50pagenew

The 50's were a very exciting decade and still are. It was a time of
happiness,individuality and plain old fun. For me it was a care free time in my life
full of discoveries. The average kid watched their Black and White TV set about 6
    hours a day watching not many channels but quality TV. Shows such as the
     Howdy Doody Show, Lassie and Mickey Mouse Club to name a few (how
       many here had a crush on Annette?).
   Then at night if we were lucky enough to stay up past 8PM the Ed Sullivan
      show, I love Lucy, The Twilight Zone and countless other shows. Of
       course who couldn't forget Superman , Kuka Fran and Ollie and Winky
       Dink, in fact remember that sheet of plastic you put on the TV screen to
       draw objects to help Winky? And all the great cartoons on Saturday and
      Sunday morning.
    My favorite play toy especially around Christmas was a Lionel Train set. I
    was lucky enough to get several cars each year as a gift. They added up over
  the years. Other toys were Hulla Hoops (can you still do it?) Matchbox cars,
Barbie an a pink Lionel Train set for the girls. Then came Silly Putty it sold well
over 30 million eggs in it's first year (it came in a small plastic egg). Now I know
your saying what about some other neat stuff we had when we were kids.

                                                     I didn't forget, I couldn't. Stuff like: Comic books (think I owned a Ga zillion of then)
                                               Slinky , Baseball cards. Remember playing keepsies, where we would toss the cards against the
front steps or attaching them between the spokes of our bicycle wheels to make motorcycle sounds? (Don't you wish your mom
didn't throw them all out years ago?) And then there was Bazooka Bubble gum with Bazooka Joe and all the (at the time) neat stuff
you could send away for with the saved wrappers. Ah yes great stuff, today a real treasure litterly. Then came girls you know the
ones we used to call icky and make faces at. It was a home run just to steal a kiss from one. They wore Petal pushers , hoop skirts
and the all popular poodle skirt with white top and scarf tied in a pony tail and/ or around their neck. Oxford Black and white shoes
or Penny Loafers were the footwear. As for the boys, Jeans,
Black and white high top US Keds and if you were lucky a Davey Crockett Coon skin cap. Older kids used to wear tight white T
shirts with their cigarette pack, if they smoked or not, rolled up in their shirt sleeve. Soc Hops , school dances and get together's at
the Malt shop were the norm but if you were lucky to own a car or borrow the family one it was the Drive in.

Growing up I can remember what fun it was to simply hop into the family car and just drive someplace "Shotgun!!!!", Gas was
inexpensive and Road rage wasn't even a word. I think the longest drive at least for me, at the time was down the jersey Shore or
up to Bear Mountain in upstate New York (Are we there yet?). On the way we read those neat Burma Shave signs placed ever so
far apart that presented a message. And what about all those landmark buildings in all sorts of animal or special shapes Speaking of
driving who could resist talking about the great cars back then, Solid beauties with gleaming chrome (lots of it) and tons of room.
People couldn't wait every year for the new models to hit the showroom floors. Cars back then were cheep as were homes. My
first car was a green 1950 Ford stick (3 speed) flathead 6 cylinder. A great car, remember the windshield wipers used to freeze
everytime you shifted gears because they were vacuum operated. Tune ups were a snap you could climb inside the hood to work
on the simple engines, A matchbook was used to set the electrical contact points in the distributer and you could super tune the
engine using simple tools. No computers necessary. I also had a 56 ford Victoria Convertible with a police interceptor engine.
(Burnouts even in second gear) As was the norm back then i quickly had to put in a floor shifter (A Hurst naturally) My only
problem with it was a small retainer pin with the drivers seat back that used to break constantly I can remember to this day having
to stuff behind it to prop it up. Custom cars were a great way to hop up cars they were simple pieces like chrome oil filler caps,
chrome air cleaners, Chrome exhaust tips taped up grills, Baby Moon hubcaps, sponge dice or baby shoes for the rear view mirror,
for the race crowd exhaust cut outs, and purple under-the-dash lights to set the mood. All available from the source back then a: JC
Whitney catalogue,a teens bible. A must for ever car especially a teen was a radio it would play all day even if the car wasn't
moving. Ah yes to own a car back then was a sure way to attract the ladies especially on cruise night down the Main Street drag.

Food for though was scrumptious. For Breakfast a bowl of Wheaties was the norm and hamburger was good with a malt, but
the dog,   the all American Hot Dog was king. Can anyone remember as a scout finding a green stick and toasting them over a open
campfire. They were great even if burnt On the west coast Pips was the place to get a great dog , Down south they had corn dogs
and here on the East coast it was Nathans in Cony Island, NY and a small place in Fort Lee NJ called Calahans. (Everyone of them
still in business today) If you were Catholic the mom and Pop Pizza shop was where all family's could be found on Friday night
which was a meatless day.
Other notable 1950 events were:
1950 The first Peanuts Comic strip appeared,1952 Marilyn Monroe became the popular pin-up-gal , 1953 the first issue of Playboy
was launched, 1955 Disneyland opens in California, Jonas Salk invents the Polio vaccine, James Dean Killed in a car crash, 1957
First satellite was launched by the USSR named Sputnik and in 1957 Elvis stars in his first movie Love Me Tender. Speaking of
Elvis most of us guys didn't want the girlfriend to listen to him because he was such a heart throb. And that fit in perfect with our
parents who thought his hip gyrations were too suggestive Which could account for his waist up shots only on that first Ed
Sullivan TV Show. Who would have thunk it all?? Not all of the 50's were great Truman was nearing his end of term and we were
trying to get out Of Korea. We had the Atomic bomb but other countries were closing fast. Then Came "Ike" Dwight D
Eisenhower in 1952.The cold war between the US and nations led by the USSR it was a time when diplomatic as well as
political and racial struggles were around like: segregation and the Mc Carthy era. People were starting to come
to grip with the Atomic Age and were so badly informed.








			click poster for Palisades Park pictures and Freddie Cannon song.