Intuitive fred888: What didn't exist in the 1950s when I was a child

Saturday, February 18, 2023

What didn't exist in the 1950s when I was a child

Color TV (that was worth watching) until maybe 1960 with Bonanza and a few other programs (Bonanza was from 1959 to 1973 as a series that almost everyone watched. The reason almost everyone watched this series is that there were then ONLY three big networks: NBC, ABC and CBS. That's all. It's true around Los Angeles there were independent networks like KTLA and KTTV and others but they ONLY broadcasted independent programs that usually didn't go nationwide like programs from NBC, ABC and CBS often did especially at prime time at night. Prime time then was likely from about 7 or 8 pm until 11 pm. And often by midnight or 1 am there was nothing on TV at all except a test pattern until around 6 am.

Our first TV wasn't until 1954 by the way which was a black and white 17 inch TV.

My first TV I ever even watched was a large Black and white TV my grandfather bought to watch General Eisenhower of World War II be nominated for President.

No disc Brakes on Cars or Trucks which caused many deaths from Shoe brakes over heating and giving out going down hills all around the world. So, if you lost your brakes to overheating likely you were going to die if the hill was steep enough and long enough.

No Radial Tires on Cars. I bought one of the first sets of Steel belted Radial Tires for my 1965 VW Bug that my parents bought for me for college. But, even then I still had shoe brakes on my 1965 BUG which took a lot longer to stop with than present Disc Brakes.

No Home Computers at all in the 1950s. Not only were there no home computers or PCS or Apple computers, there was no idea that there would be ever either. So, this was not even an idea at this point to have a home computer. However, at the same time there were even in the 1950s Dumb Terminals connected to Mainframe computers but those computers usually cost millions of dollars each.

The first passenger jet service anywhere on earth I believe didn't begin until around 1957.

However, I think the 1957 date was just in the U.S. because of this in 1949:

begin quote:

British De Havilland Comet

On July 27, 1949, the world's first jet-propelled airliner, the British De Havilland Comet, makes its maiden test-flight in England. The jet engine would ultimately revolutionize the airline industry, shrinking air travel time in half by enabling planes to climb faster and fly higher.