When we look back in time small things or words can jog our own memories
Memory Posted By: Mike C
Memory Posted By: 42Olds
Memory Posted By: Ralph Marontate
Memory Posted By: walter
I learnt to drive in a Ford V8 Station Wagon in 1946 in Durban South Africa. I was in the RAF and did my driving on Durban Docks. It was very scary because of the Zulu barrow boys darting out from everyware, it was good training. I have just seen an identical model at a Northallerton vintage car rally. It brought back many memories. WalterMemory Posted By: Dad car
Memory Posted By: Rose Moore
When I was a child in the 1940s and 50s, my Dad had the same 1934 Buick he had purchased new when he was a bachelor. By this time, this old car made us a laughing stock among our peers. But I still remember the "rushing leaves" sound the motor made when Dad arrived home every night from his railroad job. I would be in bed by the time he arrived home, but I'd leave the window open a crack so I could hear his car. When he died in 1955, we still owned the car. A few years later, Mom sold it to a neighbor boy for $10. It made her sad to see it in the garage with no one driving it. Rose Moore, Ohio, USA
Please remember that The People History is used by kids for homework so no profanity or any thing that you would not want your own chidren or grandchildren to be exposed to
The 50's were the boomer years and the children from those years are now the parents and grandparents who caused that boom in the birthrate
The 50's also were one of the last decades where the traditional roles of the woman staying at home and being a homemaker and the man as the sole breadwinner for a family.
Due to these family dynamics it was also the heyday of the TV daytime soap opera which a drama shown during the day when the man of the family was at work and the ( Soap Manufacturers )advertisers could target a very specific audience " the stay at home mum.
Following on from the end of World War the cold war became a grim reality because both sides had the power and technology for a Nuclear holocaust, but equally both knew any war could not truly be won.
This is also the first decade where the worlds economy was driven by consumer demand for the goods that were now available and were produced in large numbers in Japan for consumption by the rest of the western world and many of the household names that are part of our daily lives including Sony date from that period.
This is also the decade that many of inventions and technology developed during war time could be adapted for peacetime including harnessing nuclear energy for use as electricity with first nuclear power stations built towards the end of the decade and the groundwork for today's digital revolution with the invention of the microchip and the computer modem.
Towards the end of the decade the cars continued to get larger with bigger front and rear fins and nobody worried about MPG gas was a mere 25 cents
Music: At the beginning of the decade the crooners were still popular but by the end of the 50's a new genre of music was born and some of the greats who started at the end of the 50's included Elvis ( the Pelvis ) Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bill Haley and the Comets setting the stage for the groups of the 60's
This was also the decade where the Television became a major part of most families lives and the birth of "Rock N Roll"
Please try to speak to parents and grandparents to try to understand how different it was in the 50's where after the war years many families were started while sharing a home with parents because of the lack of housing and the boom in children , if your parents are willing to share memories on The People History please do but if not at least they will have been passed on and not lost.
Memory Posted By: Jeffrey Lewis Knapp
Memory Posted By: ronro1951
Memory Posted By: Bob in Boca Raton
Memory Posted By: Bill
Memory Posted By: Guy
Memory Posted By: Jase
Comment From Iv-Elouan Bruneau said... I own the Impala on the picture, which was taken in France near my parents' place. It's great to see that you took it as a reference to your former ride. The engine is a modest 283 with 3 speed manual transmission. Good luck with your search.
Memory Posted By: Greg
My fathers 1940 Buick roadmaster conv cpe. He bought it after WW2 and used it into the early sixties. We drove it across the country in the 50s - many memoeies. I still have 'Beauregard'and my son has used it on his prom, wedding and friends weddings. we still cruise it from time to timeMemory Posted By: Jim S
I had a 1950 Nash Statesman Super when I was 15. I loved that old car. I wired it together to keep the battery from falling over in a turn and to keep the muffler from falling off. I rebuilt the carburator and had a spring left over but it still ran good. I liked the "bullet" on the steering column and the "roll down" cover on the dash. Being 15 and not having a Dad close to advise me, I didn't know to put anti-freeze in it and it froze solid. I sold it for $17.50. Sure wish I still had it.Memory Posted By: Cincy kid
It was my dad's 11-year-old 1965 Mercury Comet. 202 c.i.d. straight 6 cyl, 80 HP on a good day, power nothing, no radio, lots of bare metal in the interior. Bone simple. Would do high 70s at the end of a long straightaway and had the handling of � well, a '65 Comet (with a beam axle, heavy front end and narrow little tires, it would spin out under any kind of heavy braking, wet pavement or dry). But it never quit. At least, it didn't until it had over 150,000 miles on it and three years of heavy abuse from me. Blew the head gasket. Someone bought it off of us, fixed it for cheap and, for all I know, may still be driving it. Funny thing is, it semed like a perfectly sensible car for a teen at the time. Cheap, dependable, nothing to break. Too sensible for my tastes, though I admired its durability. But it was unsafe at any speed. In addition to the handling quirks mentioned, it had an unpadded dash, no shoulder belt and the crashworthiness of a tomato can. You wouldn't dream of putting your kid in a car like that now.Memory Posted By: Jake
Of all the cars I have ever owned my favorite, must be my 1957 Chevrolet Corvette. I owned it over 20 years ago and my biggest regret is ever selling it it was the last year for the singal headlights, and one of the first years for fuel injection. I had it in red/white and even today with all the latest gizmos in cars I would buy one again if I could find as nice and the same as I had, also only want to pay the same price for gas as I did in those days Oh Well!!Memory Posted By: Charlie
The day I bought my brand new powder blue and white 1952 Oldsmobile Super 88 Holiday Cpe. I was 22 years old so my Dad had to sign for me. The car was sitting on the showroom floor and it had a sun visor over the windshield which I did not want. The salesman agreed to have it removed so we had a deal. The total price of the car out the door was $3,954.57. That was a lot of money back in May, 1952, especially for a 22 year old kid. The car came with what they called group 4 $323.70. I remember in the group 4 was included a clock which was mounted in one of the spokes in the steering wheel which would wind up when the steering wheel was turned. On top of the dash in the center where the clock would normally be was a compass. Extras were hydramatic $178.35, Backup lights $21.16, air cleaner $6.53, gas filter $5.00, underseal $35.00, glaze $15.00.Memory Posted By: Jim Atkinson
I find it humorous that the 1958 Nash Metropolitan is described above as having a "sports car flavor." A high school girl in my small hometown of Houston, Miss. used to drive one of those around town, and my high school friends and I thought it was as strange as a UFO in the sky. We often made fun of it, and certinly someone forgot to let us know that it had a "sports car flavor." Of course, even a volkswagon small car was rare back then in Houston, but we didn't make fun of those as being stupid looking, ugly cars as we did the girl's unique-in-Houston Nash Metro. By the way, I think it's kind of cute now.Memory Posted By: Ken Silver
I bought a used Hillman Minx for $600 in l958. It was a square black car with orange turn signals that came out of the side of the car between the windows. It also had an open glove compartment. I believe the car had a 5-shift transmission and the starter pulled out from the dash. It later pulled completely out and the care lasted about 9 months. It would not make it up a long steep hill. I would like to know the possible year of the car.Comments
Craig said...Memory Posted By: Col
The worst car I ever owned was a Hillman Imp it was for ever overheating and breaking down on me, and I never could rely on it as a reliable form of transport, when I was going to buy it everybody told me not to as it would allways break down but it was all I could afford so I bought it any way. The worst part of it seemed to be the water pump which kept on stopping to work and as it was so hard to work on it made it even worse.Memory Posted By: Texas Love
My Family owned two Renaults during the 50's 4CV and in the 60's a Dauphine. As I remember (unlike many Americans) we liked our little cars very much! Dad was sad to see Renault leave the US Market.Memory Posted By: JACK B
In 1955 I saw what I thought was the most beautiful car I had ever saw I was 14 years old at the time.It was A 1955 ford crown Victoria sea spirit green and snow shoe white. In 1999 44 years later I bought one the same color. AND I STILL THINK IT IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CAR I EVER SAWMemory Posted By: somerville
I saw my first metro in 1959 a new aqua over white beauty that was driven by a lttle old lady in Cresco Iowa. Always wanted one now have six. Perfectly pretty little things then as nowMemory Posted By: Rose Moore
My first car was a 1958 Ford Custom, bottom of the line; stick shift; plain black;no radio(a luxury then, but I stuck a small plastic orange transister radio up on the dash; no windshield washers (who did have them at the time?)... I was a young news reporter, even covering the local aviation scene, and that car faithfully took me everywhere. It had quite an exciting life in the news business.Memory Posted By: Cosmo50
Lincolns in my life. My dad was a Ford man and traveled a lot by two lane blacktop roads. He always chose Mercury's till one day he got a 1949 Black Lincoln Cosmopolitan, no Baby Lincoln either, it was the long one and it was a coupe. It drew stares wherever we went as a family. This week I am picking up my 1950 Black Lincoln Cosmopolitan 4 DR from the very state I grew up in Ohio, I now live in NY state and this fulfills a dream of mine to have a black Lincoln like dear old Dad!Memory Posted By: Don
I remember seeing these cars as a kid and always wanted to own one . Today I am the proud owner of a Jaguar E Type Series 1 and is my dream come true, I think , there has never been a prettier, more well designed car than the E-Type. I bought her in 2003. She had only had 1 owner since new and was still in fair condition and I have spent 2 years bringing her back to where she is today.Memory Posted By: Bill
In july of 1966 I enlisted in the NAVY for 4 years . After making 3rd class in 1968 I had enough money to put a down payment on a 1968 Camero,327 SS .Them were really great years .Nothing has ever come close except for my son being born in 1973. I wish I could go back and do it all over nothing different.Memory Posted By: Bob Nathanson
1969 Chevy Camero SS convertible - 'electric blue' paintMemory Posted By: Steve Sopko
I have the sticker off my brand new 1966 VW bug... fully loaded with AM FM SWave radio in dash......and even a U.S. $3 optionalpassenger side outdoor rear view mirror. The sticker price was :$1654.00 U.S.Memory Posted By: Bill Birch
The year was 1967, I just purchased my first Corvette. It might not seem like such a big deal but I was 20 and on cloud 9. I still remember how I felt driving that car. It was a 327-365HP coupe. I loved that car. Now I'm 60 and have owned several other Corvettes, but none will ever take the place of my first one. I still drive a sports car and probably always will. I just bought a 07 Tiburon, my brother has a 07 Soltice. I'm curious to see which one is fastest. Bye the way we're both cops. See ya on the street.Memory Posted By: Bill
Memory Posted By: artichoke
Memory Posted By: Texas Buckeye
My very first car was a yellowish colored 1974 AMC Hornet. My brothers warned me not to buy an AMC but did I listen? I was so proud of the car and yellow was my favorite color so I was very content when I drove home that day. I don't remember all the problems I had with it anymore but I kept taking it to Gates Electric to try and find out where the short was that kept causing problems. They were a very good company but they couldn't put their finger on the problem either, even after several trips to them and my mechanic.
With the economic boom in the Fifties, glamour become fashionable once again and A-line and pencil skirts were very popular form-fitting fashions. Dresses in the decade would often feature stylish ruffles or lace accents and were usually knee-length or tea-length. Going into the late fifties and 1960s mini-dresses and maxi-length skirt outfits entered the scene. The mid-50's 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, The examples below are from Our new updated Fifties Fashion Section, with examples of Ladies, Mens and Children's Fashion Clothes and Accessory examples including dresses, hats, shoes and much more take a little time to browse through them