The Invention of Penicillin
Many Americans in the late 1940s and early 1950s refrained from risky sexual activity due to the out break of the STD's syphilis and gonorrhea. At the time, there was no known cure for such diseases. When syphilis reached it's peak, it killed about 20,000 people. It has been referred to as the AIDS of this generation (Francis). The outbreak of these diseases scared the general public and made them think more cautiously about casual sex. Print ads, like the one above, were frequently seen in magazines and newspapers to raise awareness about these diseases.
A cure for syphilis and gonorrhea was discovered shortly after World War II. Penicillin, the first antibiotic was invented by Alexander Fleming. This new drug was able to drop the syphilis death rate by 75 percent (Francis). People were no longer forced to be cautious about sex. These life threatening STDs could now be cured with a new, easy to get antibiotic. This drove sexual behavior up during the mid-1950s and is thought to be a leading cause of the sexual revolution.
Economist Andrew Francis researched the effects of penicillin and sexual behavior between 1930 and 1970. He measured gonorrhea rate, illegitimate birth ratio, and teen birth rate. He found that, "as soon as syphilis bottoms out, in the mid- to late- 1950s, you start to see dramatic increases in all three measures of sexual behavior" (Francis). This is evidence that sexual behavior did increase in the 1950s, contrary to the stereotypical belief. Teens and young adults were actively having sex, but to keep the "perfect family" image, many turned their head to these behaviors. People were not afraid to get these diseases since there was a simple solution to make them go away.