A Decade of Boredom
New Year’s Day 1950 was a Sunday. In New York’s Central Park people smiled as they walked, huddled in mufflers. The wind whistled through the trees devoid of leaves. They were optimistic. This would be a good year. People were feeling the same in Milwaukee, Dayton, San Francisco, and across the country. America was still euphoric from its postwar prosperity and peace.
Jobs were plentiful and baby boomers were burgeoning the population. Outdoor antennae littered the roofs in suburbs as television viewing soared, buoyed by Milton Berle, soap operas, and westerns. Music was changing as well. The Fender acoustic guitar was released, changing music forever, while pop singer, Patti Page, hit #1, sang a 4-part harmony with herself. Life was good.
Oh, there were hot spots around the world. The Hindus and Muslims were killing one another in India and Pakistan, dashing the dreams of Gandhi, recently deceased, who had led them to freedom. The new State of Israel continued to be under attack from neighboring Arab nations. Violent turmoil had spread across much of Africa as countries fought to depose their colonial oppressors.
In June 1950 North Korean armies crossed the 38th parallel that divided it from South Korea and a new war was underway. The United States, under the aegis of the United Nations, sprang into action. Within two years we’d have more than 300,000 Americans joining South Koreans fighting an enemy supported by China and the Soviet Union.
But, hey, life was good in the U.S.A., and everything else was so far away. In 1952 Dwight Eisenhower, the General who had led the Allies to victory in World War II, was elected President…everyone liked “Ike.” He’d get that Korean ‘police action’ settled.
Domestic contentment didn’t last long. A gruff speaking Senator from Wisconsin named Joseph McCarthy, was on the attack, convincing loyal Americans that the government, the military, and the movies were all infested with Communist spies and sympathizers. Joined by HUAC, the House Unamerican Activities Committee, reputations and careers were destroyed by unrelated events that had occurred decades earlier. More than a dozen Hollywood talents were ‘black-balled.’ No work for those accused of being ‘Commie sympathizers.’
Meanwhile, the struggle for racial equality continued. In 1954 the Supreme Court decided that separate education for blacks and whites was unconstitutional (Brown vs. Board of Education). Integration of schools was now settled into law. The Southern states continued to aggressively resist.
Emmitt Till, a 14-year-old Negro boy, was lynched after being accused of offending a white woman. Rosa Parks would not go to the back of the bus.
The President would be forced to use the military to support the integration of schools in Little Rock, Arkansas…lynchings, rioting, and a lack of job opportunities were still a part of black American life.
Yet, through all the turmoil, science and technology advanced. Jonas Salk developed a vaccine to prevent polio and offered his discovery free to ensure its widespread use. The integrated circuit was developed, launching a future in computers. The Soviets launched Sputnik…outer space would be the new frontier.
Eisenhower won reelection in a landslide. Disneyland was opened in California. The best rides all required an E-ticket. Rock ‘n roll arrived, and we all strained our hips doing The Twist.
Fidel Castro’s Cuban revolution succeeded ousting a friendly, but very corrupt regime. The Ho Chi Minh trail was established in Vietnam to speed the movement of materiel from North to the South as their revolution evolved and we sent our first ‘advisors.’
The decade ended with the deaths of James Dean, Buddy Holly and Jackson Pollack, the introduction of the Hula Hoop, and the opening of a new musical, My Fair Lady.
The ‘50’s had been a relatively quiet decade. We were ill-prepared for what was to come.