LIFE IN 1953-1954         

What was happening back in the '50s?

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What Were Family Economics?

What Did Things Cost?

1950s Culture

  • There were 1,531,000 Marriages, 4,097,000 Births and about 370,000 Divorces. The Divorce rate was below 25%
  • 29 million U.S. households had television sets, double the number in service three years before.
  • Sales of coonskin caps soared when Walt Disney launched the Davy Crockett series, and subsequently a national fad
  • The Black Leather Motorcycle look became popular with teens, thanks to James Dean and Elvis
  • Bela Lugosi ("Dracula") went into a Hospital for treatment of his 20-year drug addiction.
  • Albert Einstein the worlds greatest Genius, died at 76.
  • Walt Disney opened Disneyland and had over 1 million visitors in only 7 weeks.
  • The first famous "Don't Walk" signs were first put up in New York
  • Ann Landers started her famous column at the Chicago Sun-Times.
  • An Outdoor Movie Theater hosted the first Drive-in Church Service. (No Beach High Students attended)

Words/Phrases Originating in the Mid-Fifties

  • ICBM - Intercontinental Ballistic Missile
  • ROCK & ROLL - The Evil Influence on our Children
  • CHURCH KEY - A can or Bottle opener used for Beer
  • JUNK MAIL - Advertisements addressed to "occupant" or "box holder"
  • SECOND BANANA - A supporting comic actor or actress
  • UFO - Unidentified Flying Object

Arts and Entertainment

    Movies

Roman Holiday       From Here to Eternity       The Robe (first major motion picture filmed in wide-screen CinemaScope)
The Caine Mutiny       The High and the Mighty       On the Waterfront
Rear Window       Sabrina       The Seven Samauri

         The Oscar Academy Award for Best Picture:     From Here to Eternity

    Television

  • Bob Hope hosted the first coast-to-coast telecast of The Academy Awards on NBC-TV
  • CBS introduced the Johnny Carson Show
  • Arthur Godfrey's audience began to decline when he fired his much-loved singer, Julius LaRosa.
  • Gunsmoke,the popular Radio series, came to Television
  • ABC introduced Bob Keeshan (formerly Clarabell the Clown) as "Captain Kangaroo" (with his pet Koala bear)
  • The "Mickey Mouse Club" made its TV debut. Sales of the Mouseketeer hat hit 26,000 weekly
  • The first "Pay-as-you-see" TV was introduced

         Other Popular TV Shows:

Twenty Questions           Red Skelton Show           GE Theatre
Make Room for Daddy           Jack Benny Show           Adventures of Rin Tin Tin
George Gobel Show           Mr. Wizard           Perry Mason
The Phil Silvers Show           Studio One           Ominbus
Your Hit Parade           Groucho Marx Show           Lassie
                    Disneyland                    

    Music

         Bill Haley and the Comets began writing hit songs. As a white band using black-derived forms, they venture into rock and roll

         Popular Songs:

Doggie in the Window           I Believe           Stranger in Paradise
I Love Paris           Hernando's Hideaway           Three Coins in a Fountain
Mister Sandman           Young at Heart              

    Books

         Nobel Prize for Literature:Ernest Hemingway

Casino Royale, Ian Fleming           Battle Cry, Leon Uris
A Stillness at Appomattox, Bruce Catton           The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien
Lord of the Flies, William Golding           McCarthy and His Enemies The Record and Its Meaning,William F. Buckley & L. Brent Bozell

    Games

          Scrabble became America's favorite board game

          If you didn't want to play Scrabble there was always Monopoly or Risk (and you still can!)

    Sports

          World Series: New York Giants over Cleveland, 4-0

          The World Series was broadcast in color for the first time by NBC

         NBA ChampionshipMinneapolis Lakers defeated Syracuse Nationals (4-3).

         NCAA Football Champions Ohio St. (AP, INS) (10-0-0) & UCLA (UP, FW) (9-0-0)

         Sports Illustrated Made its Debut

    Still A Hot Topic

         The phrase "under God" was added to the Pledge of Allegiance (and now 55 years later we're still arguing over it!)

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