Back In The Day; 1950's and 1960's

Simply Fabulous Blogger Templates

2008-11-30T15:15:00.001-08:00

Playing around with the templates to my blogger blogs and I ran across this gift from this blogger, some fresh new 3 column templates to use. I liked what I saw and immediately began changing the templates on several of my blogs. You can play around with your templates too --- visit her site . Oh and a little bonus, she has added many holiday templates

Lileks.com

2005-02-05T08:33:00.000-08:00

I just love this site...the owner clearly says it is sprawling and a mess, but the travel back to the day as you wander through the site is nostalgic bliss.

LILEKS (James) Welcome!

Brian's Drive-In Theater

2005-01-26T15:21:00.000-08:00

The Drive-In has thousands of photos and lots of information about your favorite 'B' movie actors and actresses from the 1930s through the 1980s. Be sure to see the entire site.

Brian's Drive-In Theater

Reflections in 1951, sounds like it could be today!

2005-01-26T15:05:00.000-08:00

At no time this century, apart from the years of the last two full-scale wars, has the world seemed so troubled. After twelve months of campaigning in Korea, the anniversary of the outbreak of hostilities finds the opposing armies in positions similar to the ones held at the outset.

Only a demonstration of force by the United Nations against aggression has been achieved by the tragic casualties there. Negotiations recently suggested could have taken place a year ago without a shot being fired. As well, there is fighting or danger of fighting in almost every quarter of the globe.

The Persian Government's decision to arbitrarily nationalize the oil industry of that country has provided a first-class tinderbox in the Middle East. In Indo-China and Malaya terrorist action continues. The Italian-Yugoslav dispute over Trieste is still unsettled.

Six years after the Germans in Europe and the Japanese in the East surrendered to Allied Forces peace treaties have not been signed.

The dragging-on of all these hostilities and disputes proves, if proof were needed, the futility of resorting to arms. Scientific, engineering, and medical brains of all countries have within the century given the world the means to build the greatest civilization of all time. But the will to use those means for better understanding and neighborliness is thwarted on all sides.

To the bewildered eyes of ordinary folk they are being used mainly to forge arms for another global war. And ordinary folk who wish to survive must take up those arms in self-defense.

Australian Women's Weekly, 1951

Tack-O-Rama - Media - Bits and Pieces

1951 Duck and Cover film clip..stay safe in nuclear attack.

2005-01-19T09:19:00.000-08:00

1951 Duck and Cover film clip..stay safe in nuclear attack.

"Duck and Cover," the 1951 landmark civil defense film seen by millions of schoolchildren in the 1950s that advised children to duck beneath a table or desk and cover their heads in the case of an atomic attack has been added to the National Film Registry. Films added are chosen because they have "cultural, historical or aesthetic significance."

http://www.archive.org/stream/DuckandC1951/DuckandC1951_64kb.rm

http://www.notthistimegeorge.org/framer.cfm?liid=977

Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby

2005-01-13T20:48:00.000-08:00

THE WONDERFUL TAR BABY STORY

"Didn't the fox never catch the rabbit, Uncle Remus?" asked the little boy the next evening.

"He come mighty nigh it, honey, sho's you born--Brer Fox did. One day atter Brer Rabbit fool 'im wid dat calamus root, Brer Fox went ter wuk en got 'im some tar, en mix it wid some turkentime, en fix up a contrapshun w'at he call a Tar-Baby, en he tuck dish yer Tar-Baby en he sot 'er in de big road, en den he lay off in de bushes fer to see what de news wuz gwine ter be. En he didn't hatter wait long, nudder, kaze bimeby here come Brer Rabbit pacin' down de road--lippity-clippity, clippity -lippity--dez ez sassy ez a jay-bird. Brer Fox, he lay low. Brer Rabbit come prancin' 'long twel he spy de Tar-Baby, en den he fotch up on his behime legs like he wuz 'stonished. De Tar Baby, she sot dar, she did, en Brer Fox, he lay low.

"`Mawnin'!' sez Brer Rabbit, sezee - `nice wedder dis mawnin',' sezee.

"Tar-Baby ain't sayin' nuthin', en Brer Fox he lay low.

"`How duz yo' sym'tums seem ter segashuate?' sez Brer Rabbit, sezee.

"Brer Fox, he wink his eye slow, en lay low, en de Tar-Baby, she ain't sayin' nuthin'.

"'How you come on, den? Is you deaf?' sez Brer Rabbit, sezee. 'Kaze if you is, I kin holler louder,' sezee.

"Tar-Baby stay still, en Brer Fox, he lay low.

"'You er stuck up, dat's w'at you is,' says Brer Rabbit, sezee, 'en I;m gwine ter kyore you, dat's w'at I'm a gwine ter do,' sezee.

"Brer Fox, he sorter chuckle in his stummick, he did, but Tar-Baby ain't sayin' nothin'.

"'I'm gwine ter larn you how ter talk ter 'spectubble folks ef hit's de las' ack,' sez Brer Rabbit, sezee. 'Ef you don't take off dat hat en tell me howdy, I'm gwine ter bus' you wide open,' sezee.

"Tar-Baby stay still, en Brer Fox, he lay low.

"Brer Rabbit keep on axin' 'im, en de Tar-Baby, she keep on sayin' nothin', twel present'y Brer Rabbit draw back wid his fis', he did, en blip he tuck 'er side er de head. Right dar's whar he broke his merlasses jug. His fis' stuck, en he can't pull loose. De tar hilt 'im. But Tar-Baby, she stay still, en Brer Fox, he lay low.

"`Ef you don't lemme loose, I'll knock you agin,' sez Brer Rabbit, sezee, en wid dat he fotch 'er a wipe wid de udder han', en dat stuck. Tar-Baby, she ain'y sayin' nuthin', en Brer Fox, he lay low.

"`Tu'n me loose, fo' I kick de natal stuffin' outen you,' sez Brer Rabbit, sezee, but de Tar-Baby, she ain't sayin' nuthin'. She des hilt on, en de Brer Rabbit lose de use er his feet in de same way. Brer Fox, he lay low. Den Brer Rabbit squall out dat ef de Tar-Baby don't tu'n 'im loose he butt 'er cranksided. En den he butted, en his head got stuck. Den Brer Fox, he sa'ntered fort', lookin' dez ez innercent ez wunner yo' mammy's mockin'-birds.

"`Howdy, Brer Rabbit,' sez Brer Fox, sezee. `You look sorter stuck up dis mawnin',' sezee, en den he rolled on de groun', en laft en laft twel he couldn't laff no mo'. `I speck you'll take dinner wid me dis time, Brer Rabbit. I done laid in some calamus root, en I ain't gwineter take no skuse,' sez Brer Fox, sezee."

Here Uncle Remus paused, and drew a two-pound yam out of the ashes.

"Did the fox eat the rabbit?" asked the little boy to whom the story had been told.

"Dat's all de fur de tale goes," replied the old man. "He mout, an den agin he moutent. Some say Judge B'ar come 'long en loosed 'im - some say he didn't. I hear Miss Sally callin'. You better run 'long."

2005-01-13T20:39:00.000-08:00

Brer Rabbit and Tar Baby, tales of Uncle Remus. While not 1950's era (way, way earlier), the Brer stories factored into my young years heavily, so I will include a few in this blog. sticky tar doll, the central figure in black American folktales popularized in written literature by the American author Joel Chandler Harris. Harris' "Tar-Baby" (1879), one of the animal tales told by the character Uncle Remus, is but one example of numerous African-derived tales featuring the use of a wax, gum, or rubber figure to trap a rascal.

In Harris' version, the doll is made by Brer Fox and placed in the roadside to even a score with his archenemy Brer Rabbit. Brer Rabbit speaks to the Tar-Baby, gets angry when it does not answer him, strikes it, and gets stuck. The more he strikes and kicks the figure, the more hopelessly he becomes attached.

The sticky-figure motif is also common in American Indian tales.

2005-01-13T16:33:00.000-08:00

Kewpie Pie, now wasn't that special? And the kewpie dolls that followed?

2005-01-13T16:31:00.000-08:00

Elegance, an evening dress and fur wrap, elbow length gloves, and a shiny new car. An evening out in style. Check out the interior upholstery in that car.

2005-01-13T16:27:00.000-08:00

You gotta love how a woman kept her man in the 1950s; training was specific for girls on how to grow up to become "good wives" as if that was the only destiny they could possibly have...and I got most of that training. At the same time, I got the training to crawl under my school desk in preparation for atomic attack, Right! Radiation doesn't know how to find you under a school desk. I loved those layered cakes, was always a fun thing to come home to and later make for my own kids. Did you know that when boxes of cake mix were introduced, women didn't take to them as it wasn't "homemade", so to overcome that, the companies arranged to change the packaging. Adding eggs, water, oil, margarine or butter, then it seemed like homemade and the market for packaged cake mixes took off.

2005-01-13T15:05:00.000-08:00

And back when a record was the only "disc" we knew about. The 45's, the LP (long play)...ahhhh, everyone had a record collection.

2005-01-13T15:03:00.000-08:00

Did you wear a hat and gloves when you went out in public? My mother did, and so did I when I was old enough, but that didn't last long, then it was the 60s...end of hats and gloves.

2005-01-13T14:59:00.000-08:00

Whatever happened to the milk man? I remember having dairy delivered, milk in bottles set in a metal crate at the doorstep. Returning the empty bottles by putting them in the crate to be picked up by the milk man when he delivered the new batch.

2005-01-13T14:56:00.000-08:00

How about those hair dryers, fashionable at beauty salons everywhere! Did you sit under one?

2005-01-13T14:55:00.000-08:00

Ah yes, we really were influenced by media to believe cigarette smoking was the smart, cool, adult thing to do...even doctors smoked, and no one knew a thing about second-hand smoke except the few who spoke up to say they were "allergic" to cigarette smoke. Man, what a lie, one that lasted for decades! Watch out for media folks!

2005-01-13T14:50:00.000-08:00

Carlsbad Caverns Natl Park, NM. . see more photos at http://www.nationalparksgallery.com/parks/Carlsbad-Caverns-National-Park

2005-01-13T14:46:00.000-08:00

Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico. link: http://www.worldhistory.com/wiki/C/Carlsbad-Caverns-National-Park.htm

2005-01-13T14:24:00.000-08:00

Old Faithful, Yellowstone National Park. 1950's era photo.

2005-01-13T14:21:00.000-08:00

Old Faithful Inn; Built during the frigid winter of 1903-1904, the Old Faithful Inn has survived the 1959 Yellowstone earthquake and the inferno that burned most of the park in 1988.

2005-01-13T14:02:00.000-08:00

How Calico (ghost town) looked in 1951, when Knott bought the place for $13,500 -- note, only 5-6 buildings. the town was converted fro a real, dying town into a tourist paradise in the 1950s by Walter Knott, of Knott's Berry Farm fame, only to be turned over to the San Bernardino County Park district in 1966... likely after he found it wasn't going to be a thriving success

2005-01-13T13:55:00.000-08:00

We stopped by a few "ghost towns" on the roadtrip. I'm not sure this is one of them, but borrowed the photo to note the fascination of ghost towns.

2005-01-13T13:49:00.000-08:00

This is kind of typical of a place on the road to stop and eat. This particular one is 1950s postcard from the Solemint Store, located at Solemint Junction (the intersection of Sierra Highway and Soledad Canyon Road) in present-day Canyon Country (known at the time as part of Saugus).

2005-01-13T13:47:00.000-08:00

I know we have been on this road, but I was a kid then, and know we travelled mostly along the coastlines, with the Redwoods being one of our stops, so I assume we took this highway.

2005-01-13T13:42:00.000-08:00

Giant Rock in the 1950s.

Giant Rock is a large freestanding boulder in the Mojave Desert near Landers, California. In the 1950s, it was a popular gathering point for UFO believers. The Integratron is a dome shaped building nearby. It was designed by 1950's contactee George Van Tassel to channel energy in some life-rejevenating manner.

2005-01-13T13:40:00.000-08:00

Gas stations, diners, cars, road trips..all part of the scenery in the 1950s. When we returned stateside having been stationed overseas, we took a long road-trip from California, north to Washington and then back down to the Southern coastline. We stopped so many places along the way to see all the wonders and any photos are long since lost. I'd like to do a chronicle sometimes of that memorable road-trip. Maybe I can do that in part here at this blog.

2005-01-13T13:36:00.000-08:00

How about one of these, Transistor Radio...long before boom boxes, I-Pods, back in the day, we thought we were really hot stuff if we had a transistor radio to carry around!

2005-01-13T13:33:00.000-08:00

Did you have one of these great old kitchen stoves? Roomy, compartments and you know what, I kinda miss those old stoves.

2005-01-13T13:19:00.000-08:00

While I haven't done the decor in my home in 1950's, I have acquired some 1950's authentic pieces, and this sweet pink mixmaster is most recent acquisition. Given to me as gift on my birthday by sister-in-law to go with my pink formica chrome and copper kitchen dinette set; beautyware pink cake-taker and beautyware pink and copper bread keeper.

2005-01-13T13:14:00.000-08:00

The famous Pink in kitchens in 1950s.

2005-01-13T13:06:00.000-08:00

A day at the beach, 1950's style!

2005-01-13T13:00:00.000-08:00

I love the way advertising portrayed kids in the 1950s. While I never had this brand, we did have Spam and potted meat....yuck! Took many a lunch to school that had sandwich made with potted meat or spam. And unlike these happy little children in the ad, I didn't like or look forward to my sandwich.

2005-01-13T12:55:00.000-08:00

A drive on the many newly built highways that criss crossed the country and pay tolls! We went through a few of those and paid tolls. I'm not sure, but I think that is how many highways were paid for back in the day. I know the Megler bridge where we live now that crosses the Columbia river where it opens to the Pacific used to have a toll bridge. That is partially how the bridge was paid for and while it isn't any longer necessary to pay toll to cross the bridge, the old toll station is still there.

2005-01-13T12:52:00.000-08:00

I remember when food you bought at the grocery store came with Free stuff, extras packed right into the boxes.

2005-01-13T12:49:00.000-08:00

I like Ike. Dwight D. Eisenhower was President when I was born into this world, and I thought fondly, as a child, then, that our President cared about us all and cared about our nation. I felt security, but then I was a child, and it was the 50's and I've come to learn that it was not what it seemed growing up in that era.

How to Be a Good Wife

2005-01-13T11:28:00.000-08:00

Urban Legends Reference Pages: Language (How to Be a Good Wife): "The following is from a 1950's home economics textbook intended for high school girls, teaching them how to prepare for married life:

1. Have dinner ready: Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal - on time. This is a way of letting him know that you have been thinking about him, and are concerned about his needs. Most men are hungry when they come home and the prospects of a good meal are part of the warm welcome needed.

2. Prepare yourself: Take 15 minutes to rest so you will be refreshed when he arrives. Touch up your makeup, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh looking. He has just been with a lot of work-weary people. Be a little gay and a little more interesting. His boring day may need a lift.

3. Clear away the clutter. Make one last trip through the main part of the house just before your husband arrives, gathering up school books, toys, paper, etc. Then run a dust cloth over the tables. Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest and order, and it will give you a lift, too.

4. Prepare the children: Take a few minutes to wash the children's hands and faces if they are small, comb their hair, and if necessary, change their clothes. They are little treasures and he would like to see them playing the part.

5. Minimize the noise: At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of washer, dryer, dishwasher or vacuum. Try to encourage the children to be quiet. Be happy to see him. Greet him with a warm smile and be glad to see him.

6. Some Don'ts: Don't greet him with problems or complaints. Don't complain if he's late for dinner. Count this as minor compared with what he might have gone through that day.

7. Make him comfortable: Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or suggest he lie down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him. Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, soft, soothing and "

2005-01-13T10:38:00.000-08:00

Did you wear these, the infamous petticoat? I loved petticoats! It always felt like part of dressing up. Although by the time I came of age to actually wear petticoats and those full skirt/dresses, it had become passe and out of fashion. I came into my teen years (that fashion-conscious stage) in the 60's and by that time a whole new fashion look was on the scene. I really wanted to wear petticoats! The 60's were interesting, but the 50's does reflect my formative years and I continue to harbor nostalgia for that time period.

FATHER KNOWS BEST

2005-01-13T09:32:00.000-08:00

Father Knows Best

October 3, 1954 - September 17, 1962
CBS & NBC Situation Comedy - 203 Episodes

607 South Maple Street, Springfield.
The dreams, ambitions and frustrations of the Anderson family:
Jim, manager of the General Insurance Company; his wife
Margaret; and their children, Betty, Bud, and Kathy.

Every evening Jim would come home from the office, take off
his sports jacket, put on his comfortable sweater, and
deal with the everyday problems of a growing family.

Link; Father Knows Best

New technology, the first television sets

2005-01-13T09:09:00.000-08:00

Early 1950 television set, Zenith, black and white. See more on the first televisions at Television History - The First 75 Years

The timeline for introduction of media on it's way towards television:
Link: The History of Film and Television

Edward Morrow, Radio/TV Broadcaster

2005-01-13T08:55:00.000-08:00

Edward (Egburt) Roscoe Murrow

He was born into a Quaker family of farmers in Polecat Creek, North Carolina. He was raised in Washington State, but would leave his parents life behind him when he enrolled in Washington State University. At the University he majored in speech and upon graduation worked for several organizations for whom he developed student conferences. Because of his positions he traveled to Europe several times which allowed him to make contacts. Eventually, he was hired by CBS and at age 27 sent overseas as CBS' "Director of talks" to provide speakers and acts for the newly burgeoning radio medium.

He had a sense of idealism and believed in the underdog; possibly character he formed from his Quaker upbringing. He was tall, lean, but had a darker look to his appearance. He was very bright and as drama was unfolding in the European stage, Murrow saw an opportunity for radio to bring events right into America's homes. He communicated his ideas to his boss, Paul White, but much of them fell on deaf ears. Eventually, CBS came to realize that they had a good thing by having personal reports from their own reporters, who could offer as much an eyewitness view on the events unfolding as the others who appeared on the air. Murrow's reports and analysis along with those from the reporters he hired set the trend for broadcast journalism for many years to follow.

Murrow is not only known for his cogent point-of-view, but also for his clipped, slow but deliberate style of speaking. Gerald Nachman in his Raised on Radio says Murrow "picked up his basic speech patterns from his Quaker mother, who often spoke in inverted phrases like 'This I believe.'" Murrow never considered himself a writer and though not like Kaltenborn's extemporaneous speaking, often dictated his broadcasts to his secretary, who would transcribe them in preparation for his reports. This added to the seemingly casual form of broadcast that made Murrow's broadcasts notable. Listeners felt he was speaking directly to them and not just reading something.

Though he preferred radio, Murrow's reports provided us with strong visual images:

"Tonight, as on every other night, the rooftop watchers are peering out across the fantastic forest of London's chimney pots. The anti-aircraft gunners stand ready."

"I have been walking tonight - there is a full moon, and the dirty-gray buildings appear white. The stars, the empty windows, are hidden. It's a beautiful and lonesome city where men and women and children are trying to snatch a few hours sleep underground."

Murrow and his "boys," the CBS European broadcast team represented the conscience of the American people as Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini grabbed more and more territory in their quest to dominant the world. Their reports helped this country understand a need to enter the war. Murrow was America abroad, and we could not believe our ears of the suffering and fear the European people were experiencing. For listeners, Murrow was the common man. We wanted to listen to him and believe.

And just as his influence swayed Americans to believe in a war they were reluctant to want, his reports on the Holocaust were equally spellbinding. When he visited one of the camps at Buchenwald, despite his attempt to tone down what he saw, he still presented a powerful picture of a darker side of our humanity.

After the war, Murrow, at first reluctantly moved into the television medium. Radio was his first love and he continued broadcasting in that medium. But he began to see the power of television, as he saw with radio, and set new standards for what the broadcast news media could accomplish. But though he and William Paley, head of CBS, were soulmates during the war, fighting a common enemy, that closeness was becoming strained. Paley felt he had to compromise with the government, the sponsors. Murrow felt, at first, that broadcast news could not suffer, should not be compromised. It would eventually take its toll on Murrow as he tried to straddle both worlds.

As a television journalist, Murrow used his position to challenge the "situations of fear" he saw confronting American society. Possibly his most famous encounter was with the junior Senator from Wisconsin, Joseph McCarthy. Murrow pointed out that the line between investigation and persecution is a fine one. The junior Senator, he felt had crossed that line. Some say Murrow was partially responsible for McCarthy's downfall. What was certain is that he helped allay some of the fear created by the McCarthy investigations.

Link:

See more at

SEX EDUCATION FILMS 1947-1957

2005-01-13T08:49:00.000-08:00

AS BOYS GROW (1957 - 16:17)
preaches its message in the person of a Track & Field coach who determines it's time to explain to the team all about the birds & the bees once one of his students asks why fellow teammates are so physically mature while he at the same age isn't. Coach chooses to wait until after practice to have an informal chat about the subject with the boys. What he tells them amounts to a landmark in the history of American sex education, providing as it does frank details about sex & matters associate that only a liberal section of the country like the San Francisco Bay area would have dared at that time. Discussed are the various types & speeds of male development, nocturnal emissions, masturbation (declared to be "something normal"), and even more importantly, the fact, frankly stated, that sex is a pleasurable activity.

MOLLY GROWS UP (1953 - 14:20)
finds Molly starting to act a little funny in the eyes of family and friends. Then she has her first period - "the curse", as she calls it. But Mom's there to help explain everything to her; indeed, in those days, it was generally thought best that Mom was the best one to do such things. Even still, the importance of having the School Nurse explain the details of such matters is recognized as she is seen to instruct Molly and the rest of her female classmates on such issues as the menstrual cycle, tampons & feminine napkins, and activity do's and don'ts (regular dancing okay, square dancing not okay). Intended to deal more with the physical ramifications of puberty rather than the psycho-sexual.

PHYSICAL ASPECTS OF PUBERTY (1953 - 17:41)
depicts Johnny & Janey during "the in-between period of adolescence". Using animated diagrams, the development of the primary (reproductive) and secondary (body hair and physical development) sex characteristics in males and females is analyzed. Focusing more closely on providing a detailed nuts & bolts explanation of the physiological aspects of puberty than the preceding two films, changes in appetite, brain cells, uneven primary & secondary development, blemishes & the endocrine system are carefully explained.

HUMAN REPRODUCTION (1947 - 21:24),
the grand daddy of all American sex education films, begins with the happy news that the feminine half of some friends of the family are having a baby. This leads junior to ask some rather interesting questions! Dad tries his best to answer his son's inquisitions while this film provides the inner monologue he needs to answer them correctly. Concentrating on presenting the most detailed (and most disturbing) illustrations of all the preceding films, its release launched a major controversy throughout America over the legitimacy of sex education in the nation's schools.

EarthStation1.com - Vintage & Historical DVD Video, MP3, Audio CD & Photo CD Multimedia: SEX EDUCATION FILMS 1947-1957 DVD VIDEO

Facts about 1950s decade

2005-01-13T08:10:00.000-08:00

FACTS about this decade.

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 0

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