California Dream
Encyclopedia
California Dream is the psychological motivation to gain fast wealth or fame in a new land. As a result of the California Gold Rush
after 1849, California's name became indelibly connected with the Gold Rush, and fast success in a new world became known as the "California Dream." California was perceived as a place of new beginnings, where great wealth could reward hard work and good luck. The notion inspired the idea of an American Dream
. California was seen as a lucky place, a land of opportunity and good fortune. It was a powerful belief, underlying many of the accomplishments of the state, and equally potent when threatened.
Historian H. W. Brands noted that in the years after the Gold Rush, the California Dream spread across the nation:
Overnight California gained the international reputation as the "golden state"--with gold and lawlessness the main themes.
, aerospace corporations and "dot-com" entrepreneurs
have each had their boom times in the decades after the Gold Rush.
Part of the "California Dream" was "that every family could have its own private home."
As Starr has pointed out, for many if not most migrants to the golden state, "the dream outran the reality." The Okies of the 1930s "found their California dream transformed into a nightmare,' notes Walter Stein. As a result, "the California Dream is a love affair with an idea, a marriage to a myth"
live there.
in his grand seven-volume history of the state has explored in great depth the "California Dream"--the realization by ordinary Californians of the American Dream
. California starting in the late 19th century promised the highest possible standard of life for the middle classes, and indeed for the skilled blue collar workers and farm owners as well. Poverty existed,, but was concentrated among the migrant farm workers made famous in The Grapes of Wrath
, where the Joad family, driven out of the Dust Bowl
, searches for the California Dream. By the 1950s the Joads and the other "Oakies"and "Arkies" (migrants from Oklahoma and Arkansas) were achieving the dream too. It was not so much the upper class (who preferred to live in New York and Boston). The California Dream meant an improved and more affordable family life: a small but stylish and airy house marked by a fluidity of indoor and outdoor space, such as the ubiquitous California bungalow and a lush backyard—the stage, that is, for quiet family life in a sunny climate. It meant very good jobs, excellent roads, plentiful facilities for outdoor recreation, and the schools and universities that were the best in the world by the 1940s. James M. Cain, an eastern writer who visited the Golden State, reported in 1933 that the archetypal Californian "addresses you in easy grammar, completes his sentences, shows familiarity with good manners, and in addition gives you a pleasant smile."
The phrase "Taking the Cure" was conjured to describe '50s "u-haul" migrants who, after a year or so pined for home. One drive back home was enough to convince them to stay after all.
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
after 1849, California's name became indelibly connected with the Gold Rush, and fast success in a new world became known as the "California Dream." California was perceived as a place of new beginnings, where great wealth could reward hard work and good luck. The notion inspired the idea of an American Dream
American Dream
The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States in which freedom includes a promise of the possibility of prosperity and success. In the definition of the American Dream by James Truslow Adams in 1931, "life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each...
. California was seen as a lucky place, a land of opportunity and good fortune. It was a powerful belief, underlying many of the accomplishments of the state, and equally potent when threatened.
Historian H. W. Brands noted that in the years after the Gold Rush, the California Dream spread across the nation:
Overnight California gained the international reputation as the "golden state"--with gold and lawlessness the main themes.
Migrants
Generations of immigrants have been attracted by the California Dream. California farmers, oil drillers, movie makersCinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
, aerospace corporations and "dot-com" entrepreneurs
Dot-com bubble
The dot-com bubble was a speculative bubble covering roughly 1995–2000 during which stock markets in industrialized nations saw their equity value rise rapidly from growth in the more...
have each had their boom times in the decades after the Gold Rush.
As Starr has pointed out, for many if not most migrants to the golden state, "the dream outran the reality." The Okies of the 1930s "found their California dream transformed into a nightmare,' notes Walter Stein. As a result, "the California Dream is a love affair with an idea, a marriage to a myth"
Psychology
Observers report a common stereotyped perception that people are happier in California. This perception is anchored in the perceived superiority of the California climate, and is justified to some extent by the fact that Californians are indeed more satisfied with their climate than are Midwesterners. Surveys of students show the advantages of life in California were not reflected in differences in the self-reported overall life satisfaction of those wholive there.
20th century
Historian Kevin StarrKevin Starr
Kevin Starr is an American historian, best known for his multi-volume series on the history of California, collectively called "Americans and the California Dream."-Life:Kevin Starr was born in San Francisco, California....
in his grand seven-volume history of the state has explored in great depth the "California Dream"--the realization by ordinary Californians of the American Dream
American Dream
The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States in which freedom includes a promise of the possibility of prosperity and success. In the definition of the American Dream by James Truslow Adams in 1931, "life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each...
. California starting in the late 19th century promised the highest possible standard of life for the middle classes, and indeed for the skilled blue collar workers and farm owners as well. Poverty existed,, but was concentrated among the migrant farm workers made famous in The Grapes of Wrath
The Grapes of Wrath
The Grapes of Wrath is a novel published in 1939 and written by John Steinbeck, who was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1940 and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962....
, where the Joad family, driven out of the Dust Bowl
Dust Bowl
The Dust Bowl, or the Dirty Thirties, was a period of severe dust storms causing major ecological and agricultural damage to American and Canadian prairie lands from 1930 to 1936...
, searches for the California Dream. By the 1950s the Joads and the other "Oakies"and "Arkies" (migrants from Oklahoma and Arkansas) were achieving the dream too. It was not so much the upper class (who preferred to live in New York and Boston). The California Dream meant an improved and more affordable family life: a small but stylish and airy house marked by a fluidity of indoor and outdoor space, such as the ubiquitous California bungalow and a lush backyard—the stage, that is, for quiet family life in a sunny climate. It meant very good jobs, excellent roads, plentiful facilities for outdoor recreation, and the schools and universities that were the best in the world by the 1940s. James M. Cain, an eastern writer who visited the Golden State, reported in 1933 that the archetypal Californian "addresses you in easy grammar, completes his sentences, shows familiarity with good manners, and in addition gives you a pleasant smile."
The phrase "Taking the Cure" was conjured to describe '50s "u-haul" migrants who, after a year or so pined for home. One drive back home was enough to convince them to stay after all.
Further reading
- Brands, H.W. The age of gold: the California Gold Rush and the new American dream (2003). ISBN 978-0-385-72088-5.
- Davie, Michael. California: The Vanishing Dream (1973)
- Matthews, Glenna. Silicon Valley, Women, and the California Dream: Gender, Class, and Opportunity in the Twentieth Century (2002)
- Schkade, David A., and Daniel Kahneman. "Does Living in California Make People Happy? A Focusing Illusion in Judgments of Life Satisfaction," Psychological Science Sept. 1998 vol. 9, # 5, pp 340-46 online version
- Starr, Kevin.
- Starr, Kevin California: A History (2005), a synthesis in 370 pp.
- Americans and the California Dream, 1850-1915 (1973)
- Inventing the Dream: California through the Progressive Era (1986)
- Material Dreams: Southern California through the 1920s(1991), cultural, social and political history excerpt and text search
- Endangered Dreams: The Great Depression in California (1997) excerpt and text search
- The Dream Endures: California Enters the 1940s (1997)
- Embattled Dreams: California in War and Peace, 1940-1950 (2003), excerpt and text search
- Golden Dreams: California in an Age of Abundance, 1950-1963 (2009) excerpt and text search
- Coast of Dreams: California on the Edge, 1990-2003. (2004). 784 pp.