1950s | Donna Barten

Most people have heard of the phrase “Peyton Place” and associate it with titillating scandal and soap opera. But Peyton Place began as a novel, released in 1956 by a rebellious mother and housewife who wanted to expose the hypocrisies of her hometown and her times. Sex and questioning authority in many forms shows up in her 372 page book. Unexpectedly, including to the author Grace Metalious, the characters and storyline hit a nerve in America and it was on the best-seller list for 59 weeks. At the same time a series of books put out under the Betty Crocker franchise were in the top non-fiction lists. 1 in 29 Americans bought Peyton Place. This was the Eisenhower Era when America was in the midst of its post-war economic boom and the middle class was growing and thriving. Female roles were well proscribed and Grace never fit into any of it… other than the desire to move out of the poverty she grew up in.

Controversy and Sales

If you ask people who were coming of age during that generation about Peyton Place, you will usually see a wry and somewhat pleased smile, reflecting the youthful rebellion of reading this forbidden book long ago. Colleen O’Byrne in my novel, Breathing Water, was one such person affected by the novel. Although Peyton Place was banned in many libraries, schools, and bookstores, and was illegal to ship through the mail to several countries, it sold over 12 million copies. It even outsold other popular books of its time, like Gone With The Wind. But its readership was much greater as copies were shared between school friends and mothers’ copies were ferreted out from hiding places by their youngsters. One woman I know speaks of reading it in a high school class while hiding it behind a textbook (this woman did succeed in life and became a beloved teacher, so it didn’t ruin her!).

What made this book so popular? At the time, the publisher realized its potential and decided to give it more publicity than most debut novels. Controversy sells, so they hyped up a comment by Grace Metalious that her husband, a school principal in the small town of Gilmanton, New Hampshire, would probably lose his job when it was published. Of course everyone wanted to see what was so juicy that it would cause him to be fired, and the school board helped publicity when they decided not to renew his contract shortly afterward. Word of mouth and so many organizations banning it propelled book sales followed by the involvement of the film industry. In watered down form, a movie was released in 1957 and a soap opera series from 1964 – 1969. That’s what most from the next generation vaguely recall about “Peyton Place.”

What’s so Controversial in Peyton Place?

When I read the book to see if it would be suitable for use in Breathing Water, I was surprised at how little actual sex was in the book. Sex was definitely a part of the character’s lives, as it is for most people, but there was not a lot of explicit description and the content is mild by today’s standards. Yet there were things about sex that not only caused Grace Metalious to become a millionaire, but to have a great impact on America’s sexual awareness.

Most shocking about the book was the idea of women having satisfying sexual lives. That was for loose women and whores, and yet here were nice girls not only having sex but enjoying it. Masturbation, abortion, douches not working for birth control, “safes” (condoms) that should work, and oral sex were all mentioned. One of the major characters was repeatedly raped by her step-father, showing that not all people in small town America were nice. The original story had Selina’s father raping her, but the editors thought that incest would be a bit too much for tender American eyes. In the story, Selina eventually fought back and murdered her step-father, inciting a lot of discussion about whether her act was justified.

Authors often draw from real life and this part of the book was partially based on the true story about 10 years earlier of Barbara Roberts from Grace’s town of Gilmanton, NH. She was the victim of domestic violence and incest before she killed her father and buried him under a sheep pen. Residents of the town were not pleased with Peyton Place or the Metalious family partly from a desire to protect Barbara and her family from further unwanted publicity, but also for and what it inferred about them. The book did bring the topic of incest to America’s consciousness for a short time. Sadly, more attention is needed because some statistics suggest that 1 in 3-4 girls and 1 in 5-7 boys are sexually abused before they turn 18, much of which happens from fathers or fatherly figures. Children are easily manipulated into not reporting such abuses.

Grace Metalious also included class disparities, racism, differences between Catholics and Protestants and questioning the Christian faith. There was a lot you could get upset about if you wanted to defend the status quo. All of it reflected real life—the parts no one would talk about. Grace utterly rejected the expected female behaviors of the 1950s: her home was filthy, meals were haphazard, and she was a careless mother. When she wanted to write, she kicked her three kids out of the house and told them to fend for themselves until she was done. She wore pants and flannel shirts, with her hair in a simple ponytail, instead of the bouffant hairstyles that were popular then.

A Sad Ending and Lasting Impact

After becoming a millionaire, Grace began to party hard. She spent every cent she made and then some in luxuries and heavy drinking. Interestingly, alcoholics figure large in Peyton Place and there are accurate descriptions of delirium tremens in one scene. She divorced and new friends showed up to help her spend her money. After dreaming of riches since she was a girl, Grace didn’t know how to handle it and, sadly, died at age 39 from cirrhosis of the liver. Grace Metalious was ahead of her times and helped loosen up the American psyche for others to follow. A few years later, the infamous Lolita, about a pedophile, and Lady Chatterley’s Lover, about an extramarital affair, became best sellers in the US. For many, Peyton Place was all the sex education they would get. Genuine sex education was taught in some schools in the 60s and 70s, but it wasn’t until the 1990s, during the AIDS epidemic, that it became universal. Peyton Place is actually a fast-paced and fairly well written novel (even by the standards of the literary world) and it’s still in print.

Key references and further reading:

The Peyton Place Murder- The True Crime Story Behind The Novel That Shocked The Nation by Renee Mallett (2021)

Peyton Place’s True Victim– Vanity Fair

Open Secrets: Rereading Peyton Place by Ardis Cameron, introduction to 1999 version of Peyton Place

Donna Barten is a novelist and scientist working on her second book Imprint and Inheritance.

Dating became more formalized in the 1950s and also less chaperoned than in earlier generations. Although dating originated at the turn of the century, it continued to evolve away from courting rituals where men interacted with potential spouses in the girl’s parents home or in very public venues. Labor of Love: The Invention of Dating by Moira Weigel.

Clear Expectations and Romance

Social expectations for young men and women, referred to as boys and girls, were clearly understood. Boys were expected to act like gentlemen and to mind their manners. Girls were supposed to be pretty, dote on the boy, help boost his ego, and above all: not get pregnant! Here’s an excerpt from The Art of Dating, ©1958:

“Movie manners: While the fellow buys the tickets, the girl steps aside and looks at the stills outside to avoid the boy any embarrassment he may feel at the ticket window. Once inside, the girl follows the usher to their seats, and the fellow follows the girl. If there is no usher, the boy precedes the girl down the aisle, finds two seats, and steps aside so that the girl may be seated first; he then follows and seats himself beside her. If the girl is wearing a coat or jacket, the fellow helps her out of it and arranges it comfortably over the back of her seat. Then he removes his outer coat and hat and scarf and either places them under his seat or holds them in his lap.

“The boy may hold the girl’s hand if she has no objection, or place his arm over the back of her seat. Such actions do not go beyond socially acceptable behavior. They may whisper their reactions to the picture, or comment to each other about the characters or the plot, so long as they neither embarrass each other nor annoy their neighbors.“

The boy would pay for every date in anticipation of his future role as sole provider in marriage. Early critics of the new practice of dating suggested that this was equivalent to prostitution, with a meal and entertainment being paid instead of cash. The criticism was dropped, but there was an inherent sense that a girl owed a boy “something” for what he provided. A girl’s family wanted to meet the boys she dated, but the boy’s families didn’t expect to meet his date until things were serious and likely to head to marriage. Girls had to wait to be asked on a date, and utilized various strategies to help make that happen with a shy boy. If a girl was considered too smart, a “brain,” she might be intimidating to boys and was expected to play dumb.

Rock N Roll music was growing up, bothering parents with their brash sounds and superstars such as Elvis Presley and James Brown who moved their hips in a sexually suggestive manner. Articles warning parents about the new “teen-ager” culture were featured in popular magazines. A boy was particularly cool if he was a good dancer and the Lindy Hop was one of the favorites of the time.

“Adam began by rapidly twirling his partner around. This worked best if she was wearing crinolines, those scratchy, layer cake-like underslips meant to be seen, so fashionable among teenage girls at the time. Then he forcibly swung them away from himself and across the floor. There was a 3 or 4 beat pause so that he could snap his fingers in a cool offhand way, making sure the other dancers had cleared enough space between them. Then the girl ran directly toward him at top speed. At the last second before they crashed together, he grabbed her and lifted her first to his left side and then to his right, up in the air and down between his legs, and then up in the air again for the grand finale. It required an athletic partner.” Trying to Be Cool– Growing up in the 1950s Leo Braudy

Dangerous Dating

We think if it all as quaint now, but the 50s and early 60s was the time of highest teenage pregnancy in the US, despite all the warnings given to girls (without any formal sex education beyond books like Peyton Place).

This was also the period of earliest marriages in US history. At age 19, 42% of girls were married, and by age 24, it was 70%. Eventually 93% would marry and most would stay home to raise their children. (New Passages– Mapping Your Life Across Time by Gail Sheehy)

Shotgun marriages were common to prevent shame and illegitimate birth. In the following decade and beyond, the number of illegitimate births, especially among teen mothers, would rise significantly, presumably because of fewer unwanted marriages as the stigma of single mothers decreased.

The above statistics demonstrate the real danger of unexpected pregnancy leading to a sudden marriage in the 50s and early 60s. At the time, the even newer practice of “going steady” was used in explanation. So much so, that the Catholic Church, privy to the extent of hastily-arranged marriages, publically campaigned against the “pagan” practice of going steady.

“While steady dating is often construed as ‘marriage in miniature,’ the speaker [The Rev. John R. Cavanagh] said, ‘it is not preparation for marriage’ when the practice is devoted to individual pleasure.” Parents were urged “to ‘do everything in their power’ to prevent the going steady of teen-agers and pre-teen-agers. He declared, ‘It limits their friendships and if continued is likely to promote at best a brother-sister relationship in marriage. In addition, it may lead to a consummated sin, even in their early teens.’” NYTimes March 20, 1957

Parking in cars was another factor leading to unexpected pregnancy. Many boys and their families had the means in the post-WWII prosperity to own cars. After some public activity, often associated with a church or synagogue, parking required significant self-control when boys and girls had couch-sized spaces for necking and petting. Sexual promiscuity in boys was tolerated, but was strictly taboo for “nice” girls. This double-standard meant that preventing pregnancy was the responsibility of the girl.

“Since time immemorial the woman has been called on to be the one who maintains sexual standards in a relationship. So the burden of the situation rests primarily on her. If she allows premarital intercourse, it is she who is generally considered the fool. If a pregnancy ensues, it is the girl who is ‘in trouble.‘

“What does the guy think if his girl gets pregnant? He may realize that he does not really love the girl. He may wonder if perhaps she has trapped him into this predicament. He may be haunted by the question, ‘if she went all the way with me, how can I be sure there have not been others?’ Few fellows want to get stuck with ‘a tramp.’” The Art of Dating

The Happy Ending

Young ladies were expected to marry as virgins and become the helpmate to a well-providing young man and start a family. This excerpt from The Best of Everything, by Rona Jaffe, © 1958, says it all:

“So now she was packing, saying goodbye to her apartment and to New York and to the job that she had never really liked enough to miss now. How strange it would be to lie in bed every morning until ten o’clock, and to be able to cut out recipes from the newspaper and make things that Ronnie liked, and to know that there was someone who would come home to her every evening, who would want to come home to her, who would direct himself to his home as a bird flies south in winter, instinctively, for warmth and love and the life he needed. Things that had never seemed so interesting before: tablecloths in store windows, embroidered sheets, silverware, now took on a great significance.“

Modernette Kitchen by MasterCraft c.1950s-1960s

It was the next generation that would rebel against these expectations for both men and women and open up new opportunities for women beyond the home. But this generation, sometimes called the Silent Generation, was a necessary bridge between the more conservative past and the sexual revolution and feminism of the sixties and seventies to come.

Donna Barten

Novelist

Tag 1950s

Peyton Place and the Sexual Education of America