Of Anti-communism and Hula Hoops

In Posionwood Bible, The Price Family leaves behind the Americas, the land of democracy and freedom, to go to an undeveloped, "uncivilized", and poor part of Africa on a mission. We hear of some complaints from the Price sisters (especially Rachel) of leaving their home in America. I was kind of interested in what the Price sisters and the Price family was leaving behind in the states. What kind of styles, music, new inventions, and culture were they leaving behind for a year to go to a place stuck 40 years behind the developed countries. Well here's some interesting things I have found out.

Of the style many of the people wore in America back then in the 1950's, it was conservative. It was after World War Two and communism was in the cross-hairs of America. There was a feeling of anti-communism that ran through out most of the American society and religion (I guess Christianity) was seen as some way of expressing anti-communism. This is when they added the words "under God" to the pledge of Allegiance. Men wore grey flannel suits and women wore dresses with pinched in waists and high heels. Frence Fashion designers like Dior and Chanel were popular. Also, cars were the new hot thing to show how cool you were.

Of the music, the fifties were the beginnings of Rock and Roll with Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and some others. Along with the beginnings of Rock and Roll, there were other popular artists like Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, and Dinah Shore.

In the fifties, some more important happenings was the start of the Civil Rights movement with Rosa Parks and the Bus Boycott. There was the Korean war, 1950 - 1953, that America was getting over. And Disneyland opened in 1955.

Here's a short timeline of other interesting inventions and other thing in the fifties:

1950: First modern credit card introduced, first organ transplant, First "Peanuts" Cartoon Strip.

1951: Color TV Introduced, Super glue invented, Charles Ginsburg invented the first videotape recorder.

1952: Car Seat Belts Introduced, Polio Vaccine Created, Mr. Potato Head patented, Sony, a brand new Japanese company, introduces the first pocket-sized transistor radio.

1953: DNA Discovered, Joseph Stalin Dies, Dow Chemical creates Saran Wrap, TV color broadcasting began

1594: The first nonstick pan produced, First Atomic Submarine Launched, Report Says Cigarettes Cause Cancer

1955: McDonald's Corporation Founded, Warsaw Pact Signed, Optic fiber invented, The first home microwave ovens are manufactured by Tappan

1956: The first computer hard disk used, Los Alamos Laboratory discovers the neutrino, an atomic particle with no electric charge, Suez Crisis, T.V. Remote Control Invented, Velcro Introduced

1957: Dr. Seuss Publishes The Cat in the Hat, Soviet Satellite Sputnik Launches Space Age, Eveready produces "AA" size alkaline batteries

1958: Chinese Leader Mao Zedong Launches the "Great Leap Forward", Hula Hoops Become Popular, Lego Toy Bricks First Introduced, NASA Founded

1959: Castro becomes Dictator of Cuba, The Sound of Music Opens on Broadway, U.S. Quiz Shows Found to be Fixed

Here are the links to the sites I used to get this Information:
http://kclibrary.nhmccd.edu/decade50.html

http://history1900s.about.com/library/time/bltime1950.htm

http://www.fiftiesweb.com/pop/inventions.htm