1950s

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Important News and Events, Key Technology Fashion and Popular Culture

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The De Havilland Comet Jetliner revolutionized air travel in the beginning of the 1950s.

Fifties Inventions

The Year Invented Inventors and Country or attributed to First Use

Atomic Clock – 1955 England   
Breeder Reactor – 1951 USA Converted Uranium into Plutonium
Computer Modem – 1958 USA
Credit Card – 1950 USA by Ralph Schneider
Hovercraft – 1955 England by Christopher Cockerell
Hydrogen Bomb – 1952 USA by Edward Teller’s team
Lunar Probe – 1959 Russia Lunik I passed the Moon
Microchip – 1958 USA by Jack Kilby
Nuclear Power – 1956 England First power station at Calder Hall
Robot – 1954 USA by George C Devol Jr
Satellite – 1957 Russia Sputnik I
Solar Cell – 1954 USA Or Photovoltaic cells
Transistor Radio – 1953 USA Texas Instruments
Video Recorder – 1956 USA
Video Tape – 1956 USA

Fifties Money and Inflation

If you have $100 Converted from 1950 to 2020, it would be equivalent to $1071.02 today.
In 1950 a new house cost $8,450.00, and by 1959 was $12,400.00. More House Prices.
The average income per year was $3,210.00 and by 1959 was $5,010.00
A gallon of gas was 18 cents, and by 1959 was 25 cents
The average cost of a new car was $1,510.00 and by 1959 was $2,200.00

A few more prices from the ’50s and how much things cost
Chrysler New Yorker $4347
Chevrolet Corvette $3631
Men’s All Wool Suits $28.90
Square dance Cotton Check Dress $3.29
Electric Portable Singer Sewing Machine $19.90
Ronson Electric Shaver $28.50
Rib Roast 29 cents per pound
Ritz Crackers 32 cents

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Charlie Chaplin arriving at Rome airport in 1953

Fifties Homes

As new homes were built, furniture was needed to fill them, and with the restrictions ended on using raw materials and a feeling of calm and prosperity, plus the availability of new materials, new furniture became bright and functional.

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Fifties Popular Culture

Popular Culture in the ’50s can be captured in just a few words that speak volumes. “The Cold War,” “Baby Boomers,” “Korea,” and “The Red Scare” This was the decade where people built Bomb Shelters and had babies, and the news was filled with what the reds were doing or going to do.

The other significant change was how teenagers were viewed until the 50s. Teenagers were just children and were treated as such. The 50’s and future decades changed that where teenagers became an essential section of society when politicians and others realized teenagers would quickly become voters and consumers. A new generation of pop stars, including Elvis Presley, was created, whose primary target audience were teenagers.

Some of the Most Well Known Movie Stars of the Fifties
Gary Cooper
Bing Crosby
Bob Hope
John Wayne
James Stewart
Frank Sinatra
Marilyn Monroe
William Holden

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TWA and Qantas billboards at Union Square seen from Hotel St. Francis, San Franscisco, 1957

Fifties Fashion

With the economic boom in the Fifties, glamour became fashionable again, and A-line and pencil skirts were trendy form-fitting fashions. Dresses in the decade often featured stylish ruffles or lace accents, usually knee-length or tea-length. In the late fifties and 1960s, mini-dresses and maxi-length skirt outfits entered the scene. In the mid-’50s, trends in women’s fashion changed again. Round-neck styles on sleeveless shirts or long-sleeve shirts were popular, as well as polo necks. Dolman sleeves dominated fashionable tops in the fifties and sixties.