This morning, I started thinking about all of the major events that transpired during my grandfather's 92 year life span. That triggered the thought of what was going on the year I was born. So, I did a little fact check on what was happening in the year of 1951, the year I was born. I found it pretty interesting that...
Unemployment dipped to 3.3%
Children were given, more than any other time in history guitar lessons and encyclopedias to improve their minds. (We had a set that my parents purchased for us.)
The yearly inflation rate was in the USA was 7.88%.
The average cost of a house was $9,000.00.
The average wages were $3,510.00.
The cost of a gallon of gas was .19 cents.
The average cost of a new car was $1,500.00.
A loaf of bread was .16 cents and l pound of hamburger meat .50 cents.
A pound of bacon was .52 cents and a dozen eggs .24 cents.
In the technology field, the first oral contraceptive pill was introduced.
Direct dial coast to coast telephone service began.
First color television pictures were broadcast from the Empire State Building.
Events that occurred: Libya gains independence from Italy.
In USA, the 22 amendment is ratified which limits the US Presidential term of office to 8 years. (2 terms) and the first nuclear bomb tests at Nevada test site.
In Jordan, King Abdullah is assassinated in Jerusalem on July 20.
In the USA, President Harry S. Truman fires General Douglas MacArthur as commander of the United Nations Forces.
In the USA, the great flood of 1951 in the Midwest.
Pop Culture: The term Rock and Roll is coined by Cleveland Disc Jockey Alan Freed.
Dennis the Menace comic strip appears in newspapers across the United States for the first time.
An American in Paris, The African Queen, A Streetcar Named Desire, and The Day The Earth Stood Still were popular films.
Perry Como, Mario Lanza, Nat King Cole and Tony Bennett were the popular singers of that time and I Love Lucy was popular on TV.
After reading the events that occurred the year I was born, I was amazed at the cost of food, housing, cars. It is hard to believe that the cost of living has risen to the degree that it has. Take a look at all that is available to us now as compared to then. Is life easier now? Are our expectations higher? Are we satisfied with what is available to us now? Things seem to be on a faster track now and I don't know if that is better or not. When times move faster it brings with it more expectations, impatience, and temptations. Things that use to satisfy don't anymore and we become bored waiting for the next BIG phone, TV, etc.
I don't know about you, but I think life seemed so much simpler back then and people much more contented, happy, and more settled than they do right now and if that means I seem old fashioned or a "stick in the mud" then I guess I am. What about you? Are you happy with the way things are going now?
