The television show that became the backbone of Wonder Bread American society, the
show that baby boom parents would shove down their children’s throat, and the show that made it “normal” for married couples to sleep in separate twin beds: everything that was Leave it to Beaver. 
A quintessential American classic, “The Beave” ran from 1957-1963, the peak of the post-WWII peace time prosperity… right between Korea and Vietnam. It ran in a time when kids drank malt shakes, boys rolled their jeans to show off their Chuck Taylor’s, and girls wore skirts to their ankles (jeans were almost forbidden of ladies). Leave it to Beaver would define a generation of television, and set the guidelines not only for future shows, but future American values.
Set in suburban America, Leave it to Beaver followed the life of an average family. Ward, the college-educated, middle class father, June is the content housewife, Wally, the classic older brother, and Beaver, the baby brother full of mischief. “Gee wiz” and “golly” were typical slang lingo used. The biggest conflict came when Beaver didn’t do his homework, or when Wally did not clean his side of the room. June Cleaver had eyes in the back of her head as she cleaned and cooked, and Ward had an infinite fatherly wisdom that he imposed swiftly yet fairly on his children.
The show stresses commitment to family, honesty, and normal American values. The sitcom would have greater implications and impacts on portrayals on the American family for years to come.
Girls were considered icky, and both June and Ward slept in separate beds. This put an image of taboo sexuality for Americans, so much so, that even a married couple could not sleep in the same bed, as this implied too much sex. This trend would continue in many movies and television shows of the day.
This sort of image would come to define a generation. A generation where the woman was only a mother and wife, where the man did the work, and one had two perfect children. Of course, this image would be shaken, and more importantly, be shaken by the sitcom. But more on that later…
Ahh the Beave. My mom used to talk about this show all the time. I really wonder if it TRULY represents what the 50s were like, or if it is a bit of an exaggeration for the sake of television. I wish that, today, or even when I was in middle and high school, my problems were as trivial and menial as Walt and Beave’s were.
I love how you show the connections between life on the show and life in America while it was running. You would never think that a tv show would be the reason society acts the way it does but your blog showed me that tv is very powerful in that aspect of our lives.
It’s really strange to imagine a family actually being like this. Our families today are so much different that it’s almost literally impossible to imagine this scenario as real life. I think it’s interesting to compare it to Modern Family with it’s not-far-from-accurate portrayal of contemporary families. It’s interesting to see the changes that have occurred throughout the years, particularly in the areas of sexuality.