The 1950s

The 1950s or The Fifties was a decade that began on January 1, 1950 and ended on December 31, 1959. By its end, the world had largely recovered from World War II and the Cold War developed from its modest beginning in the late 1940s to a hot competition between the United States and the Soviet Union by the beginning of the 1960s.
Clashes between communism and capitalism dominated the decade, especially in the Northern Hemisphere. The conflicts included the Korean War in the beginnings of the decade and the beginning of the Space Race with the launch of Sputnik I. Along with increased testing of nuclear weapons (such as RDS-37 and Upshot-Knothole), this created a politically conservative climate. In the United States, the Red Scare (fear of communism) caused public Congressional hearings by both houses in Congress and anti-communism was the prevailing sentiment in the United States throughout the decade. The beginning of decolonization in Africa and Asia occurred in this decade and accelerated in the following decade, the 1960s.



Money And Inflation 1950'S
To provide an estimate of inflation we have given a guide to the value of $100 US Dollars for the first year in the decade to the equivalent in today's money 
If you have $100 Converted from 1950 to 2005 it would be equivalent to $835.41 today 

In 1950 a new house cost $8,450.00 and by 1959 was $12,400.00 In 1950 the average income 
per year was $3,210.00 and by 1959 was $5,010.00 
In 1950 a gallon of gas was 18 cents and by 1959 was 25 cents 
In 1950 the average cost of new car was $1,510.00 and by 1959 was $2,200.00 



Events 1950'S

The 50's were the time when the shape of the political landscape in the world could be clearly defined between the Soviet dominated East and the capitalist West.
The cold war became a grim reality because both sides had the power and technology for a Nuclear holocaust, but equally both knew any war could not truly be won.
Following the end of the second world war the economies of the western world boomed which led to the start of a consumer-led economy that seemed to have no bounds .
With the forming of the EEC European Economic Community, West Germany enjoyed a growth which exceeded any expectations at the end of the war.
Following on to the break up of the British Empire which before had occupied 30% of the globe many fledgling democracies were starting to find their own identities including India Pakistan Rhodesia now ( Zimbabwe ), and having the growing pains that any new democracy would face .
During the 50's and following decades more and more of the old colonial empires would be forced to allow allow countries their independence.
Following the creation of the new State of Israel there were many conflicts in the middle east which are still occurring to this day. The Suez Crisis in 1956 begins on July 26th as the supply of oil is blocked through the Suez Canal
Like Germany in Europe Japan saw massive economic growth by supplying the goods needed for the consumer-led society in both Europe and the United States.


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