The 1950s were a decade marked by the post-World War II boom, the dawn of the Cold War and the civil rights movement in the United States. “America at this moment,” said the former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in 1945, “stands at the summit of the world.”
During the 1950s, it was easy to see what Churchill meant. The United States was the world’s strongest military power. Its economy was booming, and the fruits of this prosperity–new cars, suburban houses and other consumer goods–were available to more people than ever before.
However, the 1950s were also an era of great conflict. For example, the nascent civil rights movement and the crusade against communism at home and abroad in the Korean War exposed underlying divisions in American society.
These Kodachrome slides were found by Thomas Hawk that show what life of the U.S. looked like during the 1950s.
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| Handwritten on slide, “Hotel El Rancho, Sacramento, California, June 23, 1950" |
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| Handwritten on slide, "December 1951" |
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| Handwritten on slide, "June 1951" |
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| Handwritten on slide, "Cloudcrott, New Mexico, August 1953" |
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| Handwritten on slide, "Jean, Carol, Margaret, Jo, Sandy, Cloudcroft, New Mexico, 1953" |
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| Handwritten on slide, "White Sands, New Mexico, Fleming and Plymouth Station Wagon, 1953" |
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| Handwritten on slide, "60th Wedding Anniversary Mr. and Mrs. Frank Wager, April 29, 1954" |
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| Handwritten on slide, "Jeanne, Karl and Helmut's first deer, October 1954" |
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| Handwritten on slide, “6-20-1954" |
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| Handwritten on slide, “Christmas 1954" |
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| Handwritten on slide, "July 1955" |
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| Handwritten on slide, “Cactus Garden, Huntington Estate, Los Angeles, California, April 1955" |
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| Handwritten on slide, “Neighbor kids, August 1955, Davey on slide" |
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| Handwritten on slide, "January 1956" |
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| Handwritten on slide, "March 1956" |
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| Handwritten on slide, "May 1956" |
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| Handwritten on slide, “Donna Bayman, Norm and Davey, May 1956" |
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| Handwritten on slide, “Velda, Davey, March 1956" |
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| From a slide box "1957 Vac, Las Vegas" |
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| Handwritten on slide, "August 21, 1957" |
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| Handwritten on slide, "August 1957" |
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| Handwritten on slide, "Hugh drilling wheat, Jerry and Molly, 1957" |
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| Handwritten on slide, “Beach, Spring 1957" |
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| Handwritten on slide, “Bermuda, February 1957" |
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| Handwritten on slide, “Christmas 1957" |
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| Handwritten on slide, “Lynn on Daddy's shoulder, August 1957" |
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| Date stamped on slide "August 1958" |
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| Date stamped on slide "August 1958" |
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| Date stamped on slide "August 1958" |
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| Date stamped on slide "February 1958" |
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| Date stamped on slide "February 1958" |
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| Date stamped on slide "June 1958" |
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| Date stamped on slide "May 1958" |
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| Date stamped on slide "May 1958" |
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| Date stamped on slide "May 1958" |
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| Date stamped on slide "May 1958" |
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| Date stamped on slide "May 1958" |
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| Date stamped on slide "November 1958" |
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| Date stamped on slide "November 1958" |
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| Date stamped on slide "September 1958" |
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| Date stamped on slide "September 1958" |
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| Handwritten on slide, "Miami Beach, March 1958" |
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| Handwritten on slide, "Miami, 1958" |
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| Handwritten on slide, "Miami, March 8, 1958" |
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| Handwritten on slide, “Bill watching TV, January 10, 1958" |
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| Handwritten on slide, “Fred Dirkson, September 1958" |
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| Date stamped on slide, "December 1959" |
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| Date stamped on slide, "January 1959" |
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| Date stamped on slide, "January 1959" |
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| Date stamped on slide, "July 1959" |
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| Date stamped on slide, "March 1959" |
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| Date stamped on slide, "September 1959" |
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| Handwritten on slide, "July 1959" |
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| Handwritten on slide, "July 1959" |
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| Handwritten on slide, “grandpa and the gypsies, December 1959" |