Summary

In the Suburbs

Source Archive Films by Getty Images
Title: In the Suburbs
File Number: PA-2323 Beta SP; PA-0738 Digibeta; PA-0736 (b&w) Digibeta
Color: B W, Color
Type: Educational Industrial
Year: 1957
Subjects: Suburbia Baby boom Children Parents Shopping centers Consumerism Merry-go-rounds
Description: In the Suburbs "This film designed by Tracy Ward, Bert Spielvogel Jean Sharpe Carlo Arcamone Joseph Cole Herbert Hagens". Directed by Tracy Ward. Cinematography: Bert Spielvogel. Shows typical facets of the family life of young couples living in the suburbs. Points out how Redbook Magazine, aimed exclusively at young adults, is of value to them. This is the movie about suburbia as it is widely imagined in pop culture: a place where educated white middle-class couples moved after WWII in an escape from crowded cities, seeking a patch of green and a better life for their children. And In the Suburbs is in fact an accurate film about this singular place and time in American history, a particular breed of suburbia that existed only for a short period, is now extinct and lives only as a clich. But In the Suburbs is about much more. Produced as an audiovisual aid for Redbook magazine ad salespeople to convince national advertisers they could deliver them the suburban market, it's also a rich evocation of postwar affluence and the suburban "market-in-place." During WWII, the national income rose and savings accounts ballooned with unspendable money. At the same time shortages of consumer goods and a housing shortage that dated back to 1928 created a huge, pentup demand which exploded after the war. The first great consumer rush was into new housing. As quickly as possible, all those who could afford a house bought and moved, many into new suburban communities. Then, in the mid-Fifties, the housing market paused to breathe. The first wave of migrants had been rehoused. What now existed was a huge market-in-place millions of new households, each in need of the same goods as their neighbors, ready to spend and buy. How could advertisers reach this market? In the Suburbs celebrates this group and promotes Redbook's "personal relationship" with young suburbanites. In the Suburbs is one of the most remarkable and unusual sponsored films ever made. It escapes the triteness for which advertising films have ever been criticized, and its own values look a lot like those of the avant-garde. Mixing color and black and white, handheld and tripod, sounds and silence, still photographs and moving images, photographic images with printed pages, it follows its own course playfully and pleasurably. Even as it observes the habits, amusements and preoccupations of a homogeneous, button-down, exclusionary culture, it likens suburban life to a theme park, a dynamic place of constant amusement and visual variation. In such a landscape the residents are themselves in constant motion, shopping, dancing, partying and rollercoastering. A brief black-and-white documentary montage of Fifties problems -- the Korean War, McCarthyism, civil rights, strikes and the Hungarian revolution -- fails to convince the viewer that suburbanites are as serious and thoughtful about the world outside as they are about home, children and shopping. The combination of skills and playfulness, of hard-nosed analysis and formal innovation makes In the Suburbs an uncommonly pleasurable film. It's also an unusually penetrating tour of a landscape that combines place with shared, self-conscious experience and pop culture. If you look at the Fifties press, at literature, television and advertising of this period, you will see that suburban homes, trees, lawns and shopping centers were a major public preoccupation in this time. Everyone wanted to look into the picture window. The families in In the Suburbs knew this. They knew they were the cynosure of Fifties media (that's in fact where most of them probably worked) and also knew that marketers were hustling to get a piece of their action. The surveillance-type footage shot through the rear-view mirror says it all the quiet streets were under close observation for clues as to what lay below their surface. Targeted for advertisers by a production company well acquainted with advertisers' needs, In the Suburbs is a freewheeling film with a hard core. There's no romance in its presentation, nor is there much mystification about suburbs and suburbanites. It was intended for an audience of realists that believed in market research and kept its eyes on the bottom line. This mandate enabled the makers to picture their subject with imagination and originality. 7:00:29:11- 7:00:46:22 Crisp image of picnic table (with red checkered cloth) with shiny appliances upon it and a baby's high chair all situated in a shady area in a suburban yard. Cut to reflections of children playing in the yard in the metal coffee pot and toaster. 7:01:34:16- 7:01:53:09 Excellent driving POV by suburban homes and the people who inhabit them. Crisp and colorful, these shots are edited together beautifully giving the sequence fluidity. We pass a couple walking across their green lawn, a woman going into her front door, a family standing along the road by their house, and a another family taking a walk. The beauty of this sequence is that they all look at the camera as it quickly moves by them. It also shows us a variety of suburban homes. 7:13:53:16- 7:14:12:11 Excellent driving POV, but the images of the suburban neighborhood and its people are seen in the round rear view mirror outside the driver's seat. We view crisp images of people in their yards (children playing, fathers watering the lawn) and walking down the street. Beautiful surveillance sequence. Appliances: toaster coffee pot carpet sweeper amusements: roller coasters Children: girl playing with blocks children fighting with each other child crying couple building a brick fireplace in their backyard roses in backyard still images of misfortune: soldier sleeping on a bench in a train station NO VACANCY sign montage of stills indicating lack of room, noise and commotion of city living moving vans driving through developments stills of families and children excellent pillow fight flipping eggs in an electric fryer child's pajama'd legs come down the carpeted stairs family at breakfast dog and child eat out of the same bowl woman runs out of house with a tray of cookies that have burned children fighting with each other two dogs fighting with each other Paying bills Father playing with baby couple playing happily in a hammock and then toppling out mothers walking children and strollers still of fathers making baby formula stills of leisure party liquor decanters child dumps full ashtray onto rug father and daughter playing board game child eating cake batter off of electric mixer blades butt-naked child stuffing dryer with laundry stills from Redbook magazine of their articles pregnant woman with a bunch of women friends unloading station wagon of grocery bags and baby-related items walking out of store with many consumables people walking through shopping centers Macy's parking lot shopmobiles (carts to get around shopping centers) checkout counters rows of grocery carts man raises the top on his convertible car electrically push-button sequence escalator child trying out wading pool in store woman testing a baby carriage before purchasing much shopping of all kind shoe shopping pinwheels archery exhibitions wedding stills from nursery school at shopping center nighttime at the shopping center neon sign from stores dancing at the shopping centers discussion and footage of Redbook's "Easy Living" promotion in shopping centers mannequins footage shown as in rear-view mirror of car montage: United Nations Asian children being tended to by G.I.s Roy Cohn (with Sen. Joseph McCarthy) strikers with signs mob overturns car 2 young people with sign: Up with Faubus Down with Integration troops with rifles at the ready escorting college-age people through American town air raid siren people scurrying down stairs to air raid shelter refugees stills of laying pipes under roads woman shaking her head no two articles from magazine: "I Live in a Development and Hate It" "I Live in a Development and Love It." mothers sitting on lawn with children shots seen as if in a crystal ball pulling out of driveway in car and taking off rows of washing machines and cars for sale rocket blast-off in color also P.O.V. from the rocket looking down to the earth [This film has been designed by Jean Sharpe, Tracy Ward, Carlo Arcamone, Bert Spielvogel, Joseph Cole, Herbert Hagens and produced by On Film, Inc. in black and white and color, In the Suburbs. Copyright Redbook Magazine. Virginia Bell graphic design main titles collectives] The suburbs - almost as much written about it as Madison Avenue. And just as much in need of reflection. [backyards suburbia picnic tables checkered tablecloths trees toasters mirrors reflections anamorphism coffee pots chromium children playing toast] Like Madison Avenue, life in the suburbs has its good moments, and others not so good. "Oh no!" [children tarpaulins bricklaying mortar masonry frustration grimaces alphabet blocks childishness barbecues throwing tossing faces facial expressions] "Oh!" Discouraged? Disgruntled? Heck no! They're glad to be here. [flowers gardens yards] Remember? We've got to move! [Honk. no vacancy sign railroad stations benches sleeping homelessness housing shortages WWII stills photographs sinks plumbing cities crowding mothers children noises sound effects plugging ears apartments brownstones 800 Homes Waverly Gables real estate development] [moving suburban landscapes suburbs moving vans tracking shots traveling shots ecstasy color affluence leisure relaxation spaciousness] And so they joined the stream of family life in the suburbs. Soon to become part of its familiar sights. Soon to absorb its familiar sounds. Anybody home? [houses homes station wagons] [giggle whistles humming shrieks and laughter egg frying footsteps bathrooms bathtubs children kids baths spraying water babies pillow fights bedrooms conflict battles stuffed animals frying eggs electric frying appliances coffee pots kitchens breakfast stairs steps downstairs feet stair carpeting newspapers parents]. These are what Redbook means by its young adults. People in a certain living situation, with particular interests and particular goals. [middle-class middle class yuppies families toast popping up tigers stuffed animals] These young adults begin to discover Redbook about the time they apply for their marriage license, start life in their own homes, have their first baby, take out their first loan, and they stay with Redbook through their busiest years. As Redbook sees them, they're an energetic lot, a carefree lot, even though so suddenly plunged into family life. [couples marriage monogamy nuclear families fun leisure parents fathers mothers laughing hammocks] As the babies start coming, they usually decide to concentrate on their houses, with the woman staying home to learn new ways to run a household. [stereotypes gender roles botching burned cookies food] Where it soon dawns on her that she could use a little expert help! While the kids are young, many of the mothers try to stay at home, which isn't always so easy either. [growling crying backyards children dogs pulling fighting conflict shadows observers] There are times when it is good to have other young adults to talk to. [social interactions friends] But wherever they go, there is usually a baby nearby. And about the time the parents think their children have them hypnotized, they give a party - [running beaches sand playing parties liquor booze] and bring the kids. "school construction" "what are you talking about",[Ivy Leaguers yuppies couples pregnancy pregnant women baby boomers maternity dresses heat dogs bowties children rugrats] "I'd rather have only big auditoriums" "you don't educate" "I always know how my children behave" [canapes hors d'oeuvres food] "that's good", "oh no, you're kidding." [dumping ashtrays soiling carpets rugs dirt cigarette butts security blankets messing messy pajamas] Any magazine written for young adults, and matching their busy lives, is bound to be lively, full of things to talk about, varied and warm. [cleaning carpetsweeping illustrations] [Teach your child to lose checkers fathers and daughters frustration] [Young Adults at Home. A Handbook of Fast and Easy Last-Minute Meals. saltines] [Washday is Any Day -- Or Night bare bottoms buttocks washing laundry children nudity nakedness washing machines washers] [Wardrobe for the Mother-to-Be pregnancy maternity wear clothing clothes] [Beyond Road's End leisure recreation riding horses horseback riding] On their own for the first time, and determined not to miss a single new homemaking idea, [A Place for Everything - Even the Children kitchens home improvement plans] they're busy just making choices, and welcome solid information in concise form. [What Car Repairs Should Cost Redbook's Complete Guide to Tableware First Additions To Fill Out Your Set Your Itemized 18-Year-Bill for Raising a Child The High Cost of Children framing frames landscapes demarcation] It takes a while for a young couple to realize all they're in for when they buy a house, or when they have a baby. And when they buy a house and have a baby - [consumption consumers buying station wagons driveways commodities products bassinets paper bags mirrors fans] So hardly realizing it, they come into their purchasing stage and are off on a wild, nonstop ride. [amusement park rides rollercoasters chairs commodities Tide detergents Ferris wheels toasters] It's a happy-go-spending whirl, reflected in the windows of the suburban shopping centers where they go to buy. [store windows reflections] Redbook has been studying shopping centers because the people who created the suburbs are young adults. And the shopping centers are built in their image. Selling to young adults demands a new kind of marketing. [malls traffic pedestrians] For these young adults, these shopping centers have built fountains, commissioned statues, put in restaurants and free standing stairways. They've included banks, loan offices, rental plants, plant nurseries, and places to buy building materials. [Bailey's Delicatessen Household Finance HFC] The shopping centers see these young adults as people whose homes are always in need of expansion. People who buy in large quantities and truck it away in their cars. [shopping carts children babies wheelbarrows trunks] It's a big market - to help people find their cars, the centers have enlisted the children. They've put in shop-mobiles to help them cover the grounds. [Macy's parking lots elephants signs] They're added banks of storage lockers, miles of check out counters and endless rows of carts. Carts rolling down the malls of Southdale, at Northland, at Gulf Gate, Sunrise, at Eastpointe, at Hillsdale in California. [shopping carts Edina, Minnesota Michigan children red wagons] These young adults, shopping with the same determination that led them to the suburbs in the first place, are the going-est part of a nation on wheels. [strollers] Living by the automobile, the first young adults in the age of the push-button! [station wagons convertibles convertible tops gizmos inventions] [pushbuttons footpedals knobs technology controls switches jukeboxes St. John Terrell's Music Circus, Lambertville, N.J., Route US 202 loudspeakers escalators Muzak elevator music department stores inflatable swimming pools plastic pools baby carriages hats mirrors checkout lines bagging charging credit cards charge-a-plates] Like the rest of life in suburbia, shopping has a family flavor. "Do you remember what size you are?" "I knew we bought a tree to go with it" "that looks pretty nice" "we'll take it." [mothers children shoestores hats] These busy families make the shopping centers look young and colorful. [shopping carts pinwheels color transitions surrealism] They have a "let's go see" quality that brings crowds to community events and promotions. [malls exhibits marketing automobiles fashion shows archery tournaments bows and arrows competitions weddings marriages] For the children, whom the young adults have always at hand, there's plenty to do and see. While his family shops a boy can catch a fish, ride the rides, go to the circus, visit the center zoo and have his hair cut. [voyeurism pools animal statues] And if that doesn't tire him out, his mother can put him in the center's nursery school where he can get paint on his shirt, see his friends and wear himself out on the bars. [signs Noah's Ark. A Safe Place to leave Your Child while You Shop.] Since these young adults seem to be able to outlast their children, they stash them away at a neighbor's house and go back to the center for more. [tiredness sleeping fatigue living rooms] [dance music Thom McAn nighttime night signs neon Macy's Farmers Market dancing McCrory's National Shirt Shops Kay's H. Liebes Moars Cafeteria Stonestown Shopping Center, San Francisco, California] This is the life young adults lead, summed up recently in a single phrase - [nighttime rain shopping centers malls] and dramatized by Redbook in major shopping centers all over the country. For more than two years, Redbook had been working with merchants associations in shopping centers studying young adults. [Easy Living signs Mondawmin Mall Enter Easy Living Baltimore, Maryland Watermelon Let's Have a Picnic] When the Easy Living promotion was presented, almost every store joined in. The first center-wide promotion in the history of marketing. [Singer Sewing Center wine store windows display windows automobile dealers tracking shots] Before Redbook could develop a successful selling program for young adults, it had to get out and see them many different ways. [rearview rear-view mirrors surveillance reflections observation runbys streets people] (driving along in car) It had to get to know them so well, that it could become a magazine solely for them. What are young adults like from an editor's POV? Well, they're not so much highbrows or lowbrows - as wrinkled brows. They're serious, and no wonder. [picket signs: On Strike for Better Wages, Job Security IUE-CIO, Up with Faubus - Down with Integration, shelter Korean War G.I.'s American army troops soldiers United Nations Cold War orphans children Roy Cohn Joseph McCarthy Congressional hearings anticommunism anti-Communism unions labor strikes social unrest conflict Fifties violence overturning cars automobiles mass picketing mobs civil rights movement school integration Little Rock, Arkansas white racism National Guard air raid sirens civil defense fallout shelters nuclear war atomic war A-bombs Hungary civil war Hungarian refugees] To give these serious young adults the substance they want, to build a durable relationship with each reader, Redbook edits for one person at a time. [leisure lawns planting trees affluence] [The Sexual Responsibility of Woman by Maxine Davis, Is My Job Hurting My Family?, What Husbands and Wives Need Most by John Kord Lagemann, How Can a Husband and Wife Live Together woman reading attention pensive living rooms fireplaces magazine articles gender roles sex roles] Having established a personal relationship with its readers, Redbook then talks to them, so that they recognize their own living situations in its pages. I wonder whether we could be happy in a place like that. [children toys blocks "The Strangest Place to Find a Happy Family" by John Kord Lagemann] When we brought the baby home, I thought Billy looked awfully worried. I've got a boy just like him, comes home from school, always asking questions." [Jealousy Among Your Children illustrations Smart Aleck] I remember the first time my daughter asked me about God. [How a Child Meets God] They were out on strike for months. If that ever happened to us, I don't know what my husband would do. [One Family's Crisis] Just as the realities of family life are thoroughly woven into Redbook, so are the realities of community life. Many young adults come to the suburbs as ex-apartment renters, so, what about the roads, the schools . . . [development sewers infrastructure crowding growth] Will somebody please explain what a bond issue is? [Why Veterans Get Too Much or Too Little by Andre Fontaine, Is Your School Board Hurting Your Child? by Martin L. Gross, How Safe Is the Poultry You Eat? by Ruth and Edward Beecher, I Live in a Development . . . and Hate It, I Live in a Development . . . and Love It, How to Save Your Community Play Land, The Battle Over Religion in the Schools, The 10 Congressmen Who Have Done Most for Young People cocktail parties discussions arguments couples husbands wives shoes] Writing for young adults, Redbook's editors have to keep learning and analyzing. Without too much crystal ball gazing, Redbook's editors have to keep an eye to the future. [mothers and children lawns crystal balls lawn ornaments mercury balls teenagers jalopies convertibles cars youth culture] There's a whole new generation coming, soon-to-be young adults, a bigger-than-ever market of people who have a history of their own: who remember all the way back to Eisenhower, who probably never saw their mother use a wringer. think automobiles are household appliances, [laundromats washing machines] and have reserved seats on the next rocket to leave the earth! [space exploration rockets surrealism aerials rocketry] But right now, you can ride along with the happy-go-spending, buy-it-now young adults of today. Ride with the young adults who are buying 70 percent of all homes sold. [Ferris wheels products Tide fans surrealism commodities consumerism county fairs carnivals] Swing into the orbit of more than two and half million families, right now, with the only mass magazine aimed exclusively at young adults. [Redbook, the magazine for young adults.] VOs: "These are what Redbook means by its young adults. People in a certain living situation, with particular interests and particular goals. "As the babies start coming, they [young adults] usually decide to concentrate on their houses, with the woman staying home to learn new ways to run a household." "On their own for the first time and determined not to miss a single new homemaking idea. They're busy just making choices. " "So hardly realizing it, they come into their purchasing stage and are off on a wild non-stop ride. " "It's a happy-go-spending whirl, reflecting in windows of the suburban shopping centers where they go to buy." "For these young adults, the shopping centers have built fountains, commissioned statues, put in restaurants and free-standing stairways. They've included banks, loan offices, rental plans (?), plant nurseries and places to buy building materials. The shopping centers see these young adults as people whose homes are always in need of expansion.People who buy in large quantities and truck it away in their cars. " "These young adults that shop with the determination that lead them to the suburbs in the first place are the goingest part of a nation on wheels." "What are young adults like from an editor's POV? Well they're not so much highbrows or lowbrows as wrinkled brows. They're serious and no wonder. " "There is a whole new generation coming -- soon-to-be young adults. A bigger than ever market of people who have a history of their own. Who remember all the way back to Eisenhower. Who probably never saw their mother use a wringer, think automobiles are household appliance and have reserved seats on the next rocket to leave the earth."
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