and venison for future use. You clipped coupons. You entered contests. You dreamed—if you were my mom—of the life you might have as a carefree writer if only…but that wasn’t real life. If you were a woman, you did the ironing and the cleaning and the caring. If you were a serviceman’s wife, you did the repairs too—whether or not you really knew how.Oh, and if you got really sick, you just died, and that was an accepted part of life.This was not inherently better or worse than how we live today. It was simpler, but it was often highly inequitable.EDIT: I did not, in my answer, mean to imply that the answer was poverty, only that the middle class—in general—was satisfied with a life that was in many ways, far less materially ambitious. Obviously the middle class has always included a range of incomes. My father was career military and my mother was a teacher who quit for almost 20 years to raise a family. That should have put them square in the lower middle of the middle class of the time.
Why weren't fathers allowed in the delivery room in the 1950's?
There were many subjects back then that were considered Taboo. Sex wasn't openly discussed & even the old TV shows like I Love Lucy had 2 single beds never a double one. Men were kept out of the delivery room because back then it was considered a Woman's thing to deliver a baby. Men & Women's role were more cut & dry a man went to work & women stayed home & did all the child rearing.
Did people look older back in the 50s and 60s?
I'm not sure what you mean by 'a dad' - a boy can father a child by the age of about 11! I looked at some photos of Valens - and he doesn't look much older than a teenager in most of them. Some teens look older than others - I've met boys (and girls) of 17 who could be mistaken for 25-year-olds, and others who look more like 12. But you have to remember that in the 50s and 60s there was no such thing as a 'teenager'. You were a child until you were 21, and then you were an adult. There were no fashions for people in their teens. You dressed in children's clothes until you were old enough to buy your own, and then you dressed as an adult. In the case of actors and musicians, they would start dressing as an adult much earlier - they wanted to look more mature, more sophisticated, and to be taken seriously. Hairstyles were the same: childrens' 'short back and sides' for boys, and a simple bob or ponytail for girls, but once you were an adult, you were expected to have adult's hairstyles. So, with Valens, he was trying to look like an adult - with adult clothes and hair.
How were women viewed in the 1950s?
In the 50s there were more women who were interested in getting married and raising a family, which in those days was seen as a fulfilling way of life. The idea that everyone must be out at work all the time had not yet taken hold. Single women worked for a living then as now, but generally expected to give up work when they got married. 'Juggling' was not seen as a particularly desirable option and indeed was considered something of a stigma by some people. Working was something you did from economic necessity in those days, and a woman who had to work after marriage was probably poor. Women who were married were not necessarily models of docility as some people nowadays seem to imagine. There were plenty of assertive women then as now.
What was the typical family in the 1950's?
As far as family dynamics are concerned: Children still obeyed parents. Females were still expected to act a certain “ladylike” way and males were still expected to act like gentlemen. Sex was taboo, premarital sex was not accepted and if a girl found herself “in the family way” (a slang for pregnant) many times she was shipped off to live with relatives or admitted to some special school for girls. Women were still obligated to the status of housewife and men were the main breadwinners in the family. Children, including teenagers, were to be seen and not heard but by the mid-1950’s, that was becoming more difficult because of newfound freedoms, rock and roll music, and other outlets teenagers had available to them. I believe that the average family size was 3 in 1950 but rose to 4........ For specific statistics regarding family size, median income, etc., try checking out the bureau of labor statistics or census page. Here is a link for the 1950 stats: http://www.bls.gov/opub/uscs/1950.pdf