1960 Flashback
As the year 1960 begins, I am in the 10th Grade (Sophomore year) at Castlemont High School in Oakland, California (this was still the old building that was originally built in 1929). The old building was now being torn down so that a new and more modern building could take it’s place. In the Fall of 1960, we would see “the portable village”. These portables would serve as our classrooms while the new building was being constructed. I was now beginning the 11th Grade (my Junior year). This was my final year collecting cards as a youth (it would become fashionable again to do this in the decade of the 1980’s, we could now call ourselves collectors). My final years of collecting baseball cards would see the beginning of the legendary careers of Willie McCovey and Carl Yaztremski. When I started collecting cards again in 1980, they were finishing their careers. These were some of the sets I collected this year.
——————————————-News Events————————————————-
This was the year that saw the death of Hollywood icon, Clark Gable (he would die at the age of 59 because of a heart attack). This was the year that the payola scandal would rock the music business. Life expectancy was now 69.7 years and unemployment was 5.5%. The population of the United States was now 179,245,000. This year would see rising tensions between the Unites States and the new Communist Regime in Cuba.
One of the worst air disasters at this time would occur this year
This was the year that the new 50 State Flag was made official. This was the year of the U2 incident. Francis Gary Powers, an American pilot, was shot down while spying on the Russians. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, but he was released in 1962 as part of a prisoner swap between the two countries. In November, John F. Kennedy was elected President, narrowly defeating Richard Nixon.
—————————————–Cost Of Living———————————————–
Gasoline was 25 cents a gallon, a postage stamp was still 4 cents, a dozen eggs were 53 cents, a gallon of milk was 95 cents, 2 dozen oranges were 89 cents, the minimum wage was $1.25, a movie ticket was $1.00, a regular bottle of Heinz Ketchup was 22 cents, a 1 ounce Hershey bar was 5 cents, a can of shaving cream was 59 cents, a can of hairspray was 47 cents, a loaf of bread was 20 cents, a fast food hamburger was 20 cents, 3 jars of Gerber’s Baby Food were 25 cents, a 4 pack of Jello was 25 cents, bacon was 79 cents a pound and a jar of Skippy Peanut Butter was also 79 cents.
————————————–World Of Sports—————————————————
This was the year that historic Ebbetts Field in Brooklyn, New York was demolished (The Brooklyn Dodgers had left for Los Angeles after the 1957 season).
This was the year that the Winter Olympics were held in Squaw Valley, California and the Summer Olympics were held in Rome, Italy. In the NBA, The Boston Celtics defeated The St.Louis Hawks 4 games to 3. Also in the NBA, The Minneapolis Lakers have moved to Los Angeles. With the retirement of their biggest star, George Mikan, the Lakers were on decline. Now in Los Angeles they would have new life with superstars Elgin Baylor and Jerry West. In the World Series, The New York Yankees and The Pittsburg Pirates had each won 3 games, so it would come down to Game 7. This game was tied going into the bottom of the 9th and it would be decided on one of the memorable home runs of all time.
In the NFL title game, played on December 26, it was The Philadelphia Eagles 17 and The Green Bay Packers 13.
——————————————–The World Of Television————————————-
The most popular shows on TV this year would include “The Gary Moore Show” (CBS, Tuesday 10:00-11:00 PM), “The Ford Show” (NBC, Thursday 9:30-10:00 PM), “The Many Loves Of Dobie Gillis” (CBS, Tuesday 8:30-9:00 PM), “What’s My Line” (CBS, Sunday 10:30-11:00 PM), “Checkmate” (CBS, Saturday 8:30-9:30 PM), “General Electric Theater” (CBS, Sunday 9:00-9:30 PM), “The Red Skelton Show” (CBS, Tuesday 9:30-10:00 PM), “The Flintstones” (ABC, Friday 8:30-9:00 PM), “Bonanza” (NBC, Saturday 7:30-8:30 PM), “Perry Mason” (CBS, Saturday 7:30-8:30 PM), “The Ed Sullivan Show” (CBS, Sunday 8:00-9:00 PM), “77 Sunset Strip” (ABC, Friday 9:00-10:00 PM), “My Three Sons” (ABC, Thursday 9:00-9:30 PM), “The Danny Thomas Show” (CBS, Monday 9:00-9:30 PM), “Dennis The Menace” (CBS, Sunday 7:30-8:00 PM), “The Jack Benny Show” (CBS, Sunday 9:30-10:00 PM), “The Price Is Right” (NBC, Wednesday 8:30-9:00 PM), “The Untouchables” (ABC, Thursday 9:30-10:30 PM), “Candid Camera” (CBS, Sunday 10:00-10:30 PM), “Rawhide” (CBS, Friday 7:30-8:30 PM), “The Real McCoys” (ABC, Thursday 8:30-9:00 PM), “The Andy Griffith Show” (CBS, Monday 9:30-10:00 PM), “Have Gun Will Travel” (CBS, Saturday 9:30-10:00 PM) and “Wagon Train” (NBC, Wednesday 7:30-8:30 PM). The mot popular show on TV was still “Gunsmoke” (CBS, Saturday 10:00-11:00 PM).
Other shows on TV this year would include “Surfside Six” (ABC, Monday 8:30-9:30 PM), “Stagecoach West” (ABC, Thursday 9:00-10:00 PM), “The Westerner” (NBC, Friday 8:30-9:00 PM), “Route 66” (CBS, Friday 8:30-9:30 PM), “The Roaring Twenties” (ABC, Saturday 7:30-8:30), “Pete & Gladys” (CBS, Monday 8:00-8:30 PM-this show was a spin off from “December Bride”), “The Outlaws” (NBC, 7:30-8:30 PM), “Hawaiian Eye” (ABC, Wednesday 9:00-10:00 PM), “The Lawrence Welk Show” (ABC, Saturday 9:00-10:00 PM) and “Alcoa Presents (One Step Beyond)” (ABC, Tuesday 10:00-10:30 PM). 🙂 🙂 🙂
References: “What Happened When” by Gorton Carruth, “The American Chronicles” published by Dorling Kindersley, “The Complete Directory To Prime Time Network TV Shows 1946-Present” by Tim Brooks & Earle Marsh and “Active Rain “(online info on 1960).
