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TABLE OF CONTENTS
BACKSTAGE ESQUIRE FROM THE BEGINNING 13
DEDICATION Arnold Gingrich by Gay Talese 18
PROLOGUE Life in the Last Fifty Years by Ronald Steel 23
The Thirties
THE DEPRESSION YEARS Living with Hard Times by John Steinbeck 27
There was poverty, yes, and despair, but we learned again that some of the best things are free.
THE AGE OF FDR Ladies and Gentlemen, the Savior of the United States… by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. 36
The Depression deprived us not only of jobs but of belief in the future.
SWING TIME Stomping the Blues Away by George Frazier 38
When times got tough, we needed diversion, and the kings of swing helped us ride out the storm.
THIRTIES ROMANCE Wanted: A New Modern Man by Helen Lawrenson 42
Forget steadiness, consistency, strength of character. The liberated woman was after something completely different.
THIRTIES ROMANCE Ah Men, Ah Women Cartoons 52
THE LITERARY LIFE Coming to Terms with Scott and Ernest by Arnold Gingrich 54
Knowing them both intimately, he had to ask: Who was the better writer? Who was the better friend?
FASHION OF THE THIRTIES A Dapper Prince Sets the Style 66
The Forties
WAR AND PEACE Echoes of Distant Battle by William Styron 71
A generation forged in war had a hard lesson to learn: the fight would never be over.
CARRIER WAR The Last Great Air Battle by Peter Maas 78
It happened in the Pacific in 1944, when U.S. Hellcats destroyed what was left of the Japanese air force.
UNSUNG HEROES The Seeds of Black Revolt by Sinclair Lewis 84
The signs of impending conflict were clear to those few who knew where to look.
MORAL BUILDING IN AND OUT OF THE ARMY Cartoons 86
THE LOYALTY QUESTION The Victimization of Tokyo Rose by Diane Arbus 88
Whose was the voice that came over the Japanese airwaves urging surrender? We thought we knew.
FORTIES RHYTHMS The Birth of Bebop by Ralph Ellison 92
At Minton’s up in Harlem, Bird and Dizzy and Monk sketched out the shape of jazz to come.
PASTIMES Good Old Country Hardball by Tom Wicker 96
Baseball used to be skinned knees and soda pop and vacant lots: not just a game, but a whole way of life.
FASHION OF THE FORTIES Civvies’ Choice 104
THE URBAN EXODUS Moving Out by John Cheever 107
The good life came to mean a house full of children and a lawn to mow—in other words, the suburbs.
The Fifties
THE EISENHOWER ERA America in a Trance by Frank Conroy 115
During the sleepy Eisenhower years, a pretty cynical generation came of age.
1952 ELECTION The Checkers Speech by Garry Wills 122
With his famous broadcast, Nixon saved his career and proved the power of television as a political tool.
RED SCARE The Trial of Arthur Miller by John Steinbeck 134
When private morality was pitted against Congress’s concept of the public good, one man stood his ground.
McCARTHYISM The Frivolous Demagogue by Richard H. Rovere 138
He was vindictive, no doubt, but ultimately lacked the conviction to be truly evil.
EXPATRIATES Looking for Hemingway by Gay Talese 151
For this generation of Americans in Paris, living hip was the best revenge.
HIPSTERS The Philosophy of the Beats by John Clellon Holmes 158
They roamed, moving fast, out for kicks, the Beats were looking for something to believe in.
LOTUS LAND Star Gazing by Helen Lawrenson 170
As America watched, dazed, the Hollywood elite didn’t just entertain, they instructed.
SLANG AS WE USED TO SAY IN THE ’50s by Howard Junker 179
When a pill was like dope, and a joint was maybe a bar, and getting stoned meant hitting the booze.
TEEN-AGERS The Adoration of Frankie, Ricky, and Kookie by Thomas B. Morgan 184
Teen-agers formed a cult and they needed idols. They found them on American Bandstand.
FASHION OF THE FIFTIES Hip vs. Square 192