15 Things All 1950s Kids Remember
Updated: Jan. 20, 2023
If you grew up in the 50s, these things will bring back some memories.
The Roy Rogers Show
“Here’s a picture of my wife, Cathy Tantillo, in 1951, in front of her childhood home in Stanton Island, New York,” says Charlie O’Brien. “She was 5 years old at the time and thought that if she dressed up like Dale Evans, just maybe she could appear on TV with Roy Rogers!” If you weren’t a kid in the 50s, check out these rare, vintage photos of what life was like in the 1950s.
The Good Humor Man
The Lang family was happy to see the Good Humor Man this August Day in 1958 in Belmar, New Jersey. Neighborhood kids kept an ear out for the “ting-a-ling” so they could go get Mom and her purse.
Poodle skirts
“My three daughters, Anita, Patty, and Christine, are wearing the pink poodle skirts and navy-blue tops they got from their grandparents one Christmas in the 1950s,” says Mary Brown of Prophetstown, Illinois. Here are 29 things 2000s kids will never understand.
Davy Crockett
Davy Crockett was all the rage in 1955 when a five-part serial starring Fess Parker was airing on ABC as part of the “Disneyland” series. Genevieve Catina of Duncansville, Pennsylvania, shared this photo of brother, Bob McDonald, age 2, showing off his tot-sized Davy Crockett costume outside the family home in nearby Loretto.
Howdy Doody
“It was about 1955, and we were at a fair in Waterford, Connecticut,” says Mary Suominen of Scottsdale, Arizona. “We walked around the large stage and there was Howdy Doody! A man lifted my daughter, Sue, onto the stage and let her hold Howdy on her lap for this photo.” Check out what homecoming looked like in the 1950s.
3-D comic books
Rainy days were prime time for some reading time when comics went 3-D in the 1950s. This Mighty Mouse comic book came with a pair of Space Goggles.
Cinderella
Walt Disney released the movie Cinderella in 1950. Mary Ann Gove of Cottonwood, Arizona, recalls, “In 1955, our dancing class performed the story of Cinderella. My sister, Jo Ann (wearing the top hat) played Prince Charming because she’d cracked a bone in her foot and couldn’t toe-dance with the rest of us.” These are some things your kids will learn in school that you didn’t.
Hair perms
“A friend of our mother’s gave my sister, Cheryl, and me back-to-school perms in 1952 or ’53. That’s Cheryl in the chair with the odd-looking machine,” says Carol Thompson.
Zip the Monkey
“Summers in the 1950s were great fun. One of my favorite toys was Zip the Monkey. He had a black plush body with a rubber face, ears, and hands. He wore a yellow shirt with ‘ZIP’ printed on the front, red corduroy pants with suspenders, a red hat, and white rubber shoes. Zip went almost everywhere with me, including this trip to Atlantic City, New Jersey in 1954.” Check out this ridiculous dating etiquette from the 1950s.
Saddle shoes
“Here’s a wonderful picture of my mother, Elizabeth O’Neil Glockner, in 1957. She is polishing shoes for six of her children before getting us ready for Sunday church on Mother’s Day,” says Colleen Isaacs.
Street games
“Many of the games we played in my old neighborhood, in Queens, New York, were in the street, especially diamond ball, stick ball, and war,” says John Hilpert. “When the occasional car came, we would just stop and then re-start. If a parent ever tried to get involved in our games, or even come to watch, we would have thought that terribly strange. Fathers worked away somewhere, and mothers kept to the house.”
First television set
Sharply dressed and ready for church, here is my father, Jim Heyboer, brother Jimmy and I, with the newest member of our family—our first television set. It was really a TV, radio and record player all in one.
Air raid drills
Students and teachers at Franklin Township School in Quakertown, New Jersey, “duck and cover” while practicing an air-raid drill in 1954.
Cars without seatbelts
“When my husband got a new job with an insurance company in Midland, Michigan, he was told he should look successful. So he bought new clothes and this baby blue 1957 Chevrolet convertible that our daughters Nancy and Debra are posing in,” says Lois Crites of Punta Gorda, Florida. Volvo introduced the first three-point seat belts in cars in 1959.
Board games
Board games like Scrabble, Yahtzee, and Tactics were popular in the 1950s. Jimmy Rosen shared this photo of a family playing Carrom. “The two-sided square board features a checkers side and crokinole side,” says Jimmy Rosen of Duncannon, Pennsylvania. Now, see what was the most popular toy the year you were born.
