Flashback Friday - Christmas in the 1950's

Welcome to Flashback Friday, 1950's edition! The war was long over and the fifties was a time of Baby Boomers and consumerism, the Cold War, Red Scare and bomb shelter building. Teenagers became recognized as a legitimate part of society and with that, teen idols, rock and roll and a whole lotta shakin' was goin' on. The Civil Rights Movement moved to the forefront and our country was growing older and wiser. The fifties was a time of family values and traveling in the family automobile and pop culture followed suit.

The fifties saw the invention of the oral contraceptive, the polio vaccine by Jonas Salk, the atomic clock, hovercraft, the credit card, lunar probe, nuclear power and video recorder.

Harry S. Truman was President  until 1952 and Dwight D. Eisenhower served as President from 1953 until 1961. Alaska and Hawaii became the forty-ninth and fiftieth states. America was booming!

American style on the fifties was blue jeans, poodle skirts, pony tails, flat tops, saddle shoes and sweater sets.

Television started to change society and our lives forever. TV brought a new way to market with the shows and toys to go with them. TV also fed consumerism with commercials influencing our purchasing behavior.  Popular shows of the fifties were I Love Lucy, the Twilight Zone, the Honeymooners, Micky Mouse Club, Lassie and Howdy Doody.

Rock and roll music was shaking the country. Teens and adults alike tuned-in to Dick Clark's American Bandstand and a new, controversial young man was making girls swoon with his crazy dance moves. Oh, Elvis.

Famous stars of the fifties included Rock Hudson, Tony Curtis, Robert Wagner and teen idols like: Frankie Avalon, Bobby Darin, Fabian, Bobby Rydell, Ricky Nelson ( for you mom!), Paul Anka, Troy Donahue and Elvis. The ladies with their cinched waists were Doris Day, Debbie Reynolds, Elizabeth Taylor, Marilyn Monroe, Mitzi Gaynor, Connie Francis, Sandra Dee and Annette Funicello.

1950's Facts

$100 in 1950 is the equivalent of $835.41 today.

Average new house in 1950 - $8450  and in 1959 - $12,400
Average income in 1950 - $3210 and in 1950 - $5010
Average new car in 1950 - $1510 and in 1959 - $2200
Gallon of gas in 1950 - $.18 and in 1959 - $.25

1950's Toys

This is my dad with Santa circa 1956

1952 - Mr. Potato Head - originally parts to be used on a real potato
1955 - Play Doh and Pez candy dispensers debuted
1958 - skateboards
1959 - Barbie

This is my mom with her new Radio Flyer circa 1952.

 Love the tree and of course, their pride and joy, the television!

Also from the fifties: Tonka Trucks, Matchbox cars, Yahtzee, Hula Hoops, kitchen sets and farm sets.

My mom again, a few years later and her new doll!

Christmas traditions of the fifties included bubble lights, electric color wheels to highlight your tree, aluminum trees, tinsel and lovely plastic candy containers.

Happy Friday!

Krissy

All photos, other than my own found here and Pinterest.http://pinterest.com

Flashback Friday - 1940's Christmas

I have a passion for all things "retro" and "vintage." I often feel as though I was born in the wrong era. I love the innocence of the society of yesteryear. Yes, I would not mind being "stuck" at home all day because my husband drove our one family car to work, tending to my household duties. I could always walk to the market, but the milk would be delivered to my door! Wednesdays were wash days and there would always be Little Timmy and Sally's clothes to make and mend and dinner to put on the table each evening. In the forties, I would tend to my Victory Garden or follow in the footsteps of my grandmother, Pearl, and work as a Rosie the Riveter in a factory for the war effort.

The 1940's was an era of great optimism and one of great struggle. The country was coming-out of the Great Depression of the 30's and life for the average American family was on the upswing once again. The rest of the world was at war and all was quiet for the US until December 7, 1941, and Pearl Harbor changed everything. The US was now at war, but with Hollywood keeping everyone's spirits up while the boys were away to win the war, some pretty exciting things happened.

I will refrain from giving you a World War 2 history lesson and focus instead on the lighter side of life in the 1940's. Big Band music was all the rage on the radio. Rosemary Clooney, the Andrew's Sisters, Count Basie, Artie Shaw and Dizzy Gillespie were popular songsters. On the silver screen, that was oh so glamorous in the forties, Clark Gable, Gary Cooper, Humphrey Bogart and Bing Crosby were the male leads. For the females, Rita Hayworth, Lana Turner, Betty Grable, Jane Russell, Lauren Bacall and Ava Gardner became legendary icons.

The 1940's saw the first computer invented. Colossus was it's name. The first transistor and the nuclear bomb were invented. Chuck Yeager was the first to break the sound barrier and Supersonic flight was born.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was President for the first half of the forties, until his death in 1945. FDR was followed by Harry Truman until 1949.

1940's Facts

Minimum wage - $.43 an hour
New house in 1940 - $3920.00   and in 1949 - $7450.00
Average income in 1940 - $1725.00 and in 1949 - $2950.00
Gallon of gas in 1940 - $.11 and in 1949 - $.17
New car in 1940 - $850.00 and in 1949 - $1420.00
$100.00 in 1940 would be the equivalent of $1433.77 today

 

Now for 1940's Christmas toy fun!

1941 - FAO Schwartz Toy Store opens in New York City

1942 - Little Golden Books are printed
1943 - Chutes and Ladders is the new game
1945 - Slinky is first sold
1948 - year Scrabble was invented
1949 - Silly Putty and Candy Land were popular Christmas toys

The most popular toys for the forties were also the Red Ryder BB rifle, Erector sets, electric train sets, enameled metal trucks and cars, metal pedal cars, WWII model airplane sets, farmyard sets, Parcheesi, Tiddlywinks and Radio Flyer wagons.

Happy Friday!

Krissy

Photos from Vintage Ad Browser, Antiques Navigator and Pinterest