1955 Flashback

1955 Flashback

As the year 1955 begins, I’m in the 5th Grade at Parker Elementary School in Oakland, California. In September 1955 I would begin the 6th Grade. I still collected Topps baseball cards. I used to keep my cards in wooden crates in the garage (these crates were filled with many doubles, triples, etc of many of the stars of the era). Like many of the items we collected as kids, we had no idea of their eventual worth. Most of the cards that I collected as a youth got thrown away but some were still in a box in my parent’s basement when I started to have interest in them again (circa 1980). Card collecting started to become a
big hobby in the early 1980’s. The cards that got thrown out were worth more than $200,000 (this is a conservative estimate). Below are some of the card sets that I collected in 1955.

————————————————–News Events———————————————

In 1955 the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) was signed in Manilla, Philippines. It’s members were The United States, Australia, France, Great Britain, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines and Thailand. This year would see the merger of two labor unions (AFL and CIO) with George Meaney becoming it’s President. In 1955, President Eisenhower would become the first president to televise a news conference. Also this year-actor James Dean would die in a car crash in September, Albert Einstein would die at the age of 76, President Eisenhower would suffer a minor heart attack, Rosa Parks would stage her protest in Montgomery, Alabama, unemployment was now 4.4% and Hurricanes Connie and Diane would unleash their fury on the East Coast. This was also the year that Rock and Roll exploded onto the musical scene.

——————————————-Cost Of Living————————————————

—————————The World Of Sports——————————————————-

Rocky Marciano would reign as the Heavyweight Boxing Champion. His record would go to 49-0 and he would retire next year, leaving his title open. In baseball, The Philadelphia A’s would move to Kansas City this year (they would leave Kansas City after the 1967 season and come to Oakland). The World Series was between The Brooklyn Dodgers and The New York Yankees. This time The Dodgers would win 4 games to 3 (they would be aided by a great catch and throw by left fielder Sandy Amoros in Game 7). In the NBA,The Syracuse Nationals would defeat The Fort Wayne Pistons 4 games to 3. In the NFL title game it was The Cleveland Browns 38 and The Los Angeles Rams 14 (this game was held on December 26.

The 1955 NBA Champs-The Syracuse Nationals