Important News and Events, Key Technology Fashion and Popular Culture
Fifties Inventions
The Year Invented Inventors and Country or attributed to First Use
Fifties Money and Inflation
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
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.
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
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.