Lifestyles 50 Years Ago

The year is 1954.

 

Prices

House: $22,000
Average income: $3,960
Ford car: $1548-$2415
Milk: $.92 per gal.
Gas: $.21 per gal.
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.

 

 

• You'd find 349 TV Stations. That was up from 125 stations in 1953.

• The first Burger King opens.

• M&M's Peanut Chocolate Candies were introduced. Also, the universally loved M&M's Brand Characters and the famous slogan, "The milk chocolate melts in your mouth, not in your hand," slogan debuted.

• A 1953 incident where Eisenhower's aircraft was "Air Force 8610" and an Eastern Airlines plane was "8610" created the need to devise a unique call sign. In 1954, the call sign "Air Force One" was classified to identify not only the president's plane, but any plane when he was aboard

• Elvis Presley makes his first record.

• Trix, 46.6 percent sugar, is introducd by General Mills.

• Bazooka Joe comics were first introduced.

• Nash-Kelvinator and Hudson Motor Car Co. merge to form the American Motors Co.(AMC).

• General Electric introduces colored kitchen appliances.

• In the air, there were 3 accidents resulting in 16 fatalities.

 

 

 

 

June 6, 1954 - "Your Show Of Shows," last airs on NBC-TV

June 12, 1954 - Bill Haley's "Rock Around the Clock," is originally released.

June 14, 1954 - Pres Eisenhower signs order adding words "under God" to the Pledge.

June 17, 1954 - Televised Senate Army McCarthy hearings ends.

June 19, 1954 - Tasmanian Devil, debuts in "Devil May Hare" by Warner Bros.

June 27, 1954 - 1st atomic power station opens (Obninsk, near Moscow, Russia).

June 30, 1954 - Yank pitcher Tom Morgan ties record by hitting 3 batters in 1 inning This was also Bobby Brown's last game; he retired to become a doctor.

 

 

 

 

Top 10 Songs of June 1954

1: Secret Love by Doris Day

2: Such a Night by Johnnie Ray

3: Cara Mia by David Whitfield With Mantovani & His Orchestra

4: Friends And Neighbours by Billy Cotton & His Band

5: Wanted by Perry Como

6: Oh Baby Mine, I Get So Lonely by Four Knights

7: Someone Else’s Roses by Joan Regan

8: Heart Of My Heart by Max Bygraves

9: The Happy Wanderer by Obernkirchen Children’s Choir

10: Idle Gossip by Perry Como

 

June 1954 was the last episode of “Your Show of Shows”
It ran from Feb. 25, 1950 to June 6, 1954 Sat. 9:00 - 10:30 on NBC
Starring Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca
With Carl Reiner and Howard Morris

Your Show of Shows was a star vehicle to display the immense talents of Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca.
Caesar could do it all and when partnered with Coca, his talent was presented to perfection. Among the characters they created together were Doris and Charlie Hickenlooper and Caesar alone is remembered for Progress Hornsby, Cool Cees, Somerset Winterset and Guiseppe Marinara.
Carl Reiner, a regular, would use his experience with Caesar as material for The Dick Van Dyke Show.
The writing staff included young talents such as Woody Allen, Mel Brooks, Neil Simon and Larry Gelbart (M.A.S.H.).