Teens used to spend their days working in dangerous conditions, helping out with the
chores, and finding their own entertainment with next to no available resources.
Today, they spend most of their time either at school or in their homes eyeballing their
phone or computer screens.
Today we will discuss just what brought about these changes over the decades in this episode
of the Infographics Show, The Lifestyle of Teenagers Over a Century.
In the early 1900s, similarly to today, not everyone had the same lifestyle and where
and how you lived depended on income.
Overall, America was becoming more urbanized with growing cities but most families lived
in the country and many were in poverty.
Those in country homes would often go to the bathroom in an outhouse and lack access to
running water.
In contrast, the richer segment of society would have hot water, toilets, and bathrooms
for their convenience.
If poor families resided in the city, they might live in something called a tenement
house where several families would use the same bathroom or outhouse outdoors.
Day to day life of teens at this time was filled with work and some play.
In the 1900s only half of those from the age of 5 to 19 went to school and most discontinued
their studies by the eighth grade.
Many, starting at a relatively young age, would work instead to contribute to the family
income.
In fact, 18% of workers in America were younger than 16 in the year 1900.
In the cities, work could be dirty and dangerous like coal mine labor or stressful and similarly
dangerous factory work.
City youth would also sell newspapers or shine shoes to make some money.
Manual labor didn’t end with a job either, children to young adults were also expected
to help with the chores as well.
Boys would do things such as shovel coal into the furnace to keep the home heated.
Girl’s would have tasks such as cleaning or helping with the cooking.
However, there was still time for entertainment, though many activities were quite different
from those of today.
There was no television, no computers, and no widespread use of radio at this point in
history.
Obviously, there were no cell phones either.
In fact, having a phone at all was a luxury that only the wealthiest could afford and
it was a shared line where anyone nearby could hear your conversation.
In other words, it would not be used to gossip or socialize.
For these reasons, young Americans were pretty much responsible for finding their own fun.
Indoors they would do things like play the piano, sing, and dance.
Outside those in cities would explore by bicycle or with roller skates.
Virtually no one had a car.
It wasn’t until 1910 that Henry Ford mass produced the automobile, and as a consequence
made them affordable to the general public.
Before that time, most would travel by horses and buggies, streetcars, train, boat, or bicycle.
The 1910’s to 1920’s saw continued innovation and industrialization, though it wasn’t
until the ‘20s that manufacturing overtook agriculture as the country’s main industry.
This was also when those between the age of 8 to 14 were legally required to go to school
across the country for the first time in America’s history.
Those living in rural areas often had a shorter school year so that they could also work on
the farm and when they did attend classes it was in one room for all grades.
In contrast, city schools separated students by grade.
Most didn’t go on to finish secondary school as the beginning of the 20s were prosperous
and they could easily find a good paying job without a high school diploma.
The 20’s are when many believe the concept of the teenager was first starting to be born,
though the term was not yet used.
Before this, there were simply children of different ages and adults.
Part of the reason sociologists believe that teenagers were starting to be recognized as
their own group was because of school, which changed them from just someone of a certain
age not so very different from those a little younger or older to someone who belonged to
his or her own unique culture.
School took them from their families and combined them in groups of similarly aged youth in
a closed environment completely separate from the outside world.
Here is where students began to form their own way of speech, accepted clothing, musical
preferences, and other behaviors that were typically at odds with adult role models,
specifically their parents.
In other words, teenagers were becoming distinctly different from younger children and older
adults.
This was truer than ever before when consolidated high schools popped up around the country,
the first which was opened in 1922.
Further, it was between 1908 and 1927 that Ford’s Model T dropped to a low enough cost
that as many as 15 million were sold.
As a consequence, more and more people had access to one.
This is what, some historians claim, brought about the concept of the independent teen
we still recognize today.
Before cars, teens typically hung out under the watchful eye of parents.
Courtships turned from an old fashioned and formal affair and hanging out as a group,
needing permission for something as simple as a moment alone, to an aloneness without
restriction.
Many consider this period a type of sexual revolution.
No longer were people waiting to tie the knot before fooling around and they were also dating
others further away as they could travel greater distances in their automobiles.
In addition to attending school daily and a new sense of independence and freedom, entertainment
teenagers could enjoy was evolving at this time as well.
The first radio station with scheduled broadcasting began on November 2, 1920.
Many would also go to the cinema more than once a week since it was considered a cheap
form of entertainment.
While there were silent pictures in the early ‘20s, it wasn’t until 1927 that the first
picture with sound came out, called The Jazz Singer.
The Jazz Singer was just one example of the music culture that was taking America by storm.
The ‘20s were known as the Jazz Age for a reason, and youth across the country were
dancing the Charleston with girls cutting their hair short and wearing lower cut and
shorter hemmed dresses and boys donning baggy pants.
The 1930’s brought about the great depression.
Teenagers could no longer find jobs easily.
There was an even greater emphasis placed on education and high school enrollment went
up.
This was also the time of the school bus which meant an end to many one-room schools in rural
areas as students could now be transported to schools elsewhere.
This provided a more equitable education for all no matter their socioeconomic background.
In this decade Congress finally passed well-overdue legislation meant to protect youth from abuse
in the workplace.
The Fair Labor Standards Act made it illegal to employ anyone younger than 16 in the fields
of mining or manufacturing.
Youth had to be at least 16 to work during the hours of school, 14 to work some jobs
after school, and 18 to hold an exceptionally dangerous job.
However, despite these protections it was a rough time due to the floundering economy.
Many young people lived on the streets and engaged in criminal activities.
However, it was not all bad.
Towards the end of this decade was when tiny television sets were first sold, though, it
wasn’t until much later that extensive commercial broadcasting began.
The 30’s to the 1950’s were still the time of the radio.
It was the way people would listen to music, hear the news, and other types of entertaining
programming.
Instead of teens scheduling their extracurriculars around TV, they scheduled around their favorite
radio show.
They enjoyed other things as well.
Superman comics were all the rage by June of 1938.
The 30’s were also when Jazz had changed to big band swing.
Teens were doing the jitterbug dance in a way of rebellious movement to music that allowed
them to push back against middle class conventions.
The 1940’s were when the word teenager with a hyphen between “teen” and “ager”
began to appear in print.
Though the idea had been growing since the ‘20s with the advent of school and cars,
it was post-Depression where it was a formally recognized life stage distinct from any other.
Life Magazine wrote a 1944 article trying to define what teenage meant for its millions
of readers.
It described a teenage American girl as one who finds “the most important thing in the
world is to be one of a crowd of other girls and to act and speak and dress exactly as
they do.”
Further, they stated that teenage girls were out of touch with the outside world and in
fact all but unaware of the war.
Instead, their focus was on clothing such as sweaters and loafers, having long hair
and rimmed glasses, painting their nails, moron-based jokes, stuffed animals, and boys.
Clearly this must have been somewhat of an exaggeration, but they made their point.
The time was quite different for boys who were sent off to war.
Many of those left behind tried to help where they could by collecting materials that could
be recycled and used for military equipment.
Even once the conflict ended, recovery took time.
And, when society needed a break from reality, they had several distractions available.
TV was growing in popularity, and for those who lived close enough to a station there
were many different types of commercial programing that became available by the end of the decade.
In addition to entertainment, newcasts were also aired at this time.
What were once radio programs became spin off TV programs, such as The Jack Benny Show.
As a result, network radio drastically declined.
The mid-forties brought about the end of the swing craze and made way for bebop.
Rhythm and blues music and vocal musicians became more popular and eventually morphed
to the rock and roll of the 50s.
Music and dancing continued to be a way for the young generation to express themselves
and break free of the restrictions held by greater society.
Dresses became shorter and boys wore zoot suits with jackets padded at the shoulders
and pants wide on top that tapered at the ankles.
The 1950’s saw great economic growth and prosperity.
Wages increased, including those for older working teens, giving them the freedom to
make their own purchases.
Many teenagers and their families moved from a dirty and chaotic life in the cities to
mass produced homes in suburbia.
Following this movement of people, fast food restaurants and shopping centers sprang up
nearby.
The second McDonalds opened its doors to Americans in 1955.
Fancy appliances that had before only been affordable to the wealthiest were available
to the middle-class.
This included things such as refrigerators, televisions, and range-top ovens.
The first color TV was broadcast in June of 1951 and Leave it to Beaver and Twilight Zone
started airing in 1957 and 1959.
By 1955 half of America owned a television set.
Rock and roll became the latest craze and Elvis Presley rose to fame with hip gyrations
that were the ultimate shock to older generations.
Teens would go out dancing on Saturday nights to jive along or listen to music on jukeboxes
at diners.
Girls around this time would wear long skirts with socks and their hair either up or in
curls.
Later on, beehives were quite popular.
They would also wear clothes that were form fitting in imitation of Marilyn Monroe while
boys were either clean-cut, bikers, or adopted an Elvis Presley style.
The 50’s and 60’s were also a time when teenage couples found privacy and entertainment
at the drive-in theatre.
It was not uncommon for teenagers to smoke cigarettes as well, though other types of
drugs were virtually unheard of.
Ultimately, lax discipline following the war and the influence of rock n roll combined
with ever-increasing freedom resulted in some problems.
This environment gave way to the rise of some young gangs.
The 1960’s brought about cable TV and access to a choice of hundreds of different channels.
The Beatles were introduced to the US via this route on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964.
Boys tried to simulate the look of the Beatles with colorful clothing purchases.
Overall, teens were making a lot of money and had cash to burn so business began to
target them as prospective buyers.
Girls would buy short miniskirts and revealing tops and style their hair long.
Tie-dye and bell bottoms rose in popularity as well though jeans were becoming the most
frequently worn pants, particularly Levis.
Because of the past war as well as the threat of nuclear weapons, teens at this time had
a live life to the fullest mentality.
Woodstock Music and Art Fair was a large celebration attended by 450,000 people in 1969 and there
was not one incident of violence.
In the 1970’s parents had fewer kids and invested more in the children they had.
The top 20% of society began to spend over twice as much on enrichment activities for
their families, like summer camps and sports.
However, teens seemed to be less optimistic than they were in the 60’s.
Many had trouble finding jobs as unemployment was on the rise.
However, they still enjoyed their music, TV, and self-expression.
Musicians such as the Sex Pistols and Ramones as well as TV such as Saturday Night Fever
resulted in clothing trends of disco clothes, platform shoes, flared pants, and crop tops.
Camouflage was also quite common.
So was the creation of the punk complete with glitter.
More and more young male stars led to youth having role models that they could look up
to and try to emulate.
This was when the concept of the teenybopper was born.
The 1980’s brought about videocassette recorders and allowed people to record programs or watch
movies of their own choosing within their homes.
This was also the time when video games became a wide-spread form of entertainment.
The first Macintosh computer was released in 1984.
The 80’s were also the years that began the importance of being cool via display of
the logo.
Teens were willing to spend their own, or their parent’s, money on high-priced items
that came with a distinctive emblem indicating its exact brand.
This continued into the following decade as well.
With Madonna’s rise to fame many also copied her style.
Clothing was increasingly unisex with people rocking the punk look, designer clothes, and
sportswear as society became more interested in health.
In fact, teens would often workout with others and wear fitness gear both in and out of gyms.
Entertainment was, of course, as important as ever.
Teens would spend their weekends clubbing and dancing to hip-hop or rap.
They would also watch TV or movies on a daily basis.
Unfortunately, many were also turning to drugs.
Crack, heroine and diseases such as AIDS and HIV thought to be spread through the sharing
of needles became much more prevalent.
A new focus was placed on safe sex to protect against disease.
The 1990’s for teens and their families, was a time for TV that left its mark on many
aspects of their lives.
While only thousands of homes had a television set in 1947, all but two percent of the population
had one in the ‘90s.
In 1998 high-resolution HDTV television was first aired and by 1998 many were starting
to be able to use the Internet to view videos and television broadcasts as well.
The social life and activity level of teens changed drastically between 1995 to 2015 due
to technology.
In 1995, teens would watch two and a half hours of TV each day and many enjoyed such
things as MTV programming.
Most families owned a VCR and would rent movies from Blockbuster, which has since all but
gone out of business with one store remaining.
Still, more than half of teenagers would still find time to talk to their friends on the
phone and hangout with others twice a week or more.
In 1995, only 11% of teens were considered overweight.
By 2005 average media use rose to 6 hours.
Netflix began to replace Blockbuster by mailing DVDs to people’s homes and music started
to be downloaded from the Internet.
Teens used the Internet more than adults and this fueled the rise of the Myspace and Facebook
era as well as Youtube.
They were still hanging out with friends 2 hours each day and physically active for at
least 1 hour but fears for safety make it less common to spend time out outside.
Bike riding became less common and 16% of teens were overweight.
By 2015, the time teenagers spent on various media increased even more, now to over 7 hours
each day.
Most even have TVs in their rooms.
They use their phones to listen to music as well as text, which they do much more often
than have an actual conversation.
Most no longer socialize out of school which has impacted malls and retailers targeting
them as their main source of income.
28% of the teenage population is now overweight.
Only 5% don’t use the internet and most who do use it to post their own pictures.
Facebook is losing favor in place of Instagram and apps such as WhatsApp now have almost
a billion users.
The once-cool logo has been replaced by technology, and different social media outlets are now
the newest way to show off and be judged as well as hook up with others.
As we have seen, the concept of the teenager has developed over time and how this group
has lived and behaved changed accordingly.
How do you think things would be different now if school was not required or cars were
still only a luxury?
How about if technology was less readily available?
Let us know in the comments!
Also, be sure to check out our other video called 10 ten Jobs for Teenagers!
Thanks for watching, and, as always, don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe.
See you next time!