It Came From the 1950s! Popular Culture, Popular Anxieties

277 Pages·2011·1.27 MB·English

by  Darryl Jones

It Came From the 1950s!
AlsobyDarrylJones
STUDYINGPOETRY(withStephenMatterson)
HORROR:ATHEMATICHISTORYINFICTIONANDFILM
JANEAUSTEN
REINTERPRETINGEMMET:ESSAYSONTHELIFEANDLEGACYOFROBERT
EMMET
M.R.JAMES,COLLECTEDGHOSTSTORIES(edited)
AlsobyElizabethMcCarthy
FEAR:ESSAYSONTHEMEANINGANDEXPERIENCEOFFEAR(co-editedwith
KateHebblethwaite)
AlsobyBerniceM.Murphy
THESUBURBANGOTHICINAMERICANPOPULARCULTURE
SHIRLEYJACKSON:ESSAYSONTHELITERARYLEGACY
It Came From the 1950s!
Popular Culture, Popular Anxieties
Editedby
Darryl Jones
Elizabeth McCarthy
and
Bernice M. Murphy
Introduction,selectionandeditorialmatter©DarrylJones,Elizabeth
McCarthyandBerniceM.Murphy2011
Individualchapters©Contributors2011
Allrightsreserved.Noreproduction,copyortransmissionofthis
publicationmaybemadewithoutwrittenpermission.
Noportionofthispublicationmaybereproduced,copiedortransmitted
savewithwrittenpermissionorinaccordancewiththeprovisionsofthe
Copyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988,orunderthetermsofanylicence
permittinglimitedcopyingissuedbytheCopyrightLicensingAgency,
SaffronHouse,6-10KirbyStreet,LondonEC1N8TS.
Anypersonwhodoesanyunauthorizedactinrelationtothispublication
maybeliabletocriminalprosecutionandcivilclaimsfordamages.
Theauthorshaveassertedtheirrightstobeidentified
astheauthorsofthisworkinaccordancewiththeCopyright,
DesignsandPatentsAct1988.
Firstpublished2011by
PALGRAVEMACMILLAN
PalgraveMacmillanintheUKisanimprintofMacmillanPublishersLimited,
registeredinEngland,companynumber785998,ofHoundmills,Basingstoke,
HampshireRG216XS.
PalgraveMacmillanintheUSisadivisionofStMartin’sPressLLC,
175FifthAvenue,NewYork,NY10010.
PalgraveMacmillanistheglobalacademicimprintoftheabovecompanies
andhascompaniesandrepresentativesthroughouttheworld.
Palgrave®andMacmillan®areregisteredtrademarksintheUnitedStates,
theUnitedKingdom,Europeandothercountries.
ISBN978–0–230–27221–7
Thisbookisprintedonpapersuitableforrecyclingandmadefromfully
managedandsustainedforestsources.Logging,pulpingandmanufacturing
processesareexpectedtoconformtotheenvironmentalregulationsofthe
countryoforigin.
AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
AcatalogrecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheLibraryofCongress.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11
PrintedandboundinGreatBritainby
CPIAntonyRowe,ChippenhamandEastbourne
DJ: For Margaret and Morgan, with love
EMcC: For Paul Cronly
BM: For my Godson Ieuan Murphy
This page intentionally left blank
Contents
ListofIllustrations ix
Acknowledgements x
AbouttheContributors xi
Introduction 1
1 A-Bombs,B-Pictures,andC-Cups 17
DavidJ.Skal
2 ‘It’sintheTrees!It’sComing!’NightoftheDemonandthe
DeclineandFalloftheBritishEmpire 33
DarrylJones
3 MutantsandMonsters 55
KimNewman
4 ‘Don’tDareSeeItAlone!’TheFiftiesHammerInvasion 72
WayneKinsey
5 Genre,SpecialEffectsandAuthorshipintheCritical
ReceptionofScienceFictionFilmandTelevisionduring
the1950s 90
MarkJancovichandDerekJohnston
6 Hammer’sDracula 108
ChristopherFrayling
7 FastCarsandBulletBras:TheImageoftheFemale
JuvenileDelinquentin1950sAmerica 135
ElizabethMcCarthy
8 ‘ASearchfortheFather-Image’:MasculineAnxietyin
RobertBloch’s1950sFiction 158
KevinCorstorphine
9 ‘ReadingherDifficultRiddle’:ShirleyJacksonandLate
1950s’Anthropology 176
DaraDowney
vii
viii Contents
10 ‘AtMyCookingIFeelItLooking’:Food,Domestic
FantasiesandConsumerAnxietyinSylviaPlath’sWriting 198
LornaPiatti-Farnell
11 ‘AllthatZombiesAllow’Re-ImaginingtheFiftiesin
FarfromHeavenandFido 216
BerniceM.Murphy
Bibliography 234
Filmography 244
Index 250
List of Illustrations
7.1 ‘Boobytrap/SyphillisandGonorrhea’ 140
7.2 ‘Chippers’.WomenwarworkersofMarinshipCorp.,1942 143
7.3 SensationalExposés(April1957) 145
7.4 DforDelinquent,artistunknown(AceD-270,1958) 148
ix