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Scroll down to 1950-1959 RHS Alumni for names and contact information...
The 50’s economy expanded rapidly to meet peacetime needs, and consumerism as well as the post war baby boom, was underway. Levittown, NY was built for returning servicemen and their families, and a similar community was built around Stone St, Midwood and Briarcliff Drives behind Rahway High.
Authors Norman Vincent Peale, The Power of Positive Thinking, and Bishop Fulton J. Sheen Life is Worth Living, motivated our parents to think positive thoughts and control their destiny.
The Korean Conflict developed, and the USSR became our enemy in the Cold War. Senator Joseph McCarthy claimed to know that Communists had infiltrated Hollywood and the US Capital.
In 1954, the Supreme Court wrote in Brown v. the Board of Education of Topeka, and Integration began. In 1956, Autherine J. Lucy enrolled in the University of Alabama, and in 1957 Elizabeth Eckford entered then all-white Little Rock Central High School, Little Rock.
Highways, Parkways and Turnpikes were built, by-passing small towns in cool cars of the 50’s, leading us to the Jersey Shore, theme parks, state parks, Drive-in-Movies and a new shopping mall, Menlo Park.
The Fifties brought anticommunism and conservatism… ‘Under God’ was added to the Pledge of Allegiance. Men wore gray flannel suits and women wore dresses pinched at the waists and high heels. Families worked, played, and vacationed together at Seaside Heights.
TV became the dominant media. You Are There and Edward R. Morrow brought historical events into our living room and in 1954, color TV and sitcoms; The Honeymooners, Father Knows Best, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, and I Love Lucy featured popular characters whose lives thousands of viewers watched and emulated. We enjoyed Sunday evening variety shows like Disneyland and the Ed Sullivan Show.
We were much different than our parents; we danced to Rock 'n Roll, a blend of Southern blues and gospel music. Transistor Radios and popular DJ’s Alan Freed and Murray the K, introduced us to Bill Haley, Elvis Presley, and Jerry Lee Lewis, and announced the deaths of legends Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper. Crooners of the 40’s, Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Perry Como and Dinah Shore remained popular.
James Dean wore blue jeans in Rebel Without a Cause and created a fashion and attitude sensation. Guys wore blue jeans, T-shirts, blue suede loafers, flat tops, crew cuts or DA’s. Girls wore felt skirts decorated with sequins and poodles, saddle shoes, and pony tails. Fad hits were Barbie dolls, hula hoops, Daniel Boone and Hopalong Cassidy gear, Davy Crockett coon skin hats, silly putty, and Dick Clark's American Bandstand.
Click on the Video and Enjoy the Music of the 50's as you peruse your list of RHS Alumni.
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