need homework help - 1950's

[Kjs]

difficult child has an assignment. As I look here at the directions it says they are going to make a time capsule for the 1950's. Pretend it is 1959 and you want to commemorate the 50's. You need to bring in 1 object from the 50's. This could include toys, photos, stamps, clothing, hats, books, anything. He is to write a short description.

HELP. I wasn't born yet.

Neighbor lady brought over some pictures. It shows a really old bike, but I can't find it on the internet anywhere to write about it. Also shows her mother pushing a buggy with the twins in it. A really old buggy with the big wheels. Pictures of her and her sister in front of an old car...but I have no idea what he is suppose to write. He doesn't seem to impressed.

Does anyone have any idea's? Would really appreciate it.

 

[tiredmommy]

Maybe a wheat penny? He could describe the relative costs compared to now.

 

[WhymeMom?]

picture of 1957 chevy, classic car should be easy to find a picture of it via internet, had the big fins and I'm sure was a major gas guzzler....... as a kid in the fifties I remember having a shirley temple doll, maybe shirley temple movies? (may have been earlier than the 50's), old huge tv set with tiny picture tube and you had to get up to change the channel, black and white of course......... skates that had "keys" to tighten on your shoes........ schwinn bikes with balloon tires, one speed (whatever speed you could pedal), brakes were applied by holding the pedal back........ just a few thoughts......... good luck with the assignment!

 

[Nancy]

Hoola hoop

marbles were really big

Mr Potato Head - the real one, not the plastic one

poodle skirt

old style rotary dial telephone

drive-in movies

horn rimmed sunglasses

tin cartoon lunchboxes

Elvis Presley

old style jukebox

comic books

old style fridge

old ironing machine - believe it or not I use to use one of those to iron our sheets and you could get seriously hurt of your arm got caught in the rollers

dime store soda fountain

Mickey Mouse or Popeye

superman

old coca-cola bottle

I'm way too old.

Nancy

 

[SRL]

Is he into music? He could bring in a recording or a record player. You could find a 45 record at a thrift shop so he could show how music was played.

Cars? Bring in a car model.

Movies? Pictures of a drive in theater.

 

[ThreeShadows]

http://www.fiftiesweb.com/tv50.htm

This will give him a taste of those years.

President was Dwight D. Eisenhower.

http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1959.html

Does he like baseball?

http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/1959-baseball-season1.htm

Now you know why my children hate me. I could go on and on...

Here's a challenge: try to find out what scientific advances were predicted in 1959 for the 2nd millenium.

It's so sad that we cannot make history come alive for students.

 

[Nancy]

Cuban Missile Crisis

Cold War

East Berlin Wall

bomb shelters

air raid sirens

Air raid drills in the classroom with students lined up against the wall curled in a ball covering their heads

 

[jbrain]

Wait a minute!!!!!! Why the heck is this assignment your responsibility?! I thought you were "quitting"! You were going to let husband handle the homework.

Also, in light of your other post, I would think homework would be the furthest thing from your mind?!

Jane

 

[everywoman]

Ditto, Jane. Stop KJS---just stop. He's not going to do anything you suggest. Let him figure it out for himself. Go do something for yourself.

 

[muttmeister]

I was a kid in the 50s so I remember all of the stuff people have mentioned plus pop guns, saddle shoes, X-ray machines in the shoe store to see if your shoes fit, Howdy Doody, Pinky Lee, huge cars with big fins, Dick and Jane reading books, no car seats, no bike helmets, maple syrup in log cabin cans, shopping in town on Saturday night, double features, drive in movies, the original Dragnet on TV, Ed Sullivan on Sunday nights, world series played during the day, polio shots for the whole school at school on a special day, Big John and Sparky on the radio on Saturday morning, having my dinner in the living room by the big radio so I could listen to The Lone Ranger, washing our hair once a week whether it needed it or not, pin curls, no hair dryers except at the beauty shop, curly top cones at Dairy Queen, the beginnig of TV dinners, .....I could go on but I won't.

 

[klmno]

Definitely the music and clothing/hair styles. I like the idea of money (the wheat penny and a nickel) and stamps. How would the stereotypes in place then go over? Photos of the presidents and what our government was pushing for during the 50's that got developed later on might be thrown in. Show what a dime or a dollar could buy back then. Show photos of the typical post-war ranch house lloked like- these are still standing and being lived in. Maybe show some household items that were considered luxeries at the time. Oh- yeah- cars! What's the income source/industry in your area? Maybe show what equipment they were using or resources they had back then.

 

[DammitJanet]

This is his project...he is in high school. He is old enough to do this with the internet. He isnt in 2nd grade. This is the sort of project he should be able to do quite easily.

 

[jbrain]

This is his project...he is in high school. He is old enough to do this with the internet. He isnt in 2nd grade. This is the sort of project he should be able to do quite easily.

Thanks, Janet! I thought maybe I had lost my mind or had the wrong kid in mind?!

Jane

 

[svengandhi]

Want a picture of me? I'm from 1959 - LOL! One thing I always enjoyed is checking out people's birthdays. He can look up some people who were born that year and use some photos.

Is it the entire 50's or just 1959? On January 1, Castro took control of Cuba. Later in January, Alaska became a state (49) and Hawaii followed in August (50).

Listen to Billy Joel's "We didn't start the fire" with him. My kids asked for the words and then started asking about some of the events he sang about.

If it's the entire decade, the assignment might be too overwhelming for him - see if he can maybe focus on one or two aspects (music, the cold war, rise of the suburbs, etc) instead of covering the whole thing. If it's just one year, run a history search for the year and find other things that happened.