From austerity to affluence, the decade that changed expectations

Unceremoniously sandwiched between the drama, tragedy and bulldog spirit of the 1940s and the 1960s with its hard-to-beat Summer of Love, played out to a soundtrack of Beatlemania, it's a decade which has historically been much overlooked.

However, researchers at the University of Huddersfield are hoping to prove that far from being the doldrums decade, the 1950s actually transformed cinema, music, politics and British society.

It's a grand claim, but one Professor Paul Ward is happy to stand by.

"So much has been written about the 1940s and the impact of the Second World War and the 1960s have been similarly eulogised if for very different reasons," says the lecturer in music, humanities and media.

"Sadly, the 1950s are routinely ignored. It's partly to do with the generation of baby boomer academics who are now just retiring. They were born in the 1940s and by the time they were growing up in the 1960s, they had already forgotten the previous decade.

"However, in reality the 1950s was a period of enormous change. When the decade began, Britain was still in the grip of post-war austerity and Labour was in power. By the end, the Conservative government was telling people they had never had it so good and mass consumerism was taking over."

In the middle there were also history making events, which changed the world's view on all things British and caused a major rethink on the country's influence abroad.

"The decade was shaped by two major events," says Prof Ward. "In 1953, the Queen's Coronation was a significant marker. It symbolised the end of the old way of doing things and the beginning of a new approach, because while she didn't know it, she was effectively presiding over the end of the Empire. Then three years later the Suez Crisis happened."

Rooted in a dispute over economic and trading rights in the canal, the conflict pitted Egypt against an alliance between France, the UK and Israel. The trio's perceived bullyboy tactics caused international uproar and when they were finally forced to withdraw their forces by the UN, it was the final nail in the coffin for the already crumbling British Empire.

However, if the 1950s marked a political sea-change, it was also accompanied by a cultural revolution, which saw the nation's teenagers rebelling against their parents. As the economy began to pick up, youngsters found they had money in their pockets and knew exactly how they wanted to spend it.

"We tend to think of it as a black and white decade, but the culture of the 1950s was far from monochrome," says Prof Ward, who organised a two-day conference looking at the effect of the decade. "In the 1940s, youngsters had gone to the same dance halls as their parents and people seemed to slip seamlessly from their teenage years into adulthood. Everything changed in the 1950s.

"Suddenly there were juke boxes which meant teenagers didn't have to listen to the same music their parents did. The BBC might have decided they weren't going to play rock'n'roll, but it didn't matter.

"Milk bars or cafs began to open their doors and artists like Elvis Presley found their audience. Today it's hard to imagine what impact the new social scene had, but it was immense. It gave people who had previously been silent, the chance to express themselves."

As musical differences made themselves heard, the British public also gained entrance to a world much more glamorous than their own.

"It was the decade when Hollywood came into its own," says Prof Ward. "It seemed that anyone regardless of background could become a star and the likes of Huddersfield's James Mason, who became famous on both sides of the Atlantic, were proof of the possibilities.

"In Britain, class had always determined ambition, but Hollywood seemed to do away with those restrictions and it was incredibly appealing."

In short, the 1950s were a decade in which the old political rulebook was torn up, in which fashions were turned on their head and the seeds of today's celebrity culture were first sown. So, should we be braced for a revival?

"The 1970s are constantly having a comeback, so I don't see why not," says Prof Ward. "Besides, I've always had a fondness for quiffs."