Wreckhog;
In your reply #77 you struck an authoritative pose when you asked questions about the 1950s. Your post #77 showed (IMO) an appalling lack of info about the 1950s, but having lived through the era, I will endeavor to answer your queries.
...your question..followed by my answer..
1) WH; What percentage of Americans had a car costing more than $40,000?
Answer: Very few..A brand new Rolls-Royce in the 1950s was priced at $15,000. Most US cars were about $1500-$1900 (1954).
2) WH; How was riding the bus if you were anything but white?
Answer; Living in a rural area, the only bus I rode was the school bus, and then only after 2nd grade..having walked 2 miles each way prior to that time. We did rarely, visit the closest city and there was no discrimination shown on either school or city buses.
3) WH; Did you have color TV ?
Answer; Nope; didn't miss it either! Fact is, we didn't have TV at all till mid 1950s. Instead, as a family after chores were done we gathered round and shared what we learned, what was taking place in Dad's life and how the neighbors were doing. We often sat on the porch in the evening, Dad or Mom instructing us on the nature around us, family heritage, local historical incidents etc..
4) If your Mom had wanted to work, would anyone have hired her?
Answer; Yes, some of the ladies worked by choice..and obviously someone hired them. My Mom, with 10 children preferred to stay home, where SHE could be the primary character trainer. She did not care to 'make bucks' and let somebody else mold her children. Even though we were poor and of her children, 3 did not outlive her, ...2 dying very young; she never chose to destroy any of them before birth.
5) WH: If hired, what kind of jobs could she have gotten?
Answer; She did work (for the telephone co) before marriage, but likely would not have gotten a very fancy job, since there were few fancy jobs available where we lived.
6) WH: Did you live in fear of Russia ?
Answer; Not fear..but concern..same as I am sure people who work in or anywhere near Times Square should be concerned..especially since 9/11 and the recent attempted car bomb. Today folks should have the same safety concerns, even though we have Muslims, rather than Russians as an enemy. Add to that, the widespread concerns for AIDS, STDs, the drug epidemic. Whether it is an A-bomb delivered by a Russian or a Muslim, or a desperate drughead that kills you..you're just as dead, either way !
7) WH; How many guns did the average gun owner have?
Answer; I really don't know, my Dad usually had 6 or 7 on hand, and if he wanted another and could afford it..he could send off for one fron Sears' or Montygomery Ward's...or buy a milsurp from Klein's for $12.95...along with some ammo. I bought my first new gun (a Winchester model 67A) over the counter, when I was 15.
WH: How were schools at preparing kids for college ?
Answer; Wow! you don't know the 1950s..or you wouldn't have asked that sucker question. I started school in a one-room rural school with one teacher instructing 6 grades. Each grade occupied about one row of desks. We not only learned our course of study but got a 'heads up' on the upper classes. Mrs Bennett (the teacher) graded spelling, diction and arithmetic in every subject. A word spelled wrong in art class was a demerit as well as one spelled wrong in English class, she had the complete cooperation of parents and every child who left that 6th grade could read, write and do arithmetic up to expected levels or beyond.
I explained (reply #63) that there were some major corrections needed, but they were being attended to..today we have even more major problems, not all of them being attended to.
