Tufts University - Jumbo Yearbook (Medford, MA)

Page 31 text:

is I , - I iii-sv Q Q Q 2 1 v- 1 we I-f...,,,. ff 5 'fy sg ' -- i , 1 From coast to coast the country was building big. But not all were skyscrapersg single-story homes with huge picture windows sprouted in vast housing projects in this phenomenal building boom. One of the most interesting developments was the growth of prefabricated houses. In one hour a set of packing cases could be transformed into a charming new home, complete with a kitchen sink. The scientific magic of the age was put to commercial and medical use as well ed from butadiene gasg and thousands of youngsters were injected with the anti- polio virus Vaccine developed by Dr. Salk. .3 ' Y S 5 i i' 'fi .sf . , ,' as defense. Rubber was explosively creat-

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Our highway system panted heavily and fell far behind in the race with the tremendously increasing number of automobiles. But federal, state, and local governments finally lifted their heads, and throughways and clover- leafs began to spring up all over the country. Shown here is a photograph of the new high-speed central artery slicing a path through the narrow streets of Boston. -4' '-Q HO' a Americans wanted faster, more comfortable, and more beautiful cars, and the Detroit automakers did their best to please them. Greater horsepower, low- er and sleeker lines, automatic power transmission, power steering, power brakes, and numerous other power-operated devices were offered to satisfy the megalomaniacal consumer. Shown to the left are the 1955 Cadillac and Plymouth. For the first time in many years American-built sports cars rolled down our highways. Four feet high and 100 mph fast, Ford's streakish Thunderbird fbelowj was an all-steel, 3-passenger personal car listing for about 352700. With nearly 60 million cars and trucks on the roads parking problems like the one pictured were a common municipal nightmare.

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How did the American of these prosperous years react to the expanding economy and greater material comforts? These cartoons portray some of the changes. Marketing became a family affair at numer- ous mass-consumption supermarkets which stayed open at night. Because of the high cost of labor and the great number of mechanized aids and gadgets, Americans were ensnared in a do-it-yourselfu trend and rivaled the log cabin builders of pioneer days in personal interest in their homes. I , S.-.rf X nt, fd , S The excitement over interior decorating was part of this home-consciousness. The modern homes had more functional furnishings, more color, more informality, and more exotic materials, and one of the biggest fads was mobiles: suspended, oddly-shaped, delicately bal- anced contraptions of Wood, metal, or plastic. f -is c ew, 1,1 9' glhi Y Y V 1 WY V V A 'I V Willa' a, r X T I 4 x X V he y--