The Origin Of "The Fifties"

In both grade school and junior high school, I went home for lunch. In junior high school, though, since everyone could leave the building at lunchtime, the local drug stores that had lunch counters, plus the G.C. Murphy store, were mobbed at lunchtime. The high school, several blocks away had a cafeteria. Students could still leave the building but there were no nearby places to eat that I recall. I doubt students are allowed out of the building at lunchtime now.

BlueTrain said:

In both grade school and junior high school, I went home for lunch. In junior high school, though, since everyone could leave the building at lunchtime, the local drug stores that had lunch counters, plus the G.C. Murphy store, were mobbed at lunchtime. The high school, several blocks away had a cafeteria. Students could still leave the building but there were no nearby places to eat that I recall. I doubt students are allowed out of the building at lunchtime now.

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We definitely weren't. The last generation to be let home for lunch was my mother's, back in the early 1970s. Nowadays many students live too far away from their schools to go home even if it WAS safe enough to be possible. Plus they only give us anywhere from 25 minutes to 45 minutes for lunch, so THAT'S nowhere near enough time.

We were allowed to go home, but it was the last thing I wanted to do. There wouldn't have been anyone home, and I could eat a peanut butter sandwich in the coal bin at school as easily as I could have in an empty kitchen at home. If I really wanted solitude while I ate, the best thing to do was crawl under the rotten stairway at the back of the school and eat there. You could look out the broken places in the wood and see everything that was going on.

My mother would fix a lunch bag for me.
I ate with my friends in the school cafeteria.
For a dine, I could buy a bottle of chocolate milk
to accompany my lunch.

Other times I ate outside in the school grounds under a tree
if I wanted to be myself and draw on my art composition book.


Usually we were allowed about an hour.
On one occasion the school bell sounded earlier than usual.
I returned to my class to find my teacher in tears.
She told us of the sad news in Dallas about President Kennedy.

I don’t recall much what happened after that.
I do recall Walter Cronkite.
The drums later during the week at the funeral
procession that was televised by all three stations.

This was surreal.
I had skipped school on Thursday to see the President
and the first Lady downtown by the Majestic Theater.
Mrs. kennedy had a beautiful smile.
This was in San Antonio.
Thursday November 21, 1963.


Edit: Usually a visit to the boiler room in the basement
where the vice-principal would apply punishment with a wood
paddle for skipping class.
But that Friday he didn’t whip me.

2jakes said:

My mother would fix a lunch bag for me.
I ate with my friends in the school cafeteria.
For a dine, I could buy a bottle of chocolate milk
to accompany my lunch.

Other times I ate outside in the school grounds under a tree
if I wanted to be myself and draw on my art composition book.


Usually we were allowed about an hour.
On one occasion the school bell sounded earlier than usual.
I returned to my class to find my teacher in tears.
She told us of the sad news in Dallas about President Kennedy.

I don’t recall much what happened after that.
I do recall Walter Cronkite.
The drums later during the week at the funeral
procession that was televised by all three stations.

This was surreal.
I had skipped school on Thursday to see the President
and the first Lady downtown by the Majestic Theater.
Mrs. kennedy had a beautiful smile.
This was in San Antonio.
Thursday November 21, 1963.


Edit: Usually a visit to the boiler room in the basement
where the vice-principal would apply punishment with a wood
paddle for skipping class.
But that Friday he didn’t whip me.

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Wow... It's astounding to me that someone could care enough about a president to mourn him like that. What's changed??

VintageEveryday said:

Wow... It's astounding to me that someone could care enough about a president to mourn him like that. What's changed??

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I have a myriad of opinions on this but because the fearless leader of this forum has asked that we keep out of political discussions on the forum, I will remain silent on the forum. If you would like the opinion of someone who was 6 when JFK gave his inaugural speech, please contact me via PM.

I was a junior in high school, in Richardson, TX, just north of Dallas, about 10 miles from Dealey Plaza. It wasn't all mourning. Plenty of people detested Kennedy. But it was a terrible shock, and it came so soon after the Cuban Missile Crisis when tensions with the Soviet Union were at their highest. What most people felt was a tremendous dread. And it was the first such event of the television era. From the assassination until the funeral three days later, America was glued to the tv set. There was nothing like it again until September 11, 2001.

What's often overlooked is that the JFK assassination marked the point where television finally and definitively took over for radio as the primary news source. There had been three "JFK-like" incidents in relatively short order during the Era -- Pearl Harbor, D-Day, and the death of FDR all happened within a span of less than four years, and each event was covered with similar intensity by radio. But in 1963, even those who first learned of the assassination by radio got to a television set as soon as possible, the first time this had ever really happened in the US.

One of the things you'll notice in watching the coverage of the JFK story as it broke is how chaotic it was -- you can't anticipate something like an assassination, although the atmosphere in Dallas in 1963 was not particularly hospitable to Kennedy either as a President or as an individual -- and each of the networks had to scramble in the first hours. NBC kept losing its telephone connections to Dallas, and had to fiddle with a little battery-operated plastic amplifier attached to a phone receiver to even get a correspondent's voice on the air. Anchor Chet Huntley was clearly losing control of his emotions and had to leave the broadcast early on, and Frank McGee was angry and on edge, chain-smoking his way thru the afternoon with his cigarette barely concealed under the anchor desk. ABC was even worse -- anchor Ron Cochran expressed on the air his annoyance at being called away from lunch, as you saw stagehands rushing around behind him trying to pull together a temporary anchor set for the coverage. The reason everybody remembers CBS's coverage is because it was, by far, the most competent -- and even that was full of contradictions and speculation reported as fact. And remarkably, after the first bulletin from Dallas, CBS *went back to* "As The World Turns" for several minutes, followed by commercials for Nescafe coffee and Friskies "Magic Sauce" Dog Food, before deciding to go to continuous coverage. One can imagine the backstage confusion as the control room tried to get hold of someone in authority in the program department. (The broadcast of "As The World Turns" was live -- and the actors went on thru the entire episode without ever realizing they'd been cut off the air. They didn't know what had happened until the program was over.)

The coverage of FDR's death offers an interesting parallel to that of JFK -- the shock was just as sudden, and it was largely children who became aware of it before adults: the first news broke around quarter to six pm, at which time the radio networks were occupied with kiddie adventure serials. Regular programming was dropped, and all commercials were suspended as the networks went to continuous coverage of the breaking story, mixing hard news with various tribute programs, just as was done with JFK in 1963. Of the latter, NBC's was the most impressive, featuring a two and a half hour all-star program in which the network's entire Hollywood roster offered reminiscences of the President and tributes to his memory. The coverage concluded with FDR's funeral procession in Washington -- noted for the moment when CBS's commentator Arthur Godfrey broke down and sobbed on the air -- and coverage of the brief, dignified burial service at Hyde Park. Like the JFK coverage, radio covered the story continuously for an entire weekend -- and the structure and format of the FDR coverage was clearly followed eighteen years later.

Would there have been protocols back then for this sort of occasion, the way there are now? With the obvious differences in our constitutional arrangements here in the UK, we're still living with the first head of state whose installation was the first to be televised, and the fourth (incluing Dodgy Uncle David) to have been in place during the broadcast era more generally. There have been all sorts of plans and protocls in place for decades as to how the BBC especially will immediately react in the event of the current queen's death - for instance, the BBC will broadcast no comedy shows across any of its broadcast channels for a full twelve days after the death has been announced.

I suspect this sort of thing inevitably is different now in the age of saturation media coverage, where much of it will be shunted around channels, rather than dominating the entire schedules on a limited number of channels as was the case back when.

There weren't any specific protocols at the radio networks in 1945 other than the general "continuous coverage" arrangements that existed as a result of the war. These developed gradually over the early 1940s, and eventually took a very structured format: NBC had plans for 24-hour continuous coverage of D-Day ready to roll more than a month before the actual landings. The arrangement the networks followed for FDR's death was patterned more or less after that used for D-Day, and would be followed again for V-E Day and V-J Day.

When JFK died, most of the news executives in place at the networks had been in broadcasting in 1945, and remembered first-hand what had been done when FDR died. Other than the chaos resulting from the suddenness of the assassination, it only took a few hours to get organized and follow the same sort of structured format that had been used earlier. By 6pm on November 22nd, each of the networks had put such a structure into place -- interviews and analysis combined with breaking news and coverage of various tributes -- that ran thru the rest of the weekend. The chaos was sudden, but it actually didn't last long.

Radio covered JFK more or less separately from the TV coverage. There was some simulcasting, but most of the radio coverage was original and specific to that medium, and sounded very much like the FDR coverage from 18 years before. The best surviving example of radio coverage was recorded by WLW in Cincinnati, which carried NBC Radio's feed thruout the weekend. The recordings also preserve the fact that when WLW broke into regular programming to announce the assassination it was broadcasting selections from the original-cast album of the Broadway musical "Li'l Abner" -- and went back to that album after the first bulletin before scrambling around to find something more appropriate, which was then played at the wrong speed. Confusion reigned everywhere.

Probably the biggest media controversy in the wake of the assassination was the fact that the NFL refused to postpone its scheduled games for that Sunday, even though there was no television coverage. The first kickoffs happened just after Oswald was shot, and quite a few players were distracted by listening to coverage of the event on radio. Today the NFL spins its decision to play that Sunday as "a fitting tribute" but it was not seen to be so at the time.

Interesting radio trivia from The Day: Towering actor Ted Cassidy (Lurch the butler on "The Addams Family") was a reporter/DJ for WFAA radio in Dallas. Its studios were near Dealey Plaza and he ran down there and scored the first radio interviews with eyewitnesses. Like most giants he died young in his 40s but he caught a piece of history by being close by at the right moment.

Here's another interesting perspective -- the cast of "As The World Turns" remembers the events of that afternoon. Particularly interesting to me is how the program's writer insisted on not mentioning the assassination when regular programming resumed on the Tuesday after, but one of the actresses broke script to comment anyway.

CBS was recording the ATWT episode as it was broadcast live to the East and Midwest, for rebroadcast to the West Coast, and a full recording of the episode without interruptions for news reports can be viewed at the Paley Center for Media in New York. I haven't seen it, but the above article makes me want to.

Here's the East Coast live version, with interruptions for bulletins.


Note that Cronkite does not appear on camera at this point, and wouldn't until after the station break. The network didn't have a warmed-up camera ready to go in the news department at this point in the day, but after the events of this weekend it became policy to always have a camera hot and ready to use.

LizzieMaine said:

...Probably the biggest media controversy in the wake of the assassination was the fact that the NFL refused to postpone its scheduled games for that Sunday, even though there was no television coverage. The first kickoffs happened just after Oswald was shot, and quite a few players were distracted by listening to coverage of the event on radio. Today the NFL spins its decision to play that Sunday as "a fitting tribute" but it was not seen to be so at the time.

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I will go to my grave not understanding why companies, governments, charities, unions - all organizations - don't understand that admitting a mistake is good P.R. not bad. To be sure, we'd like to believe organizations will tell the truth from a morals / values motivation, but even if not, in most cases, saying "we were wrong and we're sorry" is good business policy.

I've had some of my biggest fights in Corporate America about this - as my managers hate the suggestion. But I found that when I was able to apologize for something our business unit had done, clients, co-workers, etc. all respected it. And while all sorts of dire predictions where raised when I wanted to apologize, I cannot think of one time there was a negative reaction afterwards - all the negative reaction is from management before hand.

While I'd like to believe I'm not naive, I do believe that what is moral and what is, ultimately, successful are not in conflict. But, of course, there can be short-term pain - which is normally what management wants to avoid. How stupid does the NFL look for trying to put some crazy moral spin on its stupid decision to play that Sunday. The NFL should just say, "we screwed up, made a bad decision, we sincerely apologize and are doing X, Y and Z to prevent it from happening again."

As implied in my list of organization, this is not a left vs. right problem - it's an organizational one (and many times a personal one). I sincerely believe my career was advanced, overall, by being willing to admit mistakes openly. Yes, I incurred short-term pain, but gained incredible respect that was like money in the character bank. Oh, and I felt much better about myself.

The technology to do live cut-ins from the scene of events was very different from what it is today -- there were no hand-held portable video cameras, and a remote camera was as big and bulky as a studio model, requiring the same long warmup time.. All three networks did cut to their Dallas affilliates for studio reports by correspondents close to the scene, but other than some bits of rush-processed 16mm film I can't think of any direct-from-the-field video cut-ins from Dallas until the bungled relocation of Oswald that led to his own assassination. The networks had been tipped off about the moving of the prisoner and had ample time to bring in and set up cameras and the remote trucks that serviced them.



(The actual camera that fed the pool broadcast from the Dallas jail, a GE PC-12.)

The actual inauguration on the plane wasn't broadcast live -- there was no TV camera on the plane, nor any way to get one there in a hurry. What was subsequently broadcast was a still shot of that exact photograph, which was taken by the official Kennedy Administration photographer. But there was a live remote truck at Andrews AFB when the plane arrived and there was on-scene live coverage as the new President and Mrs. Kennedy disembarked, as well as the unloading of the casket containing the late President. The stains on Mrs. Kennedy's clothing were clearly visible on screen as she deplaned and was led to a car. Johnson then stepped to a podium that had been set up on the tarmac and made his first official statement as President.

The only existing sound recording of the actual swearing in was made on the plane with a portable dictaphone, and wasn't released to the public until 2012.

I enjoy the kitschy, deliberate "fifties-ness" that some people go for in their personal lives, because it definitely stands out as being vintage/retro. I'm thinking of shifting more in this direction myself. Currently, I maintain a "tasteful" Mad Men type image in my everyday personal dress and grooming and home decor, but it doesn't really pop out as "retro" because it's so similar to what's considered chic at the moment.

PeterGunnLives said:

I enjoy the kitschy, deliberate "fifties-ness" that some people go for in their personal lives, because it definitely stands out as being vintage/retro. I'm thinking of shifting more in this direction myself. Currently, I maintain a "tasteful" Mad Men type image in my everyday personal dress and grooming and home decor, but it doesn't really pop out as "retro" because it's so similar to what's considered chic at the moment.

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Cool!
Peter Gunn theme song.

Nice beat.

Same with the “James Bond” theme song of the ‘60s.

PeterGunnLives said:

I enjoy the kitschy, deliberate "fifties-ness" that some people go for in their personal lives, because it definitely stands out as being vintage/retro. I'm thinking of shifting more in this direction myself. Currently, I maintain a "tasteful" Mad Men type image in my everyday personal dress and grooming and home decor, but it doesn't really pop out as "retro" because it's so similar to what's considered chic at the moment.

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There's more than coincidence at work here as the success of "Mad Men" is part of what drove current men's fashion to a very pre-hippies '60s look. I thought it peaked when Brooks Brothers produced a "Mad Men" suit - usually such blatant commercializing of a trend kills it - but that was several years ago and the style still has a pretty good hold on men's fashion.

It will be interesting to see what happens next - when the current vogue for skinny '60s-ish suits fades - as suits and ties were dying until the "Mad Men" fillip and casual attire is still gaining acceptance in what were once suit-and-tie-only places - businesses, churches, political summits, etc.

Fading Fast said:

There's more than coincidence at work here as the success of "Mad Men" is part of what drove current men's fashion to a very pre-hippies '60s look. I thought it peaked when Brooks Brothers produced a "Mad Men" suit - usually such blatant commercializing of a trend kills it - but that was several years ago and the style still has a pretty good hold on men's fashion.

It will be interesting to see what happens next - when the current vogue for skinny '60s-ish suits fades - as suits and ties were dying until the "Mad Men" fillip and casual attire is still gaining acceptance in what were once suit-and-tie-only places - businesses, churches, political summits, etc.

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Yes, Banana Republic also had a "Mad Men Collection" with a few items being released each year for a little while. I got both of the men's sport coats in that line, but at a deep discount on ebay. People do occasionally ask if they are vintage when I wear them.

PeterGunnLives said:

Yes, Banana Republic also had a "Mad Men Collection" with a few items being released each year for a little while. I got both of the men's sport coats in that line, but at a deep discount on ebay. People do occasionally ask if they are vintage when I wear them.

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Only 'cause you said it, the Banana Republic thing, now, rings a bell as I remember a pretty big advertisement in the window of one near where I worked - I think they did women's clothes for the line as well.

The Brooks Brothers one was more of a one off - one suit was all they did, I think. As mentioned, I thought that was "the top of the market" but the fashion movement continues and most suits, etc. in stores today are on the "skinny" a-la "Man Men" side.

It's interesting this thread popped back up again. Was talking to a friend about the fifties in popular culture.

My grandmother's life as a teacher was dramatically impacted by the baby boom.

She had begun teaching at a 4-room school house at 16, with no formal education. In the early 1930's she was given the opportunity to be grandfathered in to remain as a teacher or to go for a master's degree, she chose the degree.

In 1938, she had my aunt. She had been told by her principal while pregnant that after her child was born, she could not return to work as a teacher, despite no formal rules against her teaching. When my aunt died at 3 days old, my grandmother shortly thereafter returned to work.

In 1947, she had twins. She was asked to return to work by the same principal in 1954 because of the baby boom, when the need for teachers and nurses grew so much that it didn't matter how many children you had...