After moving to New York for a while, Angel suggested that we all go shopping in New York on the weekend. The idea was quickly agreed upon by the whole family, who had long wanted to find a time to get out and play. In the most prosperous city in the United States, it's impossible to go shopping without going shopping.

New York's Time Center is not the same as the suburbs where they used to live, with a lot of people and cars, and a lot of shops everywhere. According to statistics, the population of New York City has increased by 11% in recent years, and many of them are newly moved city residents like them. The tide of urbanization is affecting every aspect of the United States, not only in urban centers, but also in suburban areas.

These so-called suburbs will also develop into part of the city in the future. The development of the suburbs was initially associated with the expansion of the automobile industry and the construction of new transport arteries.

In the post-war years, when the U.S. automobile industry boomed, car production surged from 2 million in 1946 to 8 million in 1955, and the number of registered cars increased from 25 million to 51 million.

Mr. Barthes, who had previously worked in a factory specializing in automobiles, was particularly familiar with the change, watching cars come out of the assembly line and be sold in stores. The streets are getting more and more trafficked, and the roads are getting more and more congested.

Not only are there more vehicles, but there are also more people.

The fifties were a time of unusually high marriage rates and unusually rapid birth rates, culminating in the postwar "baby boom" in 1957, the year when the birth rate was the highest in the history of the United States.

Alex, Richard and Cullen were all born in the "baby boom", and the economy was further stimulated by population growth.

An industrial journal happily said: "More people mean new business opportunities and a better time." ”

That's a good thing, the United States at this time is full of opportunities, and as long as you are willing to work hard, you can find job opportunities.

This era is also the time when the ideals of the American family are the most prevalent, and it is the era when American housewives are the happiest. What they pursue is a high-quality life with privacy, freedom, comfort, spaciousness, and enjoyment.

At this time, the income of the average household almost doubled, and the shops were filled with everything from blenders to dish-tie machines, which were previously impossible to have.

For Angel, the happiest time for her is when she goes shopping, taking large and small items off the shelves, putting them on the shopping cart, and carrying them home. When she was shopping, her eyes were sparkling and her face was ruddy, as if she had seen a female dragon with treasure.

The Carpenter family of five walked along Fifth Avenue in New York's Central Park, entering shops and buying food as they saw along the way. There's a food court, a street decorated with glass houses and colorful light bulbs, and American things can be found everywhere. Seafood and meat are the main foods in this food area, and the taste is not bad, and the price is not very expensive.

After eating and drinking, led by Angel, the family arrived at a clothing store. In the face of these brands that Alex can't name, he doesn't know what to choose. Judging from his aesthetics, the clothes of this era still look very conservative and rustic, and he can't imagine what it looks like on himself.

"Alex, why don't you pick out a few clothes?"

"But I don't like these clothes very much, they look too ugly."

", these are all clothes that are trending right now!"

"Then Mom, you can help me pick out a few."

With Angel's help, Alex randomly selected a few clothes, which looked more like clothes in the style of later generations. It's just that Angel doesn't like it very much, and she keeps muttering: "This dress is rarely worn by people, and it is not popular at all." ”

Unexpectedly, after Alex wore it, he looked surprisingly good, and even Angel changed his words and praised it.

For women's clothes, Angel quickly chosen. Women's clothing in this era is not as heavy and rigid as it was during World War II, when most of them were overalls for the convenience of work. Although not as open as later generations, the women regained their charm and elegance, and they were eager to leave the dead air of the war era behind.

As for Bart, he opted for a few cheap and durable denim outfits that he intended to wear for rough work. He also chose some clothes with patterns and bright colors, which he wore at home, to make him look more relaxed. As for suits, of course, they are also required, and they must be worn on formal occasions.

Richard and Cullen also chose some of their favorite clothes, and they shouted to the attention of the other customers in the store.

Alex looked at the clothes in the store and felt that most of them didn't fit his aesthetics, so he said, "We should customize some of our own clothes, handmade clothes that will fit better." ”

"Custom-made clothes?"

The Carpenter were interested in Alex's suggestion, and they had heard that the rich people were looking for someone to customize. Each of these clothes is super expensive, and almost one custom garment can buy a hundred clothes in the store. When they heard it before, they thought it was a little unbelievable, but now that they have money in their hands, they take such things for granted.

Alex saw that his parents were a little excited, so he stepped up and said, "Yes, customize the clothes, I'll design a few for you to see." ”

"You also design clothes?"

They were more interested in Alex's ability to design clothes than in custom-made clothes. They really wanted to know what kind of clothes Lu Dao's son designed, and they didn't know if Lu Dao looked good in it.

Bart immediately clapped his hands and said with a smile: "Then it's decided, Alex, you design a few sets of clothes for each of us." When the time comes, I'll be able to show them off when I wear it! ”

Angel also pursed her lips and smiled, she also felt that it was a glorious thing to wear the unique clothes designed by her son.

After the Carpenter family had their clothes chosen, they had them packed up and sent to their home. At this time, it was still early, so I continued to visit other stores, and in addition to clothes, I also bought some furniture, decorations, daily necessities, etc.

They can hear "Carpenter Brothers" songs in many places, and at first, they will deliberately ask the clerk about whether their songs are popular. If you see a lot, you won't be surprised. Thankfully, no one has seen them before, and those who like the "Carpenter Brothers" song don't recognize them.

This is New York, a city that is strange to them and a city that is strange to them at the same time. If they had lived before, they would have been recognized.

A morning passes in the middle of shopping, and from Alex's observations, the times are different, and the social background is different, but the constant is always people. After so many years in this era, he has begun to adapt to this life. Of course, occasionally he would still think of the previous world.

The Carpenter family found a restaurant for lunch, and by this time everyone was already feeling a little tired and wanted to sit down and rest for a while. But they don't want to go home yet, especially since the children are still in high spirits and want to play outside for a while.

Bart consulted Angel and decided to continue shopping until the afternoon.

"Why don't we go to the movies!" Angel proposed.

"Movies?"

Alex came to this era, and he hadn't seen much of a movie yet. He has been performing with Bart all the time, and in his spare time, he is studying music, researching his own abilities, etc. He simply didn't have time to go to the movies, and even if he did, he didn't have a lot of interest in the films of this era.

Today is different, he wants to understand the living habits of people in this era, and wants to see what movies in the fifties were like. I can't say that he will find a chance to make movies in the future, but if he doesn't know more about it now, let alone when.

"Good! Go to the movies! We love watching movies. ”

"What is a movie?"

Richard also rarely watches movies, which he certainly welcomes. Karen hadn't even seen a movie, she had just been able to speak, and she had never heard of the word movie at all.

There was a movie theater nearby, and they walked in and saw what kind of movie was being shown. After choosing, go buy a movie ticket and go in to watch it.

"Bart, you see that "Gold Powder of Red Mansions" is still being screened, I heard that this film is very good."

"Well, kids probably can't read this kind of movie."

"And what about Comet Beauty?"

Angel's two films are about Hollywood actors, and Bart thinks it's too dull to find a Western.

"How is Traingeek? This is about two men who meet on a train, one wants to kill his wife and the other wants to kill his father. So the agreement was exchanged and killed, but because one party did not abide by the agreement, he blackmailed the other party, which led to all kinds of things. ”

Bart read the synopsis on the poster and thought the story was to his liking, so he wanted to see the movie.

Angel frowned a little and said, "This kind of film shouldn't be shown to children." ”

At this time, there was no hierarchy system for movies, and what movies children watched were controlled by their parents. Bart and Angel look around the movie posters and find that none of them have a movie for kids to watch. At this point, they either choose to go home or pick a random movie to watch.

In the end, they chose a movie called "The Burning of the City by the Tyrant". It is a luxurious 171-minute blockbuster set in the ancient Roman Empire. By Peter? Ustinov plays the role of the impudent Emperor Nero, who tells the absurdity of Emperor Nero to show the turbulence of that era.

Karen clapped her hands and excitedly pointed at the person on the screen and shouted, "Mom, look, Princess Ligier is so beautiful!" ”

Angel stroked her daughter's hair and said, "Well, yes! No wonder the general fell in love with her at first sight! ”

When he saw Nero rewarding the victorious army, Bart was a little surprised and said, "Emperor Nero would actually reward her to the general, this emperor is not brainless." ”

"Why doesn't the princess like the general, but wants to run away."

"The princess is a Christian, so she can't agree with the general's conquest and massacre."

Alex found this explanation a little funny, and Christianity does not shy away from blood. However, this is not a film that clearly glorifies Christians, so he didn't say anything. He just felt that this reason was a bit far-fetched, and it was more reasonable to say that the princess was frightened, so she would run away.

On the screen, the general finds a secret Christian meeting place in order to recover Ligier. When I first heard Peter's sermons about Christ, and when I met Ligier again on the way back, although the two were already in love, they were still fascinated by the spirit of Christ.

When Angel saw this scene, she folded her hands and said excitedly: "Thank God, the princess touched the general with love and made him lose his way." ”

Immediately afterwards, the plot of the movie comes to Nero going crazy to burn down the city of Rome, and as a result, the general rescues the princess and leads the refugees into the palace. In order to appease the anger of the people, Nero blamed the Christians for the burning of the city, captured the Christians, fed them to the lions, crucified them, and burned them in the fire.

At this time, the climax came to the climax, St. Peter was crucified, but all the Christians sang hymns for righteousness, the general revealed the truth on the spot, the Roman army was anyway, and Nero committed suicide to end the atrocity.

This is the end of the movie!

After watching this blockbuster of the fifties, Alex deeply felt the advanced level of American cinema. Such a film has already been filmed in this era. You must know that in the absence of computer special effects and various shooting techniques, such a movie is completely completed by live shooting, and he has to admire it deeply.

It's just that he feels that the director has put all his energy on the grand scenes and majestic set displays, and the content of the script is relatively ordinary and boring, and some clips still appear in cold scenes. However, the actor who played Nero was quite good, and his performance made people believe that this was the historical Emperor Nero himself.

Alex observed the people around him, and it seemed that people in this era still liked this kind of film.

Bart likes to watch this kind of big scene, and he feels very satisfied after watching it. Angel wanted to see it because it also tells the story of the oppression of Christians.

Richard seems to be fascinated by the various killings and absurd scenes in this film, and he can't come back to his senses for a long time.

Only Karen only noticed that the people on the screen were tall and well-dressed, the heroine was beautiful, and so on.

After watching the movie, the Carpenter family returned to their residence in downtown New York. Along the way, they were also discussing what Emperor Nero was so absurd, the love between the general and the princess, the heroic righteousness of the Christians, and so on.

"If only we could make a movie like this!" Bart exclaimed.

"Making a movie? Is it an investment or a director or an actor? Angel asked him.

"Of course it's an investment, it's impossible for the two of us to be directors or actors. Well, maybe Alex and Richard have a chance to be actors. ”

After hearing this, Richard said with some excitement: "Actor? I want to too! ”

Alex looked at his family with a smile and said, "Maybe it's not bad to be a director!" In this way, you can shoot whatever you want, and you can shoot whoever you want. ”

Angel said with some concern: "This is a big investment, and a movie will cost at least millions of dollars." Not all movies can make money, and when the time comes, it will be over. ”

Bart laughed at Ha Lu Ha Da and said, "I'm just talking casually, why should you take it seriously. ”

As for Alex, he didn't just say it casually, he really wanted to make a movie, a movie that could bring him a huge fortune. It's just that the time is not yet ripe, whether it is technology, capital and connections, it takes time to accumulate.