Athelete, Paavo Nurmi at the opening ceremony of the 1952 Summer Olympics.

A Brief Introduction To The 1950's

The 1950’s was a decade of conservatism following the mass upheavals of the war and a time when redevelopment and urban growth, including the nurturing of the ideal of the nuclear family really began to take hold.

The 1950’s were also a time of austerity. Rationing didn’t end in the UK until 1954 with bananas being the last food item to be removed from the system (sweets were taken out of rationing a year earlier in 1953).

Many modern cultural phenomenons such as the generation gap started in the '50s, stimulated by the Beat Generation and their works, which contrasted drastically with the conservative society of the decade.

The fifties also revolutionised entertainment with the mainstream introduction of the television, rapid growth of the recording industry and new genres of music, and movies targeted at teenage audiences. Many modern toys like Hula-hoops and Frisbees were also invented in the '50s.

Due to the conservative nature of the era and the sometimes violent suppression of social movements, seeds of rebellion grew and were manifested through Rock and Roll, movies emphasising rebelliousness, and expansion of the Civil Rights Movement in America. These precedents would serve as the forerunner to the Social Revolution of the 1960’s.

The Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States played out through the entire decade.

 

The Slinky

Popular Toys of the 1950’s

Popular toys included Wham-O's Hula Hoop and its flying disc Frisbee, both introduced in 1957. Kids got around on Schwinn bicycles and Radio Flyer wagons. Nomura's 9" tall, tin, remote-controlled Robbie the Robot walked, moved his arms, and sported moving lighted pistols.

Girls wanted Ohio Art Company's tin lithographed tea sets and Little Chefs Stoves, and Mattel's 1959 adult-bodied fashion doll Barbie. Boys wanted Daisy BB guns, Lincoln Logs, and miniature Matchbox vehicles.

In 1955, Walt Disney's Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier saw the production of 'coonskin caps' and other frontier-themed toys.

View-Masters, Silly Putty, and Slinky were bestsellers. Mr. Potato Head, a toy of plastic face parts that could be stuck into a potato, was the first toy to be advertised on network television, and in its first year of production (1952) made over $4 million.