WHAT I SAW IN THE 1950S

I was just a dimwitted kid in those days but even I could sense that it was a good time to be alive.

WWII vets must have dreamed of having their own house while they were freezing in foxholes, and in the 50s that dream became a reality for millions.

People were proud of their new lives and they liked to have their pictures taken next to  symbols of prosperity. Here's (above) one symbol: formal clothes for kids, the kind that make little boys look like ventroloquist dummies. When I was forced to wear them I'd pray that other kids wouldn't see me. 

  Believe it or not, parents initially wanted their kids to watch TV. They thought it was educational. Haw! That didn't last long!

It must have been a great time to be a Dad.

It was the era of The Bombshell, the cinematic vamp who could turn men into drooling idiots.

Of course I was a kid so I preferred the fare at the local kiddie matinee. This Theory Corner blog owes a lot to what I learned while watching sci fi in the dark.

Suburbia wasn't just for the middle class...the hope was to make it possible for anyone who could swing a bank loan for a few thousand bucks. Pre-fab was supposed to have made that possible. Later on pre-fab fell into disrepute...I don't know why.

Once you had a house, the next step was to save up for a tail fin car. Check out this (above) Plymouth Belvedere convertible, just the thing to drive to...  

....the local Twist party! How do you like this room (above)? It looks like something out of Wally Wood. It only lacks driftwood sculpture and a mobile! 

Yes, the 50s suburbs were pretty darn good but that didn't stop dreamers from imagining something even better. 

That something better was flying cars which every kid from that era desperately wanted. I think we're all traumatized because we didn't get them. 

  

So what happened to all this? Well, it's still with us in many ways, but things are a bit different now.