The Roots

AMERICANA: “The Roots of Home” — TIME, 1960

Main idea

The article presents American suburbia as one of the defining features of postwar American life. By 1960, roughly 60 million Americans (about one-third of the population) lived in suburbs. Suburbia represented the expanding young middle class and its search for homeownership, family life, community, and what it considered the “good way of life.”

At the same time, the article recognizes tensions within suburban life: conformity, consumerism, social pressure, over-organization, gender roles, isolation from other social classes, and dissatisfaction beneath the appearance of prosperity.

Origins and growth of suburbia

Moving outside cities was not a new phenomenon. The article traces the desire to escape crowded cities back to ancient Rome and later European cities, which were often overcrowded and unhealthy. Industrialization made the contrast between polluted cities and greener outskirts especially important.


In the United States, suburban development accelerated as trolleys, rapid transit, automobiles, and rising incomes allowed middle-income families to live outside cities while commuting to work.

The decisive expansion came after World War II. Returning veterans and wartime workers sought affordable homes outside crowded cities, producing a massive suburban building boom. Suburban homeownership became a visible symbol of what Americans believed economic success could provide.

The suburban housewife

The suburban housewife as the central figure of suburban life, calling her the “keeper of the suburban dream.”

Her responsibilities include:

  • managing the household and children

  • cooking and cleaning

  • shopping and budgeting

  • driving children to activities

  • maintaining social relationships with neighbours

  • participating in schools and community organizations

The article portrays this life humorously but also shows its pressures. The housewife may experience exhaustion, financial anxiety, repetitive domestic work, and occasional desires to escape her routine. Pasted markdown

Cars and suburban life

Suburban sprawl and limited public transportation made the automobile essential, particularly for women responsible for transporting children.

Children's activities were spread across communities, meaning suburban mothers needed both an appointment book and driver's licence to manage family life. Pasted markdown

Women and community activism

As children became less dependent, many suburban women became heavily involved in:

  • PTAs

  • women's clubs

  • churches

  • neighbourhood associations

  • adult education

  • local political campaigns

  • school reform

The article therefore portrays suburban women as politically and socially influential even though husbands generally remained the formal heads of households.

One example involved 1,000 PTA members protesting cuts to a school budget, successfully pressuring the local government to restore funding. Pasted markdown

Suburbia and local democracy

The article presents suburban communities as places where ordinary residents could exercise significant influence over local politics.

Because suburban communities were smaller than cities, residents were more likely to personally know candidates for positions such as school boards. Some suburban commentators therefore described suburbia as an important site of grassroots democracy. Pasted markdown

However, rapid suburban growth also created administrative problems. Metropolitan areas could contain dozens—or even hundreds—of separate governments, school districts, sanitation districts, and other authorities. Pasted markdown

Over-organization

One criticism of suburbia was that community participation could become excessive.

Families filled their schedules with:

  • sports leagues

  • clubs

  • dance and drama

  • community organizations

  • parties

  • children's organized activities

Instead of creating stronger family life, constant activity could actually separate families.

One suburban child asks his mother:

“Anybody going to be home tonight?” Pasted markdown

The quote captures one of the article's central contradictions: suburbs were supposedly designed around home and family, yet suburban social life could leave families with little time at home together.

Childhood and social isolation

The article questions whether suburban children were becoming over-organized and sheltered.

Parents often believed children should constantly participate in organized activities such as Little League or Scouts. Critics argued that children also needed unstructured time to play and daydream. Pasted markdown

Another concern was economic and social homogeneity. Children growing up in affluent suburbs might see little poverty or extreme wealth and therefore assume that everyone lived similarly. Pasted markdown

Conformity and consumerism

The article describes suburbia as a potential “Den of Conformity.”

Status could become connected to possessions and appearances:

  • bigger swimming pools

  • newer cars

  • power mowers

  • properly maintained lawns

  • keeping up with neighbours

Social expectations could become surprisingly powerful. One sociologist jokes that in Garden City:

“they don’t care whether you believe in God, but you’d better cut your grass.”

Even attempts to rebel against conformity could become organized: three couples created an “Anti-Conformity League” but eventually abandoned it because it became “too organized to be anti-conformist.” Pasted markdown

Dissatisfaction beneath prosperity

Suburban prosperity did not eliminate personal problems.

The article discusses:

  • marital difficulties

  • gossip

  • competition for status

  • insecurity

  • superficial social relationships

  • pressure to appear successful

One minister argues that suburban residents often valued “smartness rather than depth, shine rather than spirit.” Pasted markdown

Another minister summarizes the problem with the memorable statement:

“We’ve all learned that Hell is portable.”

In other words, leaving the city for an attractive suburban home did not allow people to escape social, marital, or personal problems.


Overall portrayal

Despite all these criticisms, TIME ultimately presents suburbia quite optimistically.

The article acknowledges conformity, gender inequality, excessive organization, consumer competition, and dissatisfaction, but argues that most suburban residents genuinely enjoy their lives.

The closing image emphasizes families socializing, barbecuing, playing games, raising children, and enjoying their homes. Suburbia becomes a new setting for the traditional American search for home, prosperity, family, community, and happiness.