REMEMBERING

NEWS NEWS WE GOT NEWS RIGHT HERE

Buick, Oldsmobile and Cadillac offer wrap-around Panoramic windshields on all production models. Ford finally offers an overhead-valve V-8 in Ford and Mercury models. Nash merges with Hudson; Studebaker merges with Packard. GM showcases several new concept cars at the 1954 GM Motorama, including the 370 horsepower turbine-powered Firebird I.

The two-seater Ford Thunderbird debuts. The new Thunderbird has an optional hardtop made of fiberglass-reinforced polyester resin. Imperial separates from the Chrysler brand and is offered as a separate nameplate. Some manufacturers, like Dodge, offer three-tone paint jobs. Kaiser ceases production. It's a record sales year - 7,915,000 cars are sold in 1955.

Some tibits from 1954 and 1955

1954

1955

M & M Peanuts are introduced.
Swanson TV dinners debut frozen, assembly-line-prepared, tasteless dinners in compartmentalized aluminum trays. Heat and eat.
Bell Telephone Labs develops a solar battery.
Contact paper premieres the same year - cost is 59¢ per yard.
Little Matchbox cars arrive; they were introduced in England the previous year.
Polypropylene is invented. The first large-scale production of high-density polyethylene plastic begins. Expandable foamed polystyrene plastic (Styrofoam) is introduced in the U.S. STYRO FOAM
Hi and Lois debuts as a comic strip.
Marilyn Monroe marries Joe DiMaggio.
America goes to the movies to see The Caine Mutiny, On the Waterfront and Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window.
The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Brown v. Board of Education that segregated schools violate the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Tony the Tiger appears to promote cereal.
The Davy Crockett fad spawns over $100 million in toy and merchandise sales.
Play-Doh is created.
The Jonas Salk-developed polio vaccine is given to seven million American school children, virtually eradicating this childhood disease.
Miltown tranquilizer is introduced for frazzled adults.
Alfred E. Neuman appears on the cover of MAD as a write-in candidate for President. His campaign slogan is 'What, Me Worry?'
Ann Landers' advice column first appears in newspapers.
Disneyland opens for business in California.
Marilyn Monroe shows a lot of leg in The Seven-Year Itch.
James Dean is killed while driving his new Porsche Spyder at high speed. His movie, Rebel Without A Cause, has just been released and he becomes an instant icon for teens.
Average ticket price is 50¢ at one of America's 19,000 movie theaters.
Plastic Technology magazine publishes its first issue in February.
General Electric develops heat-resistant, virtually-unbreakable polycarbonate plastic and will eventually market it as Lexan in molding compound and flat sheet form.

Page updated 27 Jan 2007