1950 Flashback

1950 Flashback

As the year 1950 begins, I am in kindergarten at Parker Elementary School in East Oakland, California. This was before the era of preschool and children weren’t rushed into learning things at an early age (kindergarten was mostly crackers, milk, sandbox and a nap with some learning involved.

——————————————-News Events————————————————–
This would be the year that the Korean War would explode on the scene. In this year, Chinese troops would flood across the Yalu River into Korea, putting the world on the brink of World War 3. General Douglas MacArthur would be in charge of the American troops in Korea. The Korean War will begin in June of 1950.

The Cold War was still raging and so were the Senate hearings featuring Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy. McCarthy would claim that parts of the government were being infiltrated by Communists. The American population was now at 150 million people.
————————————-Cost Of Living——————————————————–
This year would see the minimum wage raised to a whopping 75 cents an hour (that wouldn’t even buy half a Big Mac today). The average cost of a home was now $7,150. Before e-mails, people used to write letters (stamps only cost 3 cents in 1950) .Milk would cost 82 cents a gallon and gasoline would only cost 20 cents a gallon (gasp!). You could buy a quart jar of Kraft Mayonnaise for 62 cents and sirloin steak was only 77 cents a pound.

————————————World Of Sports—————————————————–

In April of 1950, the first NBA championship was held. It was the Syracuse Nationals (later to become the Philadelphia 76ers) against the Minneapolis Lakers (later to become the Los Angeles Lakers). The Minneapolis Lakers would win the title, 4 games to 2.

In the world of golf, Ben Hogan won the U.S. Open in a playoff.

These would be the final standings in major league baseball in 1950. The New York Yankees would go on to defeat the Philadelphia Phillies in a 4 game sweep to win the 1950 World Series
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American League—————————————National League——————————