Compared to now, teenage girls in the 1950s had a lot of strict rules and etiquette considerations – and the consequences of falling short in certain areas could have a pretty considerable effect on her life. Here’s a look at the kind of messaging teens got back then.
When color TV was first invented, people wondered if you could convert a black & white TV to color, and which shows would appear in color – and when. Here are some of the answers they were given.
Decades ago, vintage table lighters like these ‘played an important part in the art of entertaining. The gracious, easy way to get a light if you smoke.’
Here are a couple recipes for petits fours – along with ways to make the frosting, fondant and decorations for these tiny cakes, all in the ’50s style!
You’ll love this old-fashioned clove cake that’s really different from any other spice cake you ever tasted.
Save this vintage Honeyscotch ice cream topping recipe to whip up again and again! It’s honey-smooth and honey-sweet – but not too sweet.
See vintage car wreck photos of 35 of old auto accidents and crashes from the 1910s to the 1950s – before standardized seatbelts and airbags.
If you’re remodeling a 1950s home exterior, advice from that decade says to follow a simple, straightforward style. Your house will look better and cost less.
This is maple-pecan chiffon cake with maple-flavored frosting, for the day you want something very, very special! Your guests will think you are wonderful!
Take a look back at dozens of vintage gift sets for women from the ’50s, ’60s & ’70s, filled with fancy fragrances, makeup, skincare products & more!
This ’50s recipe for macaroni pie makes a casserole full of cooked pasta in a red spaghetti sauce, tucked into a pastry crust.
Seven-Up floats! Ice cream and 7-up – what a cool, cool combination for a summer afternoon! Get a few different vintage float recipes here.
Try the Bisquick dish with an elegant air: Tuna ring! It’s a baked biscuit-like ring that’s served with a cheesy tuna sauce in the center.
While demonstrating a prototype of the Boeing 707 passenger jet, the pilot decided to show just how remarkable the plane was… and flew it upside down. Twice.
Want to make some simple retro ’50s style jewelry? If you’ve got the gift for DIY crafts, we have the how-to guide for you, direct from the fifties.
Take these vintage centerpiece ideas from the ’50s, ’60s & ’70s, and put your own spin on them for a modern-day retro-inspired holiday or party table!
In these vintage ads from the ’50s, the message was clear: ‘If you don’t wash with Lysol, you’ll smell bad, and your husband won’t love you anymore.’
Scroll down and take a stroll into the iconic orange-roofed ice cream restaurants – vintage Howard Johnson’s – that were so popular in the fifties & sixties.
In this superb macaroni loaf, the flavor of cheese, piquant snips of pimiento, green pepper and onion all add vigor and zest to a simple everyday dish.
This old ad said you could toss these prehistoric dinosaur toys in the air, and they would always land on their feet. It sounded too good to be true… and it was.
See old Phoenix, Arizona as it looked back in the 1800s and 1900s, when the city’s population was low and there were plenty of wide-open spaces.
More than just a way to dry off, these retro towels from the 1950s gave vintage bathrooms color and style! Take a look back at this functional fifties decor.
Here are a few ways to make a happy Easter surprise — cute vintage Easter cakes, using ideas and recipes from the fifties & sixties!
See clips of past Civil Defense films from the ’50s & ’60s, plus how to make a bomb shelter, what to stock, and more details from the Cold War era.
Here’s a classic timesaving, money-saving dictating machine – the vintage Dictaphone Time-Master – plus other old dictation devices.
Years ago, the United States Brewers Foundation ran a series of kindly, old-fashioned ads for beer, all with the tagline ‘Beer belongs – enjoy it.’ Here’s a look back.
Look back at more than 40 different styles of vintage window coverings from the ’50s – draperies, blinds, shutters, curtains & more.
Take a look back at some retro shelf edging papers & liners – used especially to decorate open shelving in vintage kitchens without a lot of cabinets.
Here are some of the coolest vintage 1950s ice cream flavors, including several long-gone flavors. (And they seriously loved pineapple and cherry!)
What’s the history of Q-Tips – the little cotton swabs found all around the world? This big brand had a little baby-sized beginning. (Also find out their terrible former brand name.)
See some vintage Tupperware – including pitchers and picnic baskets, lunchboxes and every kind of storage container – in a variety of retro hues.
Treet is the meat (1945) The meal-ready meat most folks like best! Yes! Treet is the Meat! More people choose Treet than any other meal-ready
Elvis Presley army photos from 1958: See the King’s shocking induction, infamous haircut & early days in uniform.
Here’s how to make individual tuna dreamboats with bell peppers. Just watch the family cheer as these boats come sailing to the table!
United Airlines flights in the ’50s offered a whole different kind of experience compared to now. Here, see what the travel industry hoped to provide to passengers!
Actress Betty White never gives up – and that’s the secret to her success. Here’s why, in the words of none other than her mother.
The mystery of Pan Am Flight 7, flying between San Francisco to Honolulu, crashed mysteriously midway between the two cities. The cause has yet to be determined.
Take a look at young ‘Leave it to Beaver’ actors Jerry Mathers & Tony Dow — and then see what the two men looks like as adults!
Come see what kinds of retro Christmas cards people sent each other to celebrate the holidays back in the fifties and sixties!
In the ’50s, they wanted to know what secretary wouldn’t prefer a job that included one of these vintage IBM electric typewriters? Compared to manuals, they were so easy to use.
Here are just a few of the toys you could find at a Woolworth’s store in the ’50s – the old discount retailer that seemed to sell just about everything!
Here’s a look back at some popular vintage Christmas lights, along with several old-fashioned examples from the ’40s, ’50s & ’60s of this kind of warm and wonderful holiday decor.
In a case study of terrible timing, the huge Habana Hilton hotel in Havana, Cuba, wasn’t even open for a year when it was taken over. Find out more here!
Remember these retro cups so popular years ago? Colorama, Heller’s vintage “Colorized” aluminum tumblers, were beloved for as being unbreakable, lightweight, inviting to use and smartly designed.
Leave it to the kids if you want an honest opinion of TV’s effect on family life (1955) by Jack Cluett – June 1955 When
The drop-and-bake cookie family is a big one with great variety and much good eating for all. What a world of good eating those recipes for old-fashioned drop cookies foretells!
Here are some delicious dinners to try from the ’50s — three different vintage country fried chicken recipes that you can make in your oven or on the stove.
Garden delights! Here are some old-fashioned backyard flower carts made of metal (often wrought iron) and wood.
See more than two dozen examples of vintage makeup, showing the evolution of blue eyeshadow from the ’50s to the ’80s. As you will see, sometimes it works… and sometimes it really, really doesn’t.
For nearly 30 years, Captain Kangaroo said good morning to kids across the country. Here, meet Bob Keeshan, the man behind the beloved character!
The 1958 Oldsmobile was offered in 22 different colors, 66 recommended two-tone combinations, and 55 upholstery selections. Find out more here!
If your family enjoys a fluffy refrigerator-type pie, this Thanksgiving, you should try these two no-bake pumpkin pie recipes from the 1950s!
In the ’50s, doctors started testing Thorzaine on patients – a drug capable of powerful, sweeping effects on the emotions, used for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
For the ’50s housewife, laundry was huge: the love you had for your kitchen paled only in comparison to the adoration you felt for your washer and dryer.
Walnut ribbon angel cake recipe makes an old-fashioned angel food cake with a sweet chocolate topping plus a halo of walnuts.
Get the famous Can’t Fail 5-minute fudge recipe, plus 10 more fast vintage fudge recipes that you can make at home even today!
Here’s a special centennial cake… with a special frosting… Make them both with Borden’s cream.
See some vintage report cards from San Francisco’s Outer Mission district schools during the ’50s. One of his classmates? Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead.
For the picture-perfect housewife of the ’50s, the kitchen was the heart of the home. And the heart of the kitchen was the refrigerator/freezer combo – the kind of luxury that mother and grandmother could have only dreamed of!
The ’57 Chevy’s new, and shows it – from its daring new grille and stylish lower bonnet to the saucy slant of its rear fenders. It’s longer, too!
The top-rated TV show, I Love Lucy, ran from 1951 to 1957 – around the time these magazines with Lucille Ball on the cover were published.
A lighthearted look back at the 50s housewife during the sunny days of yesteryear, when a woman’s home was her castle — and her kitchen was the heart of that home.
This collection of vintage evening gowns is so over-the-top, you don’t have to even like fashion to appreciate the oomph factor of these formal dresses.
Here’s an old-fashioned favorite perfect for a child’s birthday party: ice cream cone cupcakes! We have the vintage recipe right here.
Get some retro decorating advice and see floors from 1950s homes featuring creatively striped and checkerboard flooring patterns with two or more colors.
Swedish heirloom cookies: Bake them now, pop them in the freezer, and serve any time! Extra delicious munching for everyone, these spicy little goodnesses!
The 1957 Ford station wagon gives you more of what you want in a wagon… and for less money. The nine-passenger Country Sedan measures over 17 feet long.
Take a look at a few of the many ways the recipe for a Thanksgiving staple – the old-fashioned green bean casserole – has been made over the years.
These amazing vintage evening dresses were as glittery and shimmering as they were form-fitting and unforgiving of an extra ounce. But there’s more to the story beyond just gorgeous models and stunning gowns.
From fabulous vintage Disneyland come these retro recipes for Party Pancakes, from the colorful Aunt Jemima Kitchen at the California theme park.
Suppose you were a young woman anxious to find a husband, get married and settle down. What would be the best sort of job for you? Here’s what a survbey ?
Memo to June Graduates: Here are your choices under the draft You can take your chances, hoping you never will be called. Many are trying this.
A good old-fashioned meat-stretcher is a corn pie with ground beef crust. It’s easy to make, and you will have a mouth-meltingly delicious corn pie that’s a conversation piece as well as a satisfying mainstay.
The Hula Hoop fad had millions of children and adults shaking their hips to make the hoop spin. See what the craze was all about – and how to hoop!
This story is about the father of rock ‘n’ roll music. In a decade of American history condemned for its small-mindedness, blandness and apathy, Chuck Berry set the spark. Chuck Berry kindled the flame.
What were 1950s washing machines like? Here are some old-fashioned washers with high-end features for their time. These brands paid big bucks to promote these laundry appliances!
California – particularly Los Angeles – is notorious for having awful traffic, but as this video and these photos from the 1950s prove, that bumper-to-bumper freeway crawl is nothing new.
An Elvis Presley biography from Tupelo to Graceland: his rise, his reinventions & the legacy that still draws millions every year.
Ideas for more than 20 vintage recipes for hot dogs, including Pronto dogs, Frank-roll slices, hotdog boats, hot dog-bacon roll-ups, franks in blankets, Snappy frank-cheese rolls and lots more. Check ’em out!
See 20 vintage scenes in and around Philadelphia in the 1950s & 60s! There’s the city itself, landmarks, suburbs, skylines and more from yesteryear.
Ozzie and Harriet Nelson, with their progeny David and Rick, are synonymous with the American family image both on and off television. The Nelson boys are perhaps the only people who have literally grown up before the eyes of millions of weekly viewers.
Bite into the past with these playful party sandwiches from yesteryear. Pretty and appealing, they make for lots of conversation at lunch!
Cakes look custom-made when they’re frosted Frosting on the cake has come to mean an extra frippery or frivolity — something not necessary, but certainly
Discover how Jerry Lee Lewis’s ‘Great Balls of Fire’ set the 1950s music scene ablaze and cemented his legacy in rock and roll history.
Turns out the majority of baking techniques our great-grandparents used to make a cake from scratch still apply today.
Woman’s Day magazine launched in 1937 as an inexpensive in-house magazine for customers of A&P grocery stores. By the time A&P sold the brand in
If men “hate the sight of you” read this (1930s) Good news for thousands of girls who have no sex appeal (1940s) Don’t be skinny!
Why were pink & yellow kitchens popular inn the ’50s? Because it wasn’t enough for homeowners to decorate the kitchen with just one color – they had to combine them, for a pastel buttermint effect.
See what buyers could get in the 1956 Plymouth Belvedere V8 4-door sedans!
Johnny Carson is a slender, good-looking looking man with an uptilted nose and a casual comedy manner. When his Thursday night CBS show first premiered, here’s what happened.
Debbie Reynolds: Photo scrapbook (1978) The unsinkable star shares her very personal memories of her broken marriages, her two children and her career Some might
Dick Clark’s career — from American Bandstand to New Year’s Rockin’ Eve — helped shape American music and television. See his vintage This Is Your Life segment and his lasting impact.
Vintage ads show California wine’s uphill climb from Prohibition wreck to postwar dinner table staple, decades before it beat France at its own game.
Step back in time to explore the iconic world of 1950s candy. From classic confections to sugary inventions, discover the sweets that helped shape a generation.
