Remembering Christmas in the 1950's
As "Baby Boomers" after the depression and the lean years of the 1940’s and World War II , the toy industry responded to the enormous market and America’s new prosperity with a cornucopia of "first". From the hula hoop fad, Barbie dolls, and Play Doh to Matchbox cars and Silly Putty, wonderful novelty toys provided a bumper yield under the new aluminum Christmas trees. Americans were introduced to Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" and George Balanchine's “The Nutcracker”, as well as portable television sets. Disneyland and Campbell 's Green Bean Casserole, Mr. Potato Head, the first toy advertised on TV, topped many a Christmas wish list. The holiday rocked to the tunes of "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus", "Santa Baby", "Jingle Bell Rock", and December 25, 1958 Number 1 hit "The Chipmunk Song".
A 1950s Christmas was all about the cookies like springerle, jumbles, Kris Kringles and ginger cookies served on pretty Christmas plates. A big iced fruitcake was a must in many homes, and dessert included at least one home made and traditional sweet pie, such as eggnog or spiced apple thanks to the large amount of women’s magazines that were now available.
Television in the 1950’s had a lot of variety specials during the holidays. Some of the popular ones were Bob Hope, Red Skelton, Jackie Gleason, Ken Murray, Frank Sinatra, Kate Smith, Arthur Godfrey, Gene Autry, Paul Winchell, Jo Stafford, Ray Bolger, Abbott and Costello, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Judy Garland, Ed Sullivan, Perry Como, Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Milton Berle, Martha Raye, Eddie Fisher, George Gobel and Pat Boone.
Television series with special shows were Your Hit Parade, Jack Benny, George Burns and Gracie Allen, Donna Reed, Father Knows Best, Amos and Andy, Make Room for Daddy, Bob Cummings, Ozzie and Harriet, Lawrence Welk and of course the family favorite,  I Love Lucy.
We did a lot of homemade decorations in the very early 1950’s. Often we decorated the Christmas tree with colored paper chains, popcorn chains, popcorn balls and strung cranberries. We also used silver tinsel and glass ornaments. In the window we place an electric candle or a Noma bubble light 9 color candolier. Many of our families didn’t have a lot of money or a fireplace in the home so we had a fake cardboard fireplace (today that would be considered very tacky).
Do you remember the Shiny Bright bubble lights and the big NOMA lights? The Bubble Lites became NOMA'S best sellers. Today those Christmas lights are selling at a very hefty price as collectables on eBay. The same for the aluminum Christmas tree and spinning light wheel.
In the 1950’s our Christmas Dinner or Holiday Buffet was always very special. With food being more plentiful after the World War II rationing and women’s magazines, newspapers and television shows were giving recipes and dinner ideas our families started to try a lot of new things. Most of us still stuck with the long stranding traditional turkey, beef rib roast or Christmas goose.
For the more adventurous family the holiday meal might have consisted of the following foods:
Soup: Consommé, French Onion Soup
Appetizer/Relishes: Fruit Cocktail, Tomato Jelly with Stuffed Olives and Celery, Celery Curls, Olives, Water Cress, Watermelon Rind, Radishes, Corn Relish in Red Pepper Cups, Assorted Cheese and Crackers, Salted Nuts, Mints
Salad: Green Salad Bowl with French Dressing, Salad Apple Ring, Cranberry Sauce, Radish Cranberry Molds, Gala Fruit Wreath
Meat: Roast Turkey , Merrie Roast of Beef, Holiday Glazed Ham, Duckling with Orange Stuffing
Vegetables: Roast Potatoes, Parsley Potatoes, Mushroom Wild Rice, Asparagus in Red Pepper Rings, Broccoli with Easy Hollandaise, French-fried Onion Rings, Almond Green Beans, Sweet Potato Soufflé, Potato Cubes, Vegetable Scallop
Rolls: Parkerhouse Rolls, Butter, Corn-bread Diamonds
Desserts: Eggnog Pie, Fruit Cake, Plum Puddings with Brazil-nut Hard Sauce, Candle Cake
Drinks: Coffee, Milk (soda pop wasn’t that big with our folks and it was expensive compared to today)
 Let's look at each year separately. Many who graduated in the early 1950's did not get a lot of the toys that are mentioned because of their age but they should still bring back a lot of old memories. 1950: The Addis Brush Company introduced the "Silver Pine" aluminum Christmas tree. It consisted of an aluminum cone illuminated by a rotating color disk and a projected light. Originals are now considered collector's items. (They were big in South Florida because of the warm weather). Every young American boy wanted an electric train set for Christmas. Prices ranged from $15.95 to $69.95, compared with today's price of $239.95. (I got my Lionel electric train for Christmas in 1949).
On December the 25th NBC broadcast the first Disney television special that was called “One Hour in Wonderland”.
A short family documentary called “The Spirit of Christmas” was performed by an all marionette cast. It was narrated by Alexander Scourby.
The Ed Sullivan Show aka Toast of the Town had David Niven, Rosemary Clooney and concert singer Laurtz Melchior on his December 24th show.
 Perry Como recorded "The Story of the First Christmas". It was popular all through the 1950’s.
Wollman Rink in Central Park opened for outdoor ice skating.
 The Howdy Doody Children's program was used by television maker RCA to sell Color television sets. Silly Putty was introduced and became a favorite stocking stuffer. Among the top Christmas songs in 1950 were "There Is No Christmas Like A Home Christmas", Frosty the Snowman", Sleigh Ride", "Silver Bells", “All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth” by Spike Jones, “My Christmas Wish” by Mary Burns, Ella Fitzgerald’s “Santa Got Stuck In My Chimney” and especially Bing Crosby's record of "Christmas in Killarney" and “A Marshmallow World”, “White Christmas” and “Mele Kalikimaka” with the Andrews Sisters. Also Kay Starr’s “Everyone’s Waiting For The Man With The Bag”
Gene Autry had a lot of songs on the airways throughout the decade. A few were “Rudolph, The Red Nosed Reindeer”, “Nine Little Reindeers”, Everyone’s A Child At Christmas”, “He’ll Be Coming Down The Chimney”, “When Santa Claus Gets Your Letter”..
 1951: Motorola produced a 14-inch television set, called the first large-screen portable set, just in time for Christmas shopping season. The film "A Christmas Carol" starring Alistair Sim was released. This version of Charles Dickens’s tale was soon considered among the best ever made.
Molly Picon (a well known Yiddish and Hollywood actress), Yvette Dugay (a young Hollywood starlet) and Cardinal Francis Spellman (of New York ) visited the troops in Korea for Christmas.
 Gene Autry recorded "Frosty the Snowman". Tennessee Ernie Ford had hits with “A Rootin’ Tootin” Santa Claus” and “Christmas Dinner”. Rosemary Clooney’s “Suzy Snowflake” and Louis Prima’s “Shake Hands with Santa Claus” were also hits.
"It's Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas", by Meredith Wilson is a hit song this year and has continued until today with newer recordings by many different singers and groups.
 President Harry S. Truman received a lot of Christmas gifts at the White House. Among the many were a book entitled "Guide to Confident Living", two-pound fruitcakes, 60 razor blades, Vermont maple syrup, suspenders, bourbon, wool socks, potatoes and a donkey! What! A donkey? Just what a good Democrat president needed. The Christmas classic "Amahl and the Night Visitors, a one-act opera by Gian-Carl Menotti, was commissioned by NBC. It was broadcast live on December 24. This was the first Hallmark Hall of Fame production, and the first opera composed for the American television audience. (I remember seeing it that year and I loved it. Even on our small black and white television set it still stands out in my mind).
Cosmopolitan Theatre, a television show, broadcast “One Red Rose for Christmas”, starring Jo Van Fleet on December 25.
 1952: Walt Disney entranced youngsters with the Mickey Mouse cartoon "Pluto's Christmas Tree". Queen Elizabeth gave her first Christmas radio message. It was broadcast live from Sandringham Castle which was her holiday home.
Arts and craft projects included a Christmas mobile that was decorated with small store brought ornaments or home made ones. Another was using a four foot long piece of felt, six inches wide with a dowel on top and bottom that you could hang on the wall and pin or staple the Christmas cards that you received on. A few had a pocket on the bottom to store the envelopes in.
Mr. Potato Head becomes the season's big hit. Originally it was intended to be used with a real fresh potato. It was the first toy, Christmas or other, that was to be advertised on nationwide television. Through this advertising Mr. Potato Head hit the top of the list for most young children. At a toy and doll show in December, the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn , Michigan presented contrasting toy versions of a modern car and a 1927 Model "T". The newer model car was smaller and more sleek in appearance. The December issue of the American Home Magazine offered instructions on how to make footstools from empty fruit cans. New novelty songs in 1952 included Jimmy Boyd’s "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus", "The Night Before Christmas Song" and "Nuttin for Christmas". Both "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus,” and "Nuttin for Christmas" where a big hit with the young children.
1953:
President Dwight D. Eisenhower consulted with the president of Hallmark to produce the first White House Christmas cards that featured Eisenhower’s own art work.
The Matchbook cars were introduced. The miniature vehicles were added to many young boys Christmas list.
The Bob Hope Christmas Special had as its special guest Frank Sinatra doing comedy sketches, singing novelty duets with Bob and in a featured performance of "South of the Border" with Les Brown and His Band of Renown.
Macy's Department Store in New York City spent an estimated $75,000 on the store’s one set of Christmas windows to show what a white Christmas looked like in 1850.  Other department stores nationwide started to decorate with animated displays that did not include any of the store’s merchandise. A few specialize in decoration with assorted candy.
Fireside Theatre Christmas special on December 22 was called Practically Christmas. It starred Gene Raymond, Anthony Caruso and Renata Vanni.
There was a Christmas special on television showing a Christmas with the military in Korea . Known as the "land of the morning calm" the soldiers are shown singing Christmas carols around a campfire, at leisure activities, and receiving an early Christmas dinner. Soldiers were interviewed and they sent Christmas greetings to their families back home.
Today’s Woman’s Ideas for Christmas magazine was filled with Christmas ideas. Food. Wonderful, traditional holiday favorites like: Hot Cranberry Sauce * Mincemeat Fruitcake * Marshmallow Snowman * Deviled Ham Loaf * Creamed Bacon & Eggs * Roast Duck with Wine Sauce and a great selection of cookie recipes. Plus: Buying and Trimming the Tree. Home Decorations. Gifts to Make. Christmas Cards. Wrapping and Packaging. Drinks for the Holidays. Christmas Carols and Customs. Holiday Lighting. Making Mobiles.
What Christmas cost in 1953: Christmas cards were .98 cents for a box of 50 and the stamp to mail a card was just 3 cents. A 37 inch Clipper sled-$3.75, a Lionel train set- $19.95 to $65, a tricycle-$21.15 and a fresh cut 6-foot Christmas tree: $2.50. For dinner a 20-pound turkey was $21.00 and six 6-ounce bottles of Coca-Cola-30 cents. An electric clothes dryer-$169.95, a Frigidaire Thrifty 30 Range-$245.95, complete 8mm movie outfit-$102.45, electric blanket-$19.95.
Dean Martin’s “The Christmas Blues”, Louis Armstrong’s “Cool Yule” and “Zat You, Santa Claus” added jazz and soul to the Christmas music list.
Other popular songs were “Christmas Dragnet” by Stan Freberg, Gayla Peever’s “I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas.” Gayla’s song is still played every year on most of the “oldies” station across the nation.
1954:
The New York City Ballet gives its first performance of George Balanchine’s “The Nutcracker” on its stage. Today “The Nutcracker” is a staple with most ballet companies nationwide.
“Frosty The Snowman” first appears as an animated, made for television short and is an instant hit.
The movie “White Christmas”, with Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, Vera-Ellen, Dean Jagger and Mary Wickes is the first film made in VistaVision, a new format that allows larger, brighter, and less fuzzy images.
Kids want the remote controlled “Robert the Robot” for Christmas. It was the first plastic toy robot introduced to the American Public. The robot not only walked but included the "sensational new patented talking device (now called a phonograph record).
“Caroling, Caroling” and Perry Como’s recording of “There’s No Place like Home for the Holidays” are hits with those who favor traditional songs, while “The Christmas Waltz” is enjoyed by adults for its jazzy style. Sonny James hit it big with “Christmas in My Hometown”.
Liberace plays the piano while his special guests sing along to 'Jingle Bells'. Also starred Liberace’s brother George. A few of the other songs that Liberace played were “The Spirit of Christmas”, The Toy Piano’, “The Christmas Song”, “Ave Maria”, “Sleigh Ride” and “Twas the Night Before Christmas”.
The Queen of England’s Christmas Broadcast came at the end of a year in which the Queen and Prince Philip had traveled around the world, from Bermuda to Uganda in Africa . The Queen again made her broadcast from her study at the holiday Sandringham Castle .
Back in the early 1950s, portable radios were available but still contained tubes and usually required large batteries or a plug to play them. That all changed in 1954 when the first transistor radio (the Regency TR-1) was introduced to the public-150,000 were sold in that first year.
A group of Washington businessmen and interested citizens organized to oversee the production of the “Christmas Pageant of Peace”. The Pageant was conceived as an event devoted to the "desire to maintain peace around the world through the spirit and meaning of Christmas" and to foster friendship and understanding among all peoples.
1955:
Campbell ’s famous “Green Bean Casserole”, featuring Cream of Mushroom Soup, makes it debut and becomes a holiday dinner mainstay in many homes. (I didn’t like it then and I still don’t like it today).
Popular toys (but not for our age group-just our younger brothers and sisters): Redskin archery set .98, metal tea set .98, plastic tea set 2.98, doctor kit 2.98, puzzles .25, rubber football 2.98, walkie-talkie set 2.95.
Disneyland theme park had just opened in 1955 and for its first Christmas they celebrated the yuletide with the theme “Christmas around the World”.
'Twas the Night before Christmas” was a very touching holiday television episode of "The Honeymooners" that was shown on December 24. The show starred Jackie Gleason, Art Carney, Audrey Meadows and Joyce Reynolds.
Madame Alexander’s doll Cissy was the first modern fashion doll because it was noted for its womanly figure and high heels. Today that doll is a collectors items and it is sold on eBay for thousands of dollars to collectors.
The Christmas comedy “We’re No Angels” with Humphrey Bogart, Peter Ustinov, Joan Bennett, Also Ray and Basil Rathbone was the movie hit of the holiday season.
Do you remember ”Jingle Bells” by The Singing Dogs? I have the song on a tape and transferred it to a CD. I drive my daughter’s young black lab crazy when I play it at her house because Serenity keeps looking for the other dogs.
Bing Crosby’s version of “White Christmas” was constantly being played on the radio stations and still is today during the holiday season,
Three days before Christmas in 1955 the San Francisquito Creek in Northern California overflowed and it became a major problem for everybody living in the new housing developments that surrounded Greer Park. By the mid-1950s, an enormous housing boom had taken place. The new residents living in the housing tracts found their Christmas plans drenched in flood waters.
1956:
First Lady Mamie Eisenhower shopped for White House staff gifts and wrapped them herself. This was an unusual thing for a First Lady to do. I doubt that any First Lady has done this since Mamie.
Household magazine showed how to make a tabletop Christmas tree out of Styrofoam balls and glitter dipped toothpicks.
Songwriter Johnny Marks produced two wonderful new Christmas songs this year: “Everyone’s a Child at Christmas”, and “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day”.
Bing Crosby had another hit with his rendition of “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day”. Harry Belafonte’s “Mary’s Boy Child”, Brenda Lee’s “I’m Gonna Lasso Santa Claus” were also popular.
Play-Doh was introduced to the American public. Originally it was intended to be a wall paper cleaner but because it was a non-toxic, mess-free modeling compound it became a big hit with parents. They made it a top-selling Christmas gift and it found its way into a lot of Christmas stockings for years to come.
1957:
Dr. Seuss’ book “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” became a best seller and has stayed popular ever since.
A popular Christmas show with the younger generation was “Robin Hood: The Christmas Goose”.
TV tray tables were the “in thing”! That was back at a time when the idea of eating while watching television was new and they made special tables calling attention to the exciting new activity (and special meals: TV dinners).
Since December is a very busy month and everyone gets busier as the holiday season approaches the Maine Fishing Industry tried to convince the American housewife to make sardines a part of the meals. Since a large portion of time is spent in planning and shopping for Christmas a good cold weather meal is a casserole which contains canned Maine sardines, cheese, and cooked potatoes (as a kid I had enough cod liver oil to last a lifetime. Thankfully, my family never tried to use sardines in a meal).
Frank Sinatra’s “Mistletoe and Holly” and “A Jolly Christmas” was very popular with our older parents. Other songs that Frank was crooning over the airways were “The Christmas Waltz”, “Adeste Fideles (O, Come All Ye Faithful)”, “Jingle Bells”, and “The First Noel”.
“Jingle Bell Rock” and “Let’s Light the Christmas Tree” were released in time for the Christmas season. “Let’s Light the Christmas Tree” was a regional favorite in the Cincinnati , Ohio area. It then gained enough national play to make it to Billboard’s top 100 records in December. In 1958 “Jingle Bell Rock” by Bobby Helms hit the top of the Christmas charts.
Our teenage idol in 1957 was Elvis Presley. He had a hit album with a lot of hit songs. They included “Blue Christmas”, I’ll Be Home For Christmas”, “It Won’t Seem Like Christmas Without You”, “Silent Night”, “Winter Wonderland”, and “Here Comes Santa Claus”. (I was stationed at Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines that Christmas and “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” broke me up every time I heard it played on the base radio station. The weather was the same in both places (warm) but the friends in North Miami I really missed.)
Judy Garland had a hit with “Happy New Year” with the adults. It was on her album “Alone”. (I never remembered it back then and I was a Judy Garland fan).
Decorated horse-drawn carriages, advertising local stores, traveled up and down New York ’s Fifth Avenue during the holiday season.
The Sears book was the way millions of Americans did their holiday shopping back then. Just pick out what you need, call in the order and answer the door when the Sears delivery man showed up.
The Ford Fairlane Skyliner convertible was made in 1957. It was so unique that the very first car made was presented to then President Eisenhower. (That was the second car that I owned and yes it was also a convertible as I was stationed in California at that time. I later brought a Ford Fairlane 500 at Hollywood Ford in Hollywood , Florida and it was the car that I owned when I got married in 1966).
Queen Elizabeth’s Christmas message was televised this year for the first time from her study at Sandringham Castle .
1958:
First Lady Mamie Eisenhower ordered 27 different decorated Christmas trees for the different rooms in the White House.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower was the first recorded Christmas message heard from space. Eisenhower said “To all mankind, America ’s wish for Peace on Earth and Good Will to Men Everywhere.
Bob Hope’s annual USO tour was to the Far East again. This time he had with him Jayne Mansfields, Hedda Hopper ( Hollywood gossip columnist) and Carol Jarvis. The show was taped and later shown on national television.
Balanchine’s “The Nutcracker” ballet was shown in color on prime-time television for the first time.
“The Adventures of Long John Silver” had a special television show that was called “The Orphan’s Christmas”. It was very different from the regular weekly television show in the series.
Among the popular toys for the younger kids were Ginny and Jill dolls. For boys it was the Alamo set, the all-metal Fort Apache set, wood burner set and the Wilson A2000 baseball mitt.
WHAM-O sold more than 25 million hula hoops in its first year. It was a great gift but very hard to disguise when you wrapped it.
All of the kids loved the View Master. In 1958, the Model F was introduced; it used C-cell batteries to power an internal lighting source. The disks had been produced for Disneyland and many other TV shows, movies and the U.S. military (for airplane/ship identification and range estimation).
Bobs Candies, the producer of peppermint candy canes, refined a machine first developed by Father Harding Keller, a Catholic priest, to automatically bend candy canes and the candy cane became a staple in most homes during the holiday season.
Harry Simeone Chorale had a wonderful hit with “The Little Drummer Boy”.  The Norman Luboff Choir sang “O Tannenbaum”, “Deck the Halls”, “Joy to the World” and “The Holly and the Ivy”.
Johnny Mathis was the teenage craze in 1958. He made a tremendous Christmas album that included “Winter Wonderland”, The Christmas Song”, “O Holy Night” and “It Came upon a Midnight Clear” that got a lot of air time. I still play my Johnny Mathis album every Christmas season It is now transferred to a CD. I’m sure Bonnie Meier-who is a very big fan of Johnny Mathis does also).
Perry Como had a hit with “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas”. Other hits were “Jingle Bell Rock” by Bobby Helms, Johnny Mathis’ “Winter Wonderland” and Brenda Lee’s “Papa Noel” and her “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree”. Stan Freberg had a smash comedy hit with “Green Chri$tma$” and who can forget Chuck Berry’s “Run Rudolph Run”.
“The Chipmung Song” became the only Christmas song in American history to be number one on December 25.
1959:
The new rage was flocking our own Christmas tree. A few years later in the mid 1960’s they were being done professionally and the going rate was $40-50.00.
Wisconsin ’s Aluminum Specialty Company began manufacturing aluminum Christmas trees to capitalize on the fad. They were a big hit in the warmer climates like Florida , Southern California , Arizona and Hawaii . Today those original Christmas trees are collector’s items.
Neiman Marcus offered in its unique and famous Christmas catalog a Black Angus steer that could be delivered alive or as steaks, complete with a silver-plated cooker. The response was tremendous. The following year the "His and Her" gifts gained fame the following year with a pair of Beechcraft airplanes. Renowned journalist Edward R. Murrow (and his then-assistant, Walter Cronkite) soon made a point of calling Mr. Marcus directly each year thereafter to learn about the latest outrageous "His and Her" gift. A world-famous retailing phenomenon was born.
The Barbie doll was introduced and in a few years it became one of the Christmas gifts that young girls requested as a Christmas gift. (I brought them for both my own daughter and my granddaughter over the years).
Better Homes and Garden magazine printed a special Christmas issue that sold for $1.29. It had a large section on what we could make to decorate our homes from ribbons, thread spools, egg carton, pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and terry cloth. Many of our South Florida families made a “Candy Wreath” that year with fresh green branches, a big red ribbon and assorted candies like candy cane. Some also included a sprig of mistletoe. Also the instructions to make toy soldiers and dolls.
The Queen of England’s Christmas Broadcast in 1959 took the form of a prerecorded radio message instead of a television broadcast. The Queen was pregnant with her third child, Prince Andrew, who was born the following February.
Songwriter Johnny Marks penned two more Christmas songs this year. They were “A Merry, Merry Christmas to You” and “The Santa Claus Parade”. Perry Como also had two new hits with his “Here We Come A-Caroling” and the long lasting “We Wish You a Merry Christmas”.
As teen-agers we loved to hear Connie Francis see “The Christmas Song”, Baby’s First Christmas”, “The Lord’s Prayer”, “Ave Maria”, “The Twelve Days of Christmas”, I’ll Be Home For Christmas”, “Silent Night”, “Winter Wonderland” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”.
Brook Benton’s had a hit with the song called “This Time of Year”. It made it to number 12 on the Billboard charts. I still hear it a few times every holiday season on Salt Lake City ’s “oldies” station.