Our Grateful Life

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JIM!!!

Dad E is 58 years today! That’s not really that old but man, oh man, does 1950 seem like a long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long time ago. Here’s some “stuff” that happened the year Jim was born:

1. Average House: $14,500
2. Average Income: $3,216
3. Milk: $.82
4. Gas: $.20
5. Bread: $.14
6. Stamp: $.03
7. Ford Car: $1,339-$2,262
8. 12” records: $4.85
9. Campbell’s Pork & Beans - (2) 1 lb. cans: $.25
10. Alger Hiss is found guilty of committing perjury
11. President Truman okays the development of the hydrogen bomb
12. Senator Joseph McCarthy first mentions his list of known communists to the Wheeling, WV Republican Women’s Club
13. 4 out of 10 US Families are worth at least $5,000 and 1 in 10 has assets of at least $25,000
14. Haloid Co., Rochester, NY, introduces the first Xerox copying machine.
15. There are 100 TV Stations in the US operating in 38 states – sales figures show 8 million TV sets are in use
16. 45 million US homes have radios
17. “Peanuts” comic strip begins in 8 newspapers
18. CS Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is first published in the US
19. What’s My Line, The Burns & Allen Show, The Jack Benny Show and Beat the Clock are all on CBS
20. Your Show of Shows and You Bet Your Life are on NBC
21. ABC begins airing Saturday morning cartoons
22. All about Eve, The Father of the Bride and Sunset Boulevard are all showing in the theatres
23. “If I Knew You Were Coming I’d’ve Baked a Cake” by Al Hoffman was a popular tune
24. The New York Yankees win the World Series by beating the Phillies 4 games to 0
25. The Rolodex is first introduced (I’m certain this is a Jim favorite)
26. Clearasil Ointment hits the market to the delight of teenagers every where
27. The FBI issues its first “Ten Most Wanted Criminals” list
28. General Foods introduces Minute Rice
29. Dunkin’ Donuts opens in Quincy, MA
30. Jim was born!!!
    

No personal computers, no email, no cell phones, no blogs, no Jacuzzi tubs in gigantic master bathrooms, no IPods, no amazon.com, no Super Target – so basically nothing worth living for! How did people survive?????