Domesticating Television in the 1950s

Part Two: Private Space

Having looked at some of the concerns people had about television content, we will now consider how manufacturers sold TV sets to the American public.

This exercise uses the online database of television ads at Ad*Access, a digital archive at Duke University.

Click on "Ad*Access." Click on "browse Ad*Access." Then scroll down and choose the subject category "television." Then choose any of the years 1950, 1950, 1952, or 1953-1957.

Look at a variety of the ads for the year or years you chose. In your web journal, answer the following quesions.

  • What consistent themes do you see? What kinds of appeals were the ads making?
  • How were they presenting television? As exciting and new, or as comfortable and familiar?
  • Was it shown as an object of elite status, or as a democratic tool?
  • Was it associated with family, or with individuals?
  • Were the ads selling specific TV sets for their specific features, or were they still selling the idea of TV itself?
  • Most important, what do the ads tell you about American society in the 1950s?

Post the ads you choose, along with your commentary, in your "scrapbook." You should choose at least four ads, and write approximately two paragraphs about each ad, suing the "annotations" feature of the scrapbook. You should describe the kind of appeal the ad makes, and point to the elements of the ad that try to get that point across. You should include commentary on how the ad reflects the concerns of people in the 1950s. Remember to be as specific as possible.

Refer back to the exercise on analyzing advertisements if you feel unsure.