The 1950s: A decade defined by sock hops, muscle cars, and everyone blissfully believing that pretending to be a turtle can and would save them from an incoming Russian ballistic missile. But when they weren't dropping by the soda parlor, doing the twist, and insisting on in encasing all of their food in gelatin, folks in the '50s grabbed their cameras and got to work, snapping now-iconic photos that came to define their generation.
From the origins of Coca-Cola to Elvis after he had left the building, here are 33 photos that exemplify the 1950s.
1
“Elvis Presley eating breakfast with his father Vernon, and his grandmother Minnie Mae (1959).”
2
“Suburbia: move-in day [1950]”
3
“Black children watching as white children play in a only whites park, 1955.”
5
“Nurse showing newspaper headline about Polio Vaccine to a man on chest respirator due to polio. 1955.”
6
“King Charles III at his mothers coronation in 1953.”
7
“Jayne Mansfield photographed strolling in New York City with her daughter, Jane Marie, in 1953.”
8
“Fidel Castro plays Baseball in Havana, Cuba (1959).”
9
“My Grandpa with his sled dogs in Antarctica 1953(ish)”
10
“A man trying the Coca Cola drink for the first time, France, 1950.”
11
“Atlantic City, 1953. colorized by me.”
12
“John Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy on their wedding day, 1953.”
14
“My grandparents going to the beach in 1950”
15
“(Young) Car Thief 14 FEB 1957”
16
“1953 Las Vegas, NV : Swimming with nuclear testing in the distance.”
18
“A Picture From 1955, Titled "A Few Seconds Before Happiness"
19
“New York City in 1955.”
20
“Ella Fitzgerald jailed in 1955 for singing to an integrated audience.”
22
“The first digital image (1957), which shows computer pioneer Russell Kirsch's 3-month-old son.”
23
“Colour photographs of life in Paris in the 1950’s.”
24
“Miss New Zealand faints during the 1957 Miss Universe Pageant.”
25
“John F. Kennedy September 1957 Photo by Toni Frissell.”
26
“A happy, thankful family, 1959.”
27
“Miss Great Britain 1955.”
28
“John Lennon with his first wife Cynthia Lennon, 1959.”
30
“My grandma at school, France 1959.”
31
“Anita Ekberg - Paris (1959)”