1950s

Popular Nostalgia from the 1950s. Memories of events and items from popular culture recorded in words and pictures on the internet. Share, remember and get wonderfully sentimental…

what a classic sweet - liquorice pipes

what a classic sweet – liquorice pipes

lovely liquorice pipes sweets that are now available online and in store in all good sweet shops. sweet greetings from shildon This post was submitted by Sweet.

This is Your Life

This is Your Life

Ordinary people and well known entertainers alike were shown through their own lives with the “big red book” – no, not heaven, but the TV series “This is Your Life”. This Is Your Life originated on American radio with NBC from 1948 – 1952. The popular biography show hit the small screen in 1952 with […]

Old Fashioned Sweets

Old Fashioned Sweets

Look at these old fashioned sweets online. Nipits were around after the war. Now their is an old classic. The choice of sweets is great and some great memories to be had. From kola cubes to buttered brazils. This post was submitted by Glen Neilson.

Yogi Bear

Yogi Bear

The Yogi Bear cartoons were on in the early 90’s and whilst I remember them, I don’t remember much. Yogi, and his best friend Boo Boo, lived in Jellystone National Park stealing “pic-a-nic baskets” off holiday makers. The original cartoons were around in the 1950’s and every decade thereafter. Park Ranger Smith would occassionally arrive […]

Oklahoma! - the film

Oklahoma! – the film

The old love story between Curly and Laurey is set in frontier America with farmers and cowboys aplenty. There are frequent songs as the film follows the musical faithfully and catered to audiences used to the format. The songs were released on LP in several volumes and have since become rare collectors’ items. The title […]

Bobby Helms

Bobby Helms “Jingle Bell Rock”

“Jingle Bell Rock” was first released in 1957 and was played in the “Rockabilly” style rather than Rock and Roll. Bobby Helms released several recordings of the track and it was covered by Bill Haley & His Comet. Some of you may remember the Muppets version played by “Electric Mayhem” – the Muppets’ band with […]

Dicky Valentine

Dicky Valentine “Christmas Alphabet”

“Christmas Alphabet” was Christmas #1 in 1955. He had been named Top UK Male Vocalist in 1952 and 1954. He could impersonate many famous singers and had sung with the top big bands of the era. Dicky appeared on “CALLING DICKIE VALENTINE” (ATV) in 1961. This series for the popular fifties and early sixties singer […]

Santa Baby

Santa Baby

This song has been sung by some of the 20th Century’s sexiest women. Santa Baby was originally sung by Eartha Kitt who delivered the sultry Christmas list with the tongue-in-cheek it deserves. Kylie Minogue and Madonna have both covered it but the beauty of its original release in 1953 was how risque it would have […]

“Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” – Brenda Lee

The biggest selling track of Brenda Lee’s career is “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”. In 1958, when she was 13, Owen Bradley asked Lee to record a new song written by Johnny Marks, who wrote “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” (Gene Autry) and “A Holly, Jolly Christmas” (Burl Ives). Lee recorded the song, in July with […]

It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas

It’s Beginning to Look Like Christmas

Perry Como & The Fontane Sisters with Michell Ayres & his Orchestra released their version of the “It’s Beginning to Look Like Christmas” on September 10, 1951. Bing Crosby also did a version and so have many other artists. The song was written in Nova Scotia and refers to a Christmas tree there in the […]

Frosty the Snowman

Frosty the Snowman

First released by Gene Autry in 1950, Frosty the Snowman was later performed by the Jackson 5 and many other artists. The first version got to number 7 in the US charts and is a perennial success. Gene Autry had previous success with Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. “Frosty” was written by Steve Edward Nelson and […]

“Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” – Judy Garland

“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” was sung by Judy Garland in the 1944 MGM musical “Meet Me In St. Louis” – in which a family is distraught by the father’s plans to move to New York City for a job promotion, leaving behind their home in St. Louis, Missouri just before the long-anticipated Louisiana […]

Nat King Cole - The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)

Nat King Cole – The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)

Nat King Cole recorded The Christmas Song for the first time in 1946 with his group The Nat King Cole Trio. The record company re-recorded it with a string section, and Cole recorded it again in 1953 with Nelson Riddle. Capitol Records released it in December of 1960. It stayed on the chart for a […]

A Big Long History of the Summer Olympics 1896 - 2008

A Big Long History of the Summer Olympics 1896 – 2008

896 ATHENS, Greece Dates: from 6 to 15 April 1896. Participants: 14 National Olympic Committees (NOCs), 43 events, 241 athletes (men only). Officially opened by: King George I. The Games of the Olympiad in Athens were financed by a donation of approximately one million drachmas from a rich businessman, Georges Averof, and by the sale […]

Snuff - Have a Bit Up!

Snuff – Have a Bit Up!

Some people chew it, some people smoke it, but no-one seems to sniff tobacco anymore. In our local pub (very oldy worldy CAMRA type), there’s a rack by the door filled with little metal pots. They have funny flavours written in old school lettering on the lids. This is snuff and you won’t find many […]