!#8# Post WW2 - A Child's View | !8: Gerber Legend Discounted

!±8± Post WW2 - A Child's View

The baby brother came in July of 1945. America was rebuilding itself. Veterans went back to school on the G.I.Bill, hoping to equip themselves for the jobs that would surely come. And come they did. Young warriors returned to marry their sweethearts and so began the baby boom that created markets for new products.

Shoe companies began manufacturing more shoes for babies and children. Baby food production was launched by the Gerber Company.

Many other products were introduced into the consumer markets to meet the needs of the growing population.The Mattel Company, begun in 1945 by Harold Matson and Eliot Handler, began a decade of new toy products. There were Hot Wheels and Matchbox Cars and board games. By 1959 Ruth Handler had created the Barbie Doll.

Schwinn bicycles, Radio Flyer wagons, Frisbees, Hula Hoops and Milton Bradley Games appeared in America's department stores.

The television industry was booming and 70% of American families bought their first TV sets. Children could watch Lassie, Superman, Mickey Mouse Club and Romper room. Westerns with Hopalong Cassidy, Roy Rogers and Gene Autry became everyone's favorites.

Shirley Temple movies appeared in theaters and little Jody had to have her hair curled like the young starlet, or braided like Margaret O'Brien. Broadway musicals abounded due to the talents of Rodgers and Hammerstein.

Dramas by William Inge and Tennessee Williams filled the book stores. Science fiction films and teen films such as "Blackboard Jungle" were introduced. Children read the new super hero comics and delighted in the animated stories produced by Walt Disney Studios.

Middle class Americans were buying larger homes and appliances and automobiles and having larger families. Over half of American workers were supported by strong unions. The suburban housewife became a legend. It was the era of Sputnik 1 and Fortran invented by IBM.

NASA was organized. The first organ transplant was performed and Dr. Jonas Salk gave the World the Polio Vaccine. Jody became a teenager. The little brother became a Boy Scout. Times were good and the children felt secure and protected. Hopefully, we are doing for our families the things that make them feel secure and protected. Today, needs for family security are in some ways different. Crimes of identity theft are being reported all across the country. Because over one third of these crimes are the result of mail theft, secure locking mailboxes have become a necessity.