Golden Age (metaphor) - Culture and Technology

Culture and Technology

A golden age is often ascribed to the years immediately following some technological innovation. It is during this time that writers and artists ply their skills to this new medium. Therefore, there are Golden Ages of both radio and television. During this nascent phase the technology allows new ideas to be expressed, as new art forms flower quickly into new areas:

• Golden age of illustration, a period in US illustration history
• The Golden Age of Radio, 1920s-1940s
• The Golden Age of American animation, between 1928 (sound) and the 1960s (television).
• The Golden Age of Graffiti, (occurred in New York City from approximately 1974 - 1984.)
• Golden Age of Arcade Video Games, the late 1970s to 1980s
• The Golden Age of Hollywood, which lasted from the end of the silent era in American cinema in the late 1920s to the early 1960s
• Golden Age of Television (referring to U.S. television circa 1950s) when television was still a fairly recent invention. Programs such as Kraft Television Theatre, Playhouse 90, and later Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Twilight Zone brought a level of writing to American commercial television that would rarely be seen in the next several decades.
• Golden Age of Aviation, period between the two World Wars, 1920s and 1930s. Also sometimes refers to the period between the late 1950s and early 1970s when the jet engine entered widespread use in both commercial and civil aviation.
• Golden Age of Pornography, period between the mid 1970s and mid 1980s. During this period pornographic films emerged from the underground studios and became a full scale industry with aspirations towards mainstream cinema.
• Golden age hip hop, 1988-1994 a period when hip hop music was arguably at its creative and artistic peak.

At least one technology had its "Golden Age" in its latter years:

• The Golden Age of Sail, 19th century.