Challenge: A "Dieselpunk" 1950s

The period of the early part of the 20th century, while there were many changes and developments, seems to very much stay recognizable. This is the Dieselpunk period which covers a style and technological look of the 20s up to the end of the Second World War. Things were Art Deco, Radio was king, men wore suits and hats, planes were propeller driven, music and culture were a certain way, and so on. And the world felt large and things were not all hooked up to a grid yet (many parts of the country still lacked electricity or even if they had it, their life was still a more traditional way but with new fangled technology coming in; see "O Brother, Where Art Thou?")

And then came the post-war period where things started to become a different world. TV was replacing radio and film, design was going space age, people were leaving the cities for this new thing called suburbia, dress was getting more casual, jet engines replaced prop engines, nuclear technology and space travel were all the rage, and so on.

The challenge is to retard that or prevent that or absorb that into the other style, and have the 50s and period after for however long can be maintained be closer to that 20s-30s-40s period. I suppose in many ways, this is a Dieselpunk challenge.
 
I suppose try and avoid the onset of the atomic age - hence Atompunk being considered the follow on from Dieselpunk (just as that follows on from Steampunk).

Maybe avoid the second world war somehow (which would delay the recovery from depression) and keep particularly the 'pulp' part of Dieselpunk going maybe?
 
I suppose try and avoid the onset of the atomic age - hence Atompunk being considered the follow on from Dieselpunk (just as that follows on from Steampunk).

Maybe avoid the second world war somehow (which would delay the recovery from depression) and keep particularly the 'pulp' part of Dieselpunk going maybe?

Or you could prolong the war, to the point that you stifle economic and cultural development.

The war would have to be very different at least in order to avoid the development of the atom bomb or the popularization of jet aircraft.
 
Jet aircraft are probably a must to avoid. Atomic bombs, however, are possible, so long as they are handled a certain way. They need to be like they were in 1945: expensive, cumbersome, deliverable only by plane as bombs, and of a limited -though scary- yield. Basically, the way the were in "1984".
 
I'm with Emp Norton

Long story shorter, have WWII be such a Pyrrhic victory for the US as well, say a drawn-out invasion and occupation of the Japanese home islands and no Marshall Plan for Europe that technical and economic progress is delayed by twenty years.
 
Maybe could have a social movement against further technological development, after the shock of the atom bombs?

Asimov wrote a story - "Trends" - with such a movement againt space exploration.

Maybe it could help
 
Maybe could have a social movement against further technological development, after the shock of the atom bombs?

Asimov wrote a story - "Trends" - with such a movement againt space exploration.

Maybe it could help

That's hard, I think. For one, while the bomb was devastating, I don't think they'd really care. Unless WW2 devolved into a minor atomic war, with like 9 bombs being used between the combatants causing a number more major cities to be erased. But even then, a belief in halting all technology just wouldn't happen. People may be more fearful and nip atomic advancement in the bud, preventing research into further atomic weapon use and perhaps even further atomic developments elsewhere, but not a whole lock down on technology period. We advance. That's just what we do. Our advancements can be in the same area and style for a long while, which is what all the -punk genres are for their part, but we must advance at least in some fashion.
For two, I don't think people of that era would think that collectively or that far down the road. They didn't know atomic weapons would get smaller or higher yield, or would no longer require planes to carry them and could be launched, or that nations would have hundreds or thousands stockpiled.
 
re:Dieselpunk

Have the Allies paradrop on Berlin in front of the Soviets and the invasion of Japan occur, both with horrendous casualties. Russia hates us. We 'demonstrate' the Atomic bomb on the Nazi diehards in the Alpine Redoubt which stops Stalin from hitting the Allies.
Stalin and Mao coordinate a Hot War/Cold War strategy throughout the world to weaken the west-Mid-East, Korea, Greece, South America, Africa etc.
This keeps us from demobilising, women are still in the workforce. We had during WWII the finest recycling system in the world, keep that going. The military industrial complex and the space race are in full gear.
Capitalism is in full competition with communism worldwide so affluence is the mark of success and money is thrown everywhere to thwart socialism.

The downside is abortive coup attempts by both sides, world wide strife, both militaries stretched thin, revolt interventions with high casualty and failure rates, the Beatnik movement, a early sexual revolution and civil rights movements, womens' lib, Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley barfight, Betty Paige becomes a moviestar(she gave Ike a heart attack and sang happy birthday to President Nixon), space accidents by both sides, technology is transistorised, polarised and revolves around nuclear power.

Pretty much like the pre-war society featured in the Fallout games.
 
How about this one. In 1945, Unit 731 of the Japanese Army unleashes its biological weapons across the Pacific Rim, spreading the plague through "balloon bombs". With millions from China to the United States to the Soviet Union suffering from plague pandemic outbreaks, technological progress is forestalled....
 
Have the Allies paradrop on Berlin in front of the Soviets and the invasion of Japan occur, both with horrendous casualties. Russia hates us. We 'demonstrate' the Atomic bomb on the Nazi diehards in the Alpine Redoubt which stops Stalin from hitting the Allies.
Stalin and Mao coordinate a Hot War/Cold War strategy throughout the world to weaken the west-Mid-East, Korea, Greece, South America, Africa etc.
This keeps us from demobilising, women are still in the workforce. We had during WWII the finest recycling system in the world, keep that going. The military industrial complex and the space race are in full gear.
Capitalism is in full competition with communism worldwide so affluence is the mark of success and money is thrown everywhere to thwart socialism.

The downside is abortive coup attempts by both sides, world wide strife, both militaries stretched thin, revolt interventions with high casualty and failure rates, the Beatnik movement, a early sexual revolution and civil rights movements, womens' lib, Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley barfight, Betty Paige becomes a moviestar(she gave Ike a heart attack and sang happy birthday to President Nixon), space accidents by both sides, technology is transistorised, polarised and revolves around nuclear power.

Pretty much like the pre-war society featured in the Fallout games.

Thats really moving into Atompunk which in my opinion is quite different from Dieselpunk. Much in the way thats different from Steampunk.
 
There seems to be a trend of devastating civilization to stagnate progress. Must we do that? Can't we have tranquility and still have progress resemble the post WWI-to-circa WW2 period? For example, perhaps no WW2, so certain innivations do not arise and technological areas and styles delved into are not explored similarly. Hence, 50s technology may come, but if it does, it has a 20s/30s/40s flair. And socially, society does not see things like white flight and the other post-war trends.
 
Would having no Manhattan Project and thus delaying the Atomic Bomb help as well? I'm not sure how long it could be delayed (whether it'd only be a matter of years, or it could be until now that an a-bomb would be plausible), but perhaps by delaying the atomic age, we could progress more gradually overall.
 
Would having no Manhattan Project and thus delaying the Atomic Bomb help as well? I'm not sure how long it could be delayed (whether it'd only be a matter of years, or it could be until now that an a-bomb would be plausible), but perhaps by delaying the atomic age, we could progress more gradually overall.

I suppose one could try directing it elsewhere--atomic reactor research instead of atomic explosives, perhaps, with reactors intended for ship-board use.

Anyway, for a 'dieselpunk' 1950s, averting the public works of the New Deal would help in two ways. First, by reducing the electricity present in areas where IOTL hydroelectric dams were constructed by the TVA, thus slowing development overall. Second, by reducing economic progress overall, thus reducing the amount of people who can afford a television.
 
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