During the 1950s teen culture gave rise to rock and roll, the after school soda shop, and the sock hop. The relief and jubilation most people felt after the war ended had fueled a boom in light-hearted fun. After so much death and destruction the concept of having a longer childhood was one way that kids- including teens – were revered.

The young men of fighting age certainly did not have all the freedoms that their female counterparts did, but they came back to a nation which had fully recovered from the Great Depression and was ready to have a good time. The Luckiest Generation, while technically brought up in the 1950s, actually got its start in the 1940s. Before the 1940s the concept of the teen years as a separate and specific period of life was less prevalent.

Via/ U.S. National Archives
Tulare migrant camp, 1940. Via/ Library of Congress
“Oakland, California. High School Youth. Typical of the youth of this nation is the tipped-up bottle of pop. Also typical is the school store, situated just across the street from the school, which sells candy, coca-cola, and cigarettes and at lunch time, a five-cent plate of beans…” 1940. Via/ U.S. National Archives
Socializing and reading magazines at the library, 1942. Via/ Library of Congress
Recent high school graduate shows off his car in the school’s parking lot, 1940. Via/ U.S. National Archives
Compulsory education laws meant that more kids were staying in school until high school graduation, which meant a culture of teens studying at home or at the library. Photo taken in 1943. Via/ Library of Congress
“High school boy eating lunch where he works after school hours helping to relieve the manpower shortage,” 1942. Via/ Library of Congress
High school girls in 1943. Via/ Library of Congress
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