50's Lifestyle

[Dargo]

I don't know where he got it from, but my dad acquired a pink

1950s Ford station wagon. Not hot pink of course, very subdued

pink and thinking back, it looked pretty sharp, at least to a

little kid. The one thing I hated about road trips was getting

up at some ungodly hour in the morning so we could "beat

the traffic and make good time." Yeah, sure. The worst way

to start a trip. I remember a trip to Florida and stopping

at one of those alligator "farms," where the gators looked

pretty well sedated, the guide was some old guy with bad

teeth, and the placed smelled to high heaven. And likely

advertised with one of those countdown series of signs--

50 miles to Alligator Haven, 25 miles to Alligator Haven,

etc. That's one childhood memory I'm happy to leave where

it was.

 

Hey Dargo, was there a cute girl in a flat-bed Ford when you

went through Winslow, Arizona?

 

Yeah, that salmon pink, and most often part of a two and sometimes even a three tone paint job, was very popular back then, Vautrin.

 

And re maybe seein' a "girl in a flat-bed Ford" that one time, well, lets remember here that I was only 10 years old. And so, while maybe there might have been one that day in Winslow, I probably wouldn't have noticed her, as it wouldn't be for a couple more years before I'd come around to thinkin' girls weren't a waste of my time and began noticing them.

 

(...btw, and regarding that...for the past 20 years now, every September there's a big street fair there called the Standin' on the Corner Festival...this past September during it they unveiled a bronze statue of Glenn Frey on that now famous corner in that little high desert burg)

[Dargo]

All Chrysler cars with automatic transmissions in the mid 50's to early 60's had push button shifters.  Think AMC (Rambler) may have had them for a while as well.  The push buttons were not designed for women, but the "Mad Men" on Madison Ave. may have seen an advertising gimmick to present them that way.

Ironically, the new Lincoln Continental for 2017 has push buttons on the dash for shifting, but electronic not mechanical.

 

And as you probably know Cid, one of the unique features on the short-lived Edsel were the push buttons for the automatic transmission located within the steering wheel's center hub, and christened "Teletouch" by FoMoCo)

[DownGoesFrazier]

And as you probably know Cid, one of the unique features on the short-lived Edsel were the push buttons for the automatic transmission located within the steering wheel's center hub, and christened "Teletouch" by FoMoCo)

The people who brought you the Edsel are the same people who have brought you the Detroit Lions. Nuff said.

[Sepiatone]

The people who brought you the Edsel are the same people who have brought you the Detroit Lions. Nuff said.

 

To be factual,  The Detroit Lions weren't the Detroit footall franchise until about 1934 when Detroit radio station owner GEORGE RICHARDS( WJR) bought the financially strapped Portsmouth Ohio Spartans for about $7,000.

 

WILLIAM CLAY FORD bought his controlling interest in 1963, three years after the Edsel automobile became defunct.  The Lions as a football franchise was more or less a fair team before then, and actually DID win more than lose.

 

FORD buying into them, so close to the Edsel's demise, SHOULD have been a bad omen.  At least it WAS  a sign of things to come. 

 

 

Sepiatone

[DownGoesFrazier]

To be factual,  The Detroit Lions weren't the Detroit footall franchise until about 1934 when Detroit radio station owner GEORGE RICHARDS( WJR) bought the financially strapped Portsmouth Ohio Spartans for about $7,000.

 

WILLIAM CLAY FORD bought his controlling interest in 1963, three years after the Edsel automobile became defunct.  The Lions as a football franchise was more or less a fair team before then, and actually DID win more than lose.

 

FORD buying into them, so close to the Edsel's demise, SHOULD have been a bad omen.  At least it WAS  a sign of things to come. 

 

 

Sepiatone

The NFL was originally in mostly small cities. The only one remaining is Green Bay. The Lions last moment of glory was in 1957, when they trounced the 49ers in the championship game.

[Princess of Tap]

Why in the name of Y A Tittle do all of the good threads have to end up talking about football?

 

Football really has no place in the 1950s--it was rarely on television then.

 

The only time I ever saw a football player was during a Gene Kelly special where Gene was trying to explain how dance was very similar to Athletics because he was trying to imply that being a dancer was being athletic and masculine.

 

So Gene invited Johnny Unitas to do some football moves to show how they were similar to moves in the jazz dance.

 

Those sure were the good old days.

 

Full disclosure - - My dislike of football did not prevent me from going to Joe Namath's bar in New York City-- Broadway Joe's - - I am only human.

[Vautrin]

Yeah, that salmon pink, and most often part of a two and sometimes even a three tone paint job, was very popular back then, Vautrin.

 

And re maybe seein' a "girl in a flat-bed Ford" that one time, well, lets remember here that I was only 10 years old. And so, while maybe there might have been one that day in Winslow, I probably wouldn't have noticed her, as it wouldn't be for a couple more years before I'd come around to thinkin' girls weren't a waste of my time and began noticing them.

 

(...btw, and regarding that...for the past 20 years now, every September there's a big street fair there called the Standin' on the Corner Festival...this past September during it they unveiled a bronze statue of Glenn Frey on that now famous corner in that little high desert burg)

I don't know that much about cars, but salmon sounds about right,

certainly better than pink. I did figure that as a ten year old you'd

have other things on your mind than girls, especially if they had

cooties. I've read about that festival somewhere too. All because 

of a song.

[Vautrin]

I'm sure the gator farms mostly appealed to kids. I doubt many

adults had an interest, but the kiddies would be in the back seat

yelling they had to see the alligators. The best part of the road

trip was the restaurant supper. After a long day of boredom,

that was a welcomed treat. Every few years we would drive down

to NC to visit our relatives. There were a lot of cousins my age,

so I always had a lot to do. The old home place had indoor

plumbing by then, but the outhouse was still available if the inside

facilities were in use. The last noise you want to hear in an outhouse

is the buzzing of bees.

 

The Lions are one of those teams that make it to the playoffs every

once in a while, but never seem to get any further. I'm running out

of teams to pull for. If this turns into a Cowboys-Patriots Super Bowl,

no way will I watch that.

[Sepiatone]

Why in the name of Y A Tittle do all of the good threads have to end up talking about football?

 

We WEREN'T talking about FOOTBALL.  We were talking about the LIONS!

 

Sports in the '50's was WAY different than it became over the years.....

 

Most if not ALL baseball players came from NORTH America....

 

Basketball players were white and barely SIX feet tall......and made HUNDREDS of dollars!

 

HOCKEY?  Only cities that HAD a team ever bothered to televise game occasionally.  And there were only FOUR of them in the U.S.

 

SOCCER?  What's THAT?

 

Remember when GOLF was ever televised, the announcer would speak in a monotonous whisper with that big foam ball covering his mic?

 

I was more into baseball in them days.  An AL KALINE fan and an avid HOME RUN DERBY viewer.

 

AND as for football...My MOM was a bit into it back then.  And any televised games were played in BRIGGS STADIUM(later TIGER stadium and now GONE) back then.  You could see players running over the BASEBALL DIAMOND to gain yardage in those days.  It was like that in Detroit until they built the PONTIAC SILVERDOME in the '70's. 

 

 

Sepiatone

[Princess of Tap]

We WEREN'T talking about FOOTBALL. We were talking about the LIONS!

 

Sports in the '50's was WAY different than it became over the years.....

 

Most if not ALL baseball players came from NORTH America....

 

Basketball players were white and barely SIX feet tall......and made HUNDREDS of dollars!

 

HOCKEY? Only cities that HAD a team ever bothered to televise game occasionally. And there were only FOUR of them in the U.S.

 

SOCCER? What's THAT?

 

Remember when GOLF was ever televised, the announcer would speak in a monotonous whisper with that big foam ball covering his mic?

 

I was more into baseball in them days. An AL KALINE fan and an avid HOME RUN DERBY viewer.

 

AND as for football...My MOM was a bit into it back then. And any televised games were played in BRIGGS STADIUM(later TIGER stadium and now GONE) back then. You could see players running over the BASEBALL DIAMOND to gain yardage in those days. It was like that in Detroit until they built the PONTIAC SILVERDOME in the '70's.

 

 

Sepiatone

Sep--

 

You know in Kansas we know a lot about basketball even if we don't care that much about basketball-- it comes with the territory.

 

The University of Kansas sent the basketball World a player named Wilt Chamberlain, who was indeed a black person and who indeed was taller than 6 feet.

 

We called him Wilt the Stilt and he was over 7 feet tall.

 

And there was a guy named Oscar Robertson who was also black and he was six foot five.

 

These guys played in college in the 1950s and went on professional in the early sixties - - did you miss them?

 

And before that there was the six-foot-nine Bill Russell.

 

 

And don't let me start on baseball and players like Orlando Cepeda. LOL

[DownGoesFrazier]

We WEREN'T talking about FOOTBALL.  We were talking about the LIONS!

 

Sports in the '50's was WAY different than it became over the years.....

 

Most if not ALL baseball players came from NORTH America....

 

Basketball players were white and barely SIX feet tall......and made HUNDREDS of dollars!

 

HOCKEY?  Only cities that HAD a team ever bothered to televise game occasionally.  And there were only FOUR of them in the U.S.

 

SOCCER?  What's THAT?

 

Remember when GOLF was ever televised, the announcer would speak in a monotonous whisper with that big foam ball covering his mic?

 

I was more into baseball in them days.  An AL KALINE fan and an avid HOME RUN DERBY viewer.

 

AND as for football...My MOM was a bit into it back then.  And any televised games were played in BRIGGS STADIUM(later TIGER stadium and now GONE) back then.  You could see players running over the BASEBALL DIAMOND to gain yardage in those days.  It was like that in Detroit until they built the PONTIAC SILVERDOME in the '70's. 

 

 

Sepiatone

In '50s basketball, most of those smaller white players took two-handed set shots and shot their free throws underhanded.

[DownGoesFrazier]

Sep--

 

You know in Kansas we know a lot about basketball even if we don't care that much about basketball-- it comes with the territory.

 

The University of Kansas sent the basketball World a player named Wilt Chamberlain, who was indeed a black person and who indeed was taller than 6 feet.

 

We called him Wilt the Stilt and he was over 7 feet tall.

 

And there was a guy named Oscar Robertson who was also black and he was six foot five.

 

These guys played in college in the 1950s and went on professional in the early sixties - - did you miss them?

 

And before that there was the six-foot-nine Bill Russell.

 

 

And don't let me start on baseball and players like Orlando Cepeda. LOL

Bill Russell was actually the first great black player in the NBA. There were several blacks as early as 1950, but they weren't really stars. Russell came along in about 1957.

[Sepiatone]

Princess, I'd say INDIANA has Kansas beat in the basketball worship arena.  Remember HOOSIERS?

 

When my plant started the NORTHSTAR ENGINE project, and I was one of the first five to be on it, we had to go to a place in Indiana that made most of our engine assembly machinery, and while riding through several outlying communities, there wasn't a HOUSE on ANY of the streets we drove by that DIDN'T have a hoop out in the street in front of them!

 

And no, I didn't miss the guys you mentioned.  But they didn't make up the majority in those days, and WEREN'T the "stars" as DGF pointed out.

 

And as the guys you mentioned were  COLLEGE basketball players and DIDN'T go "pro" until the early SIXTIES, it kinda puts them out of the "50's lifestyles" running, now don't it? 

 

 

Sepiatone

[ElCid]

The people who brought you the Edsel are the same people who have brought you the Detroit Lions. Nuff said.

Actually the Edsel was a much better car than its undeserved reputation.  For a new mid-price make during a recession, it sold very well.  68,000 cars were sold.  Actually a very high number for a brand new make of car.  Just not as well as the Ford board had anticipated.  By comparison, the Thunderbird sold 39,000 the same year.

The 58 recession drove down a lot of car sales, but especially the level Edsel was competing in.  The recession was the main problem.

It takes about three years to actually develop a car and get it into production.  When Ford started, lots of people were moving up to the mid-price cars - Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Mercury, De Soto, etc.  They were also purchasing the more expensive models of Chevys, Fords and Plymouths.  Edsel was  placed between Ford and Mercury in the FoMoCo hierarchy.

Bottom line:  it was the wrong car for the wrong time at the wrong price point.  Five years earlier it probably would have been a success.  Look at Falcon in 1960 and Mustang in 1964.

[DownGoesFrazier]

Actually the Edsel was a much better car than its undeserved reputation.  For a new mid-price make during a recession, it sold very well.  68,000 cars were sold.  Actually a very high number for a brand new make of car.  Just not as well as the Ford board had anticipated.  By comparison, the Thunderbird sold 39,000 the same year.

The 58 recession drove down a lot of car sales, but especially the level Edsel was competing in.  The recession was the main problem.

It takes about three years to actually develop a car and get it into production.  When Ford started, lots of people were moving up to the mid-price cars - Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Mercury, De Soto, etc.  They were also purchasing the more expensive models of Chevys, Fords and Plymouths.  Edsel was  placed between Ford and Mercury in the FoMoCo hierarchy.

Bottom line:  it was the wrong car for the wrong time at the wrong price point.  Five years earlier it probably would have been a success.  Look at Falcon in 1960 and Mustang in 1964.

The name "Edsel" also sounds pretty nerdy. That didn't help. Just compare it to some of the other model names in your post.

[ElCid]

The name "Edsel" also sounds pretty nerdy. That didn't help. Just compare it to some of the other model names in your post.

Actually the Ford family was opposed to the name, but the board went ahead and approved it.  Edsel (Henry's son) had long since passed on. For those who may not know, Edsel was "president" of Ford, but old Henry still ran the company-and Edsel.  Edsel died of cancer brought on by ulcers brought on by __________.  Edsel did contribute the legendary Lincoln Continental (original) to America.

Ironically, the 1960 Comet compact was supposed to be the Edsel Comet, but by then Edsel was dying.  In 61, it officially became the Mercury Comet.  We had a 60 Comet and it didn't have Ford or Mercury or anything else on it, just Comet.

[Princess of Tap]

Henry Ford II really got on rather well with the old man, whereasy Edsel couldn't do anything right to suit the old man.

 

Henry Ford II had a son named Edsel who was probably in our baby boomer age group. I don't know if he ever ran the company or not.

[Tikisoo]

We had a 60 Comet and it didn't have Ford or Mercury or anything else on it, just Comet.

 

My Mother bought a Mercury Comet around 1970....I called it the Vomit.

[Sepiatone]

Henry Ford II really got on rather well with the old man, whereasy Edsel couldn't do anything right to suit the old man.

 

Henry Ford II had a son named Edsel who was probably in our baby boomer age group. I don't know if he ever ran the company or not.

 

EDSEL FORD II is currently on the board of directors of the Ford Motor Company.  But that's as far as tHAT goes.

 

He'll be 69 years old this December

 

TIKI:   My dad bought his brother in law's '62 Comet in the late '60's for driving back and forth to work.  It was a garish red with that plastic covering on the front seat that you used to see old ladies cover their sofas with.  He didn't like the car much and got rid of it after a couple of years.  I heard him say once, "They SHOULD have named that car the FIDO!" 

 

 

Sepiatone

[Emily Dean]

We had a 60 Comet and it didn't have Ford or Mercury or anything else on it, just Comet.

 

My Mother bought a Mercury Comet around 1970....I called it the Vomit.

My first car was a used Mercury Comet, 1963 model.  It came with an air conditioner, red bucket seats.  I remember it cost $633 and going with my Dad to get the loan from the bank.  I cannot remember how much I got for it on selling...I gave it up in 1968 when I went overseas.  I believed I was the epitome of a young adult professional.

[Sepiatone]

'60 Comet?  Heh....

 

MY first car was a '60 Ford Falcon.  Bought it for $60.  Had it a month.  It only ran for a week.  My brother( a fairly good mechanic) looked at it and said it had a bad timing chain.  It wasn't so bad 'cause the junk man gave me $60  for it.  No loss.

 

My best friend at the time wound up with a better deal.

 

He bought an old '59 Impala in '68 for $60.  IT ran for about three months.  When he couldn't get it started and couldn't find out why, we pushed it into the street and he put a sign on it: "For Sale.  Best Offer".   Some guy showed up and offered $120!  He grabbed it.

 

Looking for another car, a neighbor lady told him her Father had an old car in his garage that he'd be willing to take $100 for.  They were good friends with his folks so his Dad drove us to the old guy's house to have a look.  It turned out it was a mint condition, rust free, low mileage  '57 Chevy!  For ONE HUDRED DOLLARS!

 

I thought he was gonna rip his pants apart he dug into his pocket for the money so fast!  RAN like new too.  He kept that car for six years, and in stock condition.  He wound up getting $25,000 for it!

 

That thing WAS a beauty, no doubt.

 

 

Sepiatone

[ElCid]

'60 Comet?  Heh....

 

MY first car was a '60 Ford Falcon.  Bought it for $60.  Had it a month.  It only ran for a week.  My brother( a fairly good mechanic) looked at it and said it had a bad timing chain.  It wasn't so bad 'cause the junk man gave me $60  for it.  No loss.

 

My best friend at the time wound up with a better deal.

 

He bought an old '59 Impala in '68 for $60.  IT ran for about three months.  When he couldn't get it started and couldn't find out why, we pushed it into the street and he put a sign on it: "For Sale.  Best Offer".   Some guy showed up and offered $120!  He grabbed it.

 

Looking for another car, a neighbor lady told him her Father had an old car in his garage that he'd be willing to take $100 for.  They were good friends with his folks so his Dad drove us to the old guy's house to have a look.  It turned out it was a mint condition, rust free, low mileage  '57 Chevy!  For ONE HUDRED DOLLARS!

 

I thought he was gonna rip his pants apart he dug into his pocket for the money so fast!  RAN like new too.  He kept that car for six years, and in stock condition.  He wound up getting $25,000 for it!

 

That thing WAS a beauty, no doubt.

 

 

Sepiatone

Interestingly, the 57 Ford outsold the 57 Chevy when both were new.  At the time we had the Comet (mother's car), also had a 57 Chevy (father's car).

[Janet0312]

I was flipping through the channels the other night and came upon an episode of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. Boy, was that a blast from the past. Simon & Garfunkel were on this episode as was Janet Leigh. What came to mind was how Mama would wheel the TV outside on the porch and cook dogs and burgers on the hibachi and later would put a pot of coffee on the coals while we watched the show. I remember this was during the wicked heat of the summer, hence why we were all camped out on the porch. I must remember to ask Mama about that, because it's a fond memory for me. I thought she was very clever to brew coffee on the hibachi.

[Princess of Tap]

Interestingly, the 57 Ford outsold the 57 Chevy when both were new. At the time we had the Comet (mother's car), also had a 57 Chevy (father's car).

 

My father had one of those two -toned 57 Fords, I think they were called Fairlanes, with the T- Bird engine.

 

Considering what that car was like-- was it really a T-Bird engine?

[ElCid]

My father had one of those two -toned 57 Fords, I think they were called Fairlanes, with the T- Bird engine.

 

Considering what that car was like-- was it really a T-Bird engine?

I'm sure it was.  Made since to use engines across many models to recoup R&D and manufacturing costs.  Not to mention the marketing value.  Also the regular Ford, of which Fairlane was one model, was the one that raced in NASCAR.

In 57, the Fairlane was the top model for Ford.  The name actually came from the Ford mansion Fair Lane. 

The Thunderbird was the first personal luxury car and not a sports car per se.  It was not marketed to compete with Corvette, but to create a whole new market for cars.  Therefore, high performance was not a critical component.

Ironically, the Corvette was a very poor selling vehicle and was on the way to the scrap heap of history until Ford debuted the Thunderbird.  Since GM had nothing comparable, they decided to keep the Corvette and substantially upgrade it.