1954

1 9 5 4

United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower

1954 following more wives moving back into the workforce the economy continued to grow and consumer goods and television programmes included the popular "Father Knows Best" Marlin Brando starred in two of the most popular movies " On The Waterfront" and "The Wild One" The Movie " Blackboard Jungle" also featured the song " Rock Around The Clock" from Bill Haley and the Comets, and Elvis Presley cut his first commercial record. A new trend also started called DIY Do It Yourself projects as families wanted to improve their homes and do their own maintenance . car engines continued to get bigger and more powerful and gas cost 29 cents. Following the discovery of a vaccine against Polio, the first mass vaccination of children against begins. Brown v Board of Education makes segregation in US Public Schools Unconstitutional.  

 

House: $22,000
Average income: $3,960
Ford car: $1548-$2415
Milk: $.92
Gas: $.21
Bread $.17
Postage stamp: $.03
Swiss Cheese: $ .69 lb.
American Cheese: $.55 lb.
T-Bone steak : $.95 lb.
Del Monte Catsup (2) 14.oz bottles: $.25
Post Grape Nuts cereal - 10 .oz pkg: $.19
Clorox Bleach - 1/2 gal.: $.19
20 gallon gas water heater $75.
Semi-automatic Kenmore washer: $154.95

 

Fifties Pop History Of the 94 million phones in the world, 52 million of them are in the US.
The 1950s Chain supermarkets now account for two fifths of the food sold retail.
Fifties Pop History Iwo Jima Flag Raising memorial Statue is erected. Each figure is 32 feet high. The flagpole is 60 feet in length. It's the world's tallest bronze statue. It's stands 78 feet high. A cloth flag flies from the pole. The inscription reads: "Uncommon Valor was a Common Virtue."
The 1950s Ellis Island, the immigration station in NY Harbor, is closed. Between 1892 and 1954, 12 million immigrants were processed at Ellis Island.
Fifties Pop History Trix, 46.6 percent sugar, is introducd by General Mills.
The 1950s The first nuclear submarine, The Nautilus, is launched.
Fifties Pop History Federal Trade Commission and cigarettes.
The 1950s Bazooka Joe comics were first introduced.
Fifties Pop History There is a 42% business failure rate.Chart for 1946-1964
The 1950s A revolution in an aluminum tray! The TV Dinner. This is a good story!
Fifties Pop History Dr Sam Sheppard's wife Marilyn is murdered (he is accused of crime)
The 1950s My favorite - Play Doh.
Fifties Pop History Nash-Kelvinator and Hudson Motor Car Co. merge to form the American Motors Co.(AMC).
The 1950s President Eisenhower introduces the phrase "under God" into the Pledge of Allegiance, changing the phrase "one nation, indivisible," to "one nation, under God, indivisible."
Fifties Pop History The first successful kidney transplant is performed in the U.S. by Harvard physicians. The patient will survive for seven more years.
The 1950s Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser seizes power in Egypt April 17. On October 19, Nasser signs a treaty with the British under which the British will withdraw from the Suez Canal Zone.
Fifties Pop History Canada and the United States agree to build a 3000-mile-long array of radar warning stations across northern Canada (the DEW line - Distant Early Warning). The stations will warn the North American nations of airplanes or missiles approaching over the Arctic.
The 1950s Dr. Roger Bannister of England becomes the first person to run a mile in less than four minutes on May 6. His time is 3 minutes, 59.4 seconds
Fifties Pop History General Electric introduces colored kitchen appliances. Bye, bye white!
The 1950s A hydrogen (fusion) bomb is detonated March 1 on the Bikini Atoll in the Pacific.
Fifties Pop History There are 35,586 motor vehicle related deaths. While in the air, there were 3 accidents resulting in 16 fatalities. A good year to fly.
The 1950s Unemployment is 5.6%
Fifties Pop History U.S. GNP (Gross National Product) is $383.0 billion

 

 

 

SONG TITLE
Secret Love Doris Day
If I Give My Heart To You Doris Day
Hey There Rosemary Clooney
This Ole House Rosemary Clooney
Mambo Italiano Rosemary Clooney
Hernando's Hideaway Archie Bleyer
Three Coins in the Fountain Four Aces
The High and the Mighty Les Baxter & His Orchestra
Mr. Sandman Chordettes
Sh-Boom (Life Could Be a Dream) Crew Cuts
Sh-Boom (Life Could Be a Dream) Chords
Shake Rattle and Roll Bill Haley & His Comets
Oh! My Pa-Pa Eddie Fisher
I Need You Now Eddie Fisher
Papa Loves Mambo Perry Como
Wanted Perry Como
Smile Nat King Cole
Till Then Hilltoppers
Little Things Mean a Lot Kitty Kallen
Make Love to Me! Jo Stafford
Steam Heat Patti Page
Cross Over the Bridge Patti Page
From the Vine Came the Grape The Gaylords
The Little Shoemaker The Gaylords
Goodnight, Sweetheart, Goodnight The McGuire Sisters
Muskrat Ramble The McGuire Sisters
The Happy Wanderer Frank Weir
Here Tony Martin
Hold My Hand Don Cornell
I Get So Lonely (When I Dream About You) The Four Knights
I Understand (Just How You Feel) The Four Tunes
I'm a Fool to Care Les Paul & Mary Ford
Young-At-Heart Frank Sinatra
If You Love Me (Really Love Me) Kay Starr
The Man Upstairs Kay Starr
In the Chapel in the Moonlight Kitty Kallen
Little Things Mean A Lot Kitty Kallen
Jilted Teresa Brewer
Make Yourself Comfortable Sarah Vaughan
The Man with the Banjo The Ames Brothers
Melody of Love Billy Vaughn & His Orchestra
Stranger In Paradise Tony Martin
Teach Me Tonight The DeCastro Sisters
There'll Be No Teardrops Tonight Tony Bennett
What It Was, Was Football (Parts I & II) Andy Griffith

 

Original broadcast September 12, 1954  (Lassie)