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50's & 60's Memorabilia

FACTS about 1950. 

  • Population: 151,684,000 (U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census)*

  • Unemployed: 3,288,000

  • Life expectancy: women 71.1, men 65.6

  • Car Sales: 6,665,800

  • Average salary: $2,992

  • Labor force male/female: 5/2

  • Cost of a loaf of bread: $0.14

  • Bomb shelter plans, like the government pamphlet You Can Survive, become widely available

1950 - President  Harry Truman  ( 'til 1952) approves production of the hydrogen bomb and Sends air force and navy to Korea in June.
1951 - Transcontinental television begins with a speech by Pres. Truman. 
Dwight D. Eisenhower  is president  from 1953 until 1961
1952 - The Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1952 is signed, removing racial and ethnic barriers to becoming a U.S. citizen. 
1953 -  Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are electrocuted for their part in W.W.II espionage. 
1953 - Fighting ends in Korea. 
1954 -  U. S. Senator Joseph McCarthy begins televised hearings into alleged Communists in the army. 
1954 - Racial segregation is ruled unconstitutional in public schools by the U.S. Supreme Court. 
1955 -  Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat on a public bus in Montgomery, Alabama. 
1955 - The American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merge making the new AFL-CIO an organization with 15 million members. 
1956 - The federal Highway Act is signed, marking the beginning of work on the interstate highway system. 
Dr. Jonas Salk  developed a vaccine for  polio
1958 - Explorer I, the first U.S. satellite, successfully orbits the earth. 
December 10, 1958 - The first domestic jet-airline passenger service is begun by National Airlines between New York City and Miami. 
1959 - Alaska and Hawaii become the forty-ninth and fiftieth states. 

FACTS about 1960. 

  • Population 177,830,000

  • Unemployment 3,852,000

  • National Debt 286.3 Billion

  • Average Salary $4,743

  • Teacher's Salary $5,174

  • Minimum Wage $1.00

  • Life Expectancy:  Males 66.6 years, Females 73.1 years

  • Auto deaths 21.3 per 100,000

  • An estimated 850,000 "war baby" freshmen enter college; emergency living quarters are set up in dorm lounges, hotels and trailer camps.

 

Drive-In's

The automobile age and Hollywood's fantasyland crossed paths 65 years ago in Camden, N.J., with the opening of the first drive-in theater. It changed the way Americans dated and created a way for parents to go to the movies without hiring a babysitter. This melding of the automobile and the movie was so popular that by 1958 there were more than 5,000 drive-ins in the United States.

 

Soda Fountains

There is no one reason why the soda fountain is no longer found throughout America. The reasons for the soda fountain's decline are as diverse as fast food, Coca-Cola, home refrigerators, supermarkets, television, cars, and malls. One reason is that, in a sense, the luncheonette was too successful. The luncheonette was one of the few places that people could grab a fast bite to eat, and it went along way toward spawning fast food restaurants such as McDonalds. As more traditional fast food places were established they started siphoning off some of the traditional customers of the soda fountain.

 

Fads & Toys

  • Silly Putty®

  • Frisbee®

  • hula hoop, "the granddaddy of American fads." Children around the world have always played with hoops, by rolling and throwing them or twirling them around the waist and limbs.

  • Yo-Yo

  • Slinky

  • Coonskin Caps
    Became a hot commodity in late 1954 with the debut of Walt Disney's Davy Crockett. The hat became the most popular of all the Davy Crockett products, which netted Disney a cool hundred million dollars.

  • DA Haircut
    In the 1950's the DA (Ducks Ass), was the haircut of choice for the "cool" guys. Formed by combing the hair back on the sides of the head and holding it there with a dab of grease (hence the term "greaser"). Became popular by many rock and roll idols, making parents frown upon them and the effect it had upon their children. So legions of rebels without a cause delighted in slicking their hair back with a little brylcream and a plastic comb.

  • Bouffant Hairdo
    A trend launched by First Lady Jackie Kennedy. It was a difficult style to wear, time consuming to achieve and required a great number of tools to concoct. Came to an end about 1964 after the assassination of President Kennedy.

  • Sideburns
    James Dean and Elvis Presley among others, got loads of mileage out of those strips of facial hair that grew down about an inch and a half below the ears. Sideburns became the crucial detail to go along with the leather jackets and the DA haircuts. Eventually sideburns could be seen everywhere and realization of the grooming seemed to be more trouble then it was worth. The sideburns soon faded out.

  • Blackjack Chewing Gum Black licorice flavored gum.

  • Bellbottoms

  • Love Beads

  • Sea monkeys

LINKS

More Memorabilia: http://www.wtv-zone.com/moe/moesboomerabilia/

Crazy Fads: www.crazyfads.com

Fifties www.fiftiesweb.com

60's Slang http://cougartown.com/slang-dict2.html

70's http://dt.prohosting.com/70s/

Do You Remember When.....

 

Media & Communications

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