![California Clipper 500](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/California_Clipper_500.jpg)
The California Dream is the psychological motivation to gain fast wealth or fame in a new land. As a result of the
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California fro ...
after 1849,
California's
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the mo ...
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
Henry William Brands Jr. (born August 7, 1953) is an American historian. He holds the Jack S. Blanton Sr. Chair in History at the University of Texas at Austin, where he earned his PhD in history in 1985. He has authored 30 books on U.S. histor ...
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 makers, 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 historian
Kevin Starr
Kevin Owen Starr (September 3, 1940 – January 14, 2017) was an American historian and California's state librarian, best known for his multi-volume series on the history of California, collectively called "Americans and the California Dream."
...
has pointed out, for many if not most migrants to the golden state, "the dream outran the reality." The
Okies
An Okie is a person identified with the state of Oklahoma. This connection may be residential, ethnic, historical or cultural. For most Okies, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being Oklahoman. ...
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, with much of California enjoying a
Mediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...
. Surveys of students show the advantages of life in California were not reflected in differences in the self-reported overall life satisfaction of those who live there.
20th century
Historian
Kevin Starr
Kevin Owen Starr (September 3, 1940 – January 14, 2017) was an American historian and California's state librarian, best known for his multi-volume series on the history of California, collectively called "Americans and the California Dream."
...
in his 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
''The Grapes of Wrath'' is an American realist novel written by John Steinbeck and published in 1939. The book won the National Book Award
and Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and it was cited prominently when Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize ...
'', where the Joad family, driven out of the
Dust Bowl
The Dust Bowl was a period of severe dust storms that greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the American and Canadian prairies during the 1930s. The phenomenon was caused by a combination of both natural factors (severe drought) an ...
, searches for the California Dream. By the 1950s the Joads and the other "Okies" 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
A backyard, or back yard (known in the United Kingdom as a back garden or just garden), is a yard at the back of a house, common in suburban developments in the Western world.
In Australia, until the mid-20th century, the back yard of a pro ...
—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." Cultural phenomena which have fed into the California Dream include the rise of the
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood, ...
film industry,
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo County ...
, California's aerospace industry, the
California wine industry and the
Dotcom boom
The dot-com bubble (dot-com boom, tech bubble, or the Internet bubble) was a stock market bubble in the late 1990s, a period of massive growth in the use and adoption of the Internet.
Between 1995 and its peak in March 2000, the Nasdaq Compos ...
. The phrase has been used in describing Californian's struggles to find a suitable location in the state to achieve success, in 2017, when the cost of living in places like the
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...
were prohibitive.
The phrase "Taking the Cure" was conjured to describe 1950s "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.
Popular culture
![La-et-ms-los-angeles-sheet-music-20130529-dto-002](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/La-et-ms-los-angeles-sheet-music-20130529-dto-002.jpg)
The term has been referenced in numerous media, most notably in the song title ''
California Dreamin'
"California Dreamin'" is a song written by John Phillips and Michelle Phillips and first recorded by Barry McGuire. The best-known version is by the Mamas & the Papas, who sang backup on the original version and released it as a single in 196 ...
'', with "California dreaming" used in book and film titles that reference some aspect of the California Dream, such as the 2007 film ''
California Dreaming
"California Dreamin'" is a song written by John Phillips and Michelle Phillips and first recorded by Barry McGuire. The best-known version is by the Mamas & the Papas, who sang backup on the original version and released it as a single in 196 ...
''. Lawrence Donegan's ''California Dreaming: A Smooth-running, Low-mileage, Cut-price American Adventure'' references the California, (and American) Dream. Also referencing it is poet Christopher Buckley (poet), Christopher Buckley's ''Sleepwalk: California dreamin' and a last dance with the '60s''. Numerous songs have been written about the California Dream.
See also
*''
Blue Sky Dream, Blue Sky Dream: A Memoir of America's Fall from Grace'', related memoir on the California aerospace industry and associated culture
*
California Dreamin' (disambiguation)
*
History of California
The history of California can be divided into the Native American period (about 10,000 years ago until 1542), the European exploration period (1542–1769), the Spanish colonial period (1769–1821), the Mexican period (1821–1848), and Un ...
*
Californication Californication may refer to:
*Californication (word), an expression that refers to the influx of Californians into various western states in the U.S.
* ''Californication'' (album), a 1999 album by the Red Hot Chili Peppers
** "Californication" (son ...
, the complete opposite of the California Dream.
Further reading
*Brands, H.W. ''The age of gold: the California Gold Rush and the new American dream'' (2003). .
*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
Daniel Kahneman (; he, דניאל כהנמן; born March 5, 1934) is an Israeli-American psychologist and economist notable for his work on the psychology of judgment and decision-making, as well as behavioral economics, for which he was award ...
. "Does Living in California Make People Happy? A Focusing Illusion in Judgments of Life Satisfaction," ''
Psychological Science
''Psychological Science'', the flagship journal of the Association for Psychological Science (APS), is a monthly, peer-reviewed, scientific journal published by SAGE Publications.
Publication scope
''Psychological Science'' publishes research r ...
'', September 1998 vol. 9, # 5, pp. 340–4
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 histor
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.
References
{{California
California Gold Rush
Pre-statehood history of California
History of California
American culture
California culture