The Baby Boom Years: 1950 View larger

The Baby Boom Years: 1950

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The definitive collection of 1950s American music, news, fashion, fads and kitsch that continues to influence the world.

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BORN

  • Stevie Wonder,
  • Gary Larsen
  • Mark Spitz
  • Bill Murray

MUSIC

  • Nat King Cole crosses over from jazz to pop selling millions.
  • Muddy Waters marries county blues and big city dance dynamism begetting Chicago Blues.

FASHION

  • Full skirts, rounded soft shoulders, an almost pinched waist, a pointed bosom and spike heels are hallmarks of women’s fashion this year.

SPORTS

  • Florence Chadwick swims the English Channel in 13 hrs, 23 mins., a record.
  • A Drivers World Championship is established.
  • The NY Yankees defeat the Philadelphia Phillies to win their thirteenth World Series.

WORLD

  • Communist Chinese forces invade Tibet.
  • Korean War begins when North Korean Communist forces invade South Korea.
  • India becomes the world’s largest democracy.

TRIVIA QUESTIONS

  • What percentage of US households had TVs in 1950?

a. 9% b. 16% c. 24% d. 31%

  • Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo. Although literally hundreds of films have been adapted from this enchanting fairy tale, this 1950 animated feature is a bone fide classic. Name the hit Disney movie nominated for 3 Academy Awards, which featured the voice of Ilene Woods in the title role, and that of Verna Felton as the fairy.
  • Created in 1950, the first lunch box to bear an image featured this TV Western star.

a. Gene Autry b. Roy Rogers c. Hopalong Cassidy d. Davy Crockett

  • True or False? American involvement in Vietnam began in 1950.
  • What popular doughnut shop was founded in 1950?

a. Krispy Kreme b. Winchell’s Donut c. Mister Donut d. Dunkin’ Donuts

R.I.P.

  • Al Jolson
  • George Bernard Shaw
  • George Orwell
  • Elsie de Wolfe

Billboard Top 10 Pop Hits:

  1. Daddy’s Little Girl — Mills Brothers
  2. Mona Lisa — Nat King Cole
  3. Music! Music! Music! — Teresa Brewer
  4. The Tennesse Waltz — Patti Page
  5. A Bushel and a Peck — Perry Como and Betty Hutton
  6. Rag Mop — Ames Brothers
  7. If I Knew You Were Comin’ I’d Have Baked A Cake — Eileen Barton
  8. Harbor Lights — Sammy Kaye
  9. Goodnight, Irene — Gordon Jenkins and the Weavers
  10. I Wanna Be Loved —The Andrews Sisters