Just 50s

Just the '50s, man! Whether you were sporting bobby socks, a flat-top, or a ducktail, the 1950s were just "boss" man, especially if you were digging cars. C'mon Daddy-O, has there ever been anything cooler than the ultra-high-rise fins on a 1959 Cadillac, the "port hole" windows on a '57 T-Bird, or the blinding chrome on an early-'50s Buick Skylark? There may never be another time that rivals the 1950s when it comes to automotive excellence, and the cars from that glorious decade seem as popular today as they were then, when sales records seemed to fall every seasons. In Just the '50s, we salute the magical machines that seemed to come from every automaker of the day. With more than 30 feature stories and in-depth profiles, the publishers of Old Cars Weekly, Old Cars Report Price Guide and the website oldcarsreport take a trip back in time to revisit the great machines of the 1950s, and the people that love them.

Montreal in the 1940s and '50s was Canada's largest, richest, most vibrant and colourful city. It was, at the end of those prosperous decades, "bursting at the seams" and still growing. William Weintraub, writing with insight and affection, brings the Montreal of his youth vividly, entertainingly and wittily to life. The Montreal he describes so well was a city with two communities, English and French, who lived separate lives. They met along the dividing line that was "the Main" -- St Lawrence Boulevard and the nearby streets, where gambling joints, bordellos and night clubs prospered, and where striptease artiste Lili St. Cyr became the toast of the town and gangsters raked in profits while the police looked the other way. It was the Montreal of the charismatic Mayor Camilien Houde within the repressive Quebec of Premier Maurice Duplessis. Weintraub also looks at what he calls the Third Solitude, Montreal's Jewish community, which brought not just smoked meat and delicatessens to the vibrant area around the Main but a lively community that has played a major part in shaping the city and from which sprang such writers as Mordecai Richler and Irving Layton. William Weintraub looks at all aspects of life in Montreal in what Mordecai Richler called "an engaging, evocative book about Montreal's prime-time".

By the middle of the twentieth century, Ohio high school football ranked among the mightiest in the nation. Dynastic programs Massillon and Canton McKinley dominated the 1950s. Not to be outdone, Barberton, Portsmouth, Cleveland Cathedral Latin and Jackson staked their claims to greatness, and championship squads from Benedictine to Marion Harding and Alliance fought their way to the top of the rankings. Ever-steady Massillon continued their winning ways in the '60s. Along the way, determined newcomers like Niles McKinley, Toledo Central Catholic, Wyoming, Sandusky, Bishop Watterson and Marion Catholic snatched their share of gridiron glory. At the decade's close, the fierce Golden Bears of Upper Arlington forged their own dynasty. Join author Tim Raab as he presents the champions, contenders, heartbreaks and heroics of this thrilling era of Ohio pigskin history.

Between 1950 and 1979, Birmingham, Alabama, experienced some of the most dramatic growth and change in its history. Booming suburbs, desegregation, the fall of steel and the rise of medical and educational research, a new emphasis on the fine arts, and other changes imparted to Birmingham a radical new look over that thirty-year period. Historic Photos of Birmingham in the 50s, 60s, and 70s highlights the changes that took place through pictures of busy shoppers, amusing advertising ploys, eager audiences, cultural achievements, towering buildings, influential citizens, new institutions, famous actors, and violent protests and demonstrations. Nearly 200 photographs, vividly reproduced in black-and-white with captions and introductions, give a clear idea of what the Birmingham landscape and environment was like during these years. This look back is the perfect reminiscence for those who remember the era and an ideal resource for those new to the city who may not.

Looks at personal finance for middle aged persons covering such topics as choosing a financial advisor, investments, college costs, real estate, and estate planning.

The rhythms of jazz and beat poetry punctuate this sweeping, firsthand account of New York City’s 1950s literary scene from the Bowery to Spanish Harlem National bestselling author Dan Wakefield first came to New York City in 1952 with the intention of receiving a proper literary education on the ivied campus of Columbia University. An equally enlightening experience, he quickly found, was hiding in the smoky bars and cafés of Greenwich Village frequented by the most talented writers of the fifties, including James Baldwin, Joan Didion, and Allen Ginsberg. Wakefield recounts drinking at the White Horse Tavern, Dylan Thomas’s Village haunt, as well as the offices of Esquire and the Nation, capturing rare, intimate moments of spirited camaraderie between some of the most influential artists of their generation. Like Hemingway’s recollections of 1920s Paris in A Moveable Feast, New York in the ’50s showcases a city in its artistic heyday, replete with Wakefield’s remembrances of brushing shoulders with literary icons such as Jack Kerouac and Norman Mailer, and watching Thelonious Monk play jazz at the Five Spot Café. Wakefield’s experience as a journalist and chronicler of Americana allows him to capture the subtleties of a decade of unparalleled artistic expression.

Discover the people and places that made Atlanta the pop music capital of the United States in the second half of the twentieth century. Former DJ Bill Lowery attracted a galaxy of talent and created an empire of music publishing, production and promotion. In 1956, the Lowery Music Company had its first million copy-selling hit single with “Be-Bop-a-Lula,” by Gene Vincent. Under Lowery’s direction, popular artists like Tommy Roe and Billy Joe Royal flourished. Audio engineer Rodney Mills teamed up with Lowery and future Atlanta Rhythm Section manager Buddy Buie to build Studio One, a recording studio that produced albums from legendary acts such as Joe South, Lynyrd Skynyrd, 38 Special and others. Andy Lee White and John M. Williams offer a comprehensive portrait of the vibrant postwar Atlanta music scene. “Insight and memories from major behind the scenes figures like engineer, producer and Georgia Music Hall of Fame member, Rodney Mills (Lynyrd Skynyrd, Atlanta Rhythm Section, Gregg Almond, Joe South) along with Bob “Tub” Langford (engineer for Joe South’s biggest hits and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Freebird”) help tell previously untold memories from a special time for Atlanta music like none before or since.” —East Cobber

From First Communions to CIÉ Mystery Tours – the heartwarming story of award-winning journalist Gene Kerrigan's childhood in Dublin in the '50s In his highly addictive style, Gene Kerrigan effortlessly reconstructs the Ireland of the 1950s and early '60s in which he grew up. An adult world of absolute moral certainties, casual cruelties and mass emigration; for children an age of innocence, but an innocence hemmed in by fear and guilt. In this brilliant and humorous memoir, Kerrigan tells of a world that now seems as distant as another country. Into the details of school, street and family life, of Christmas, First Communion, school violence, CIE Mystery Tours and the arrival of television are woven the political background of the day and recollections of the impact of major figures: Michael O Hehir, Seán Lemass, Eamon 'Dev' De Valera, JFK, not to mention Hector Grey, Shane, Davy Crockett and Audie Murphy. It's a compelling, touching and often very funny account of a happy childhood in a country that was itself far from happy.