This episode opens with a serious medical condition facing the nation: Infantile Paralysis, otherwise known as polio. The viewer sees a line of iron lungs bing moved down a corridor; we hear about the Mothers' March Against Polio; we hear from Dr. Jonas Salk, who with his team of researchers, developed the Salk vaccine; actress Helen Hayes, who lost a daughter to the disease; three students who were inoculated in the first field test, Marilyn Bandell, Michael Rosenfield, and Donald Rosenbloom; and Elaine Whilelan, head of the March of Dimes. Dr. Salk's dead virus vaccine laid the groundwork for Dr. Albert Sabin's live oral vaccine. There were no government controls at that time, so testing moved at a faster pace.
Music was breaking its own barriers. The popular songs were about love ("Seceret Love," "Young at Heart," "When The Moon Hits Your Eye Like A Big Pizza Pie...") which were termed MOR --- middle of the road. Then came rhythm and blues and country western. The combination of R&B and CW brought R&R --- Rock and Roll. We see Bill Haley and the Comets doing James E. Myers' biggest hit, "Rock Around The Clock." It was Alan Freed who termed it rock and roll. Hollywood got into it wish Marlon Brando, leather jacket and all, and rock and roll music in "The Wild One." James E. Keyes and the Chords released Sha-Boom," but it didn't do too well. He felt that the "sha-boom" echoed the sound the bombs made when detonated. There was much H-bomb testing in those days. Johnny Perkins and the Chords tweaked the song a little bit and it became a big hit.
That moved the show into a segment on H-bomb testing in the Marshall Islands. Bernard O'Keefe was one who pushed the button at one time. He says they didn't do countdowns back then. Clips of Lyndon Johnson, Dwight Eisenhower and Bishop Fulton Sheen were shown making comments about the testing. Although safety was a prime concern in the testing, many people were affected because of a wind shift which sent radiation in the wrong direction. This activity brought about some box office activity with shows like Creature From The Black Lagoon, Them, and the Japanese film Godzilla.
The sports scene was quiet this episode with only a small portion given to Roger Bannister beating the four minute mile (3:59.4) and the beginning of Sports Illustrated after a trial issue called Minorx.
Since ABC had almost no daytime programming, it put on the (Eugene) McCarthy Senate Hearings which lasted 36 days. The whole point was to search for communists in the army and the state department. He was very harsh and mean. It was his use of a "doctored" picture which began his downfall.
And then there was the Brown v. (Topeka) Board of Education ruling by the Supreme Court concerning "separate, but equal" school policies which had been on the books since 1856. Earl Warren was the Chief Justice. There were no dissenters on the ruling. A popular television program for children was Ding Dong School. The color of the children at that school made no difference to anyone. Linda Brown, her mother, Charles Scott, the Topeka lawyer, and Dr. Frank Wilson, the school Principal, all gave an account.
On television: Ozzie and Harriet, Dragnet, Superman, Burns & Allen, Jack Benny, Liberace, the commercial showing a peach being shaved with an electric razor, and the last of the weekly "Your Show of Shows" (Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca, Carl Reiner) because it was too expensive to produce. (Married people slept in separate beds in those days, too!)
Miscellany, and there is a lot this time: ***#1 song: "Little Things Mean A Lot" ***#1 non-fiction best seller: The Holy Bible ***Robert Zimmerman (Bob Dylan) was Bar Mitzvahed ***Patricia Kennedy and Peter Lawford were married ***First transistor radio ***First two-seater sports car - the Corvette ***RCA was the first color TV...cost about $1,000. ***Swanson TV dinners ***Books: Life Is Worth Living (Bishop Fulton Sheen), The Power Of Positive Thinking (Dr. Norman Vincent Peale) ***Arturo Toscanini conducted his final concert ***Gangster Frank Costello was sent to prison for 5 years for tax evasion ***Dwight Eisenhower authorized the building of the Air Force Acadamy ***"Pajama Game" opened on Broadway ***Audrey Hepburn got best actress for "Roman Holiday" ***Johnny Carson made network debut with the game show Earn Your Vacation ***The tomb of Pharoah Cheops was uncovered
Music was breaking its own barriers. The popular songs were about love ("Seceret Love," "Young at Heart," "When The Moon Hits Your Eye Like A Big Pizza Pie...") which were termed MOR --- middle of the road. Then came rhythm and blues and country western. The combination of R&B and CW brought R&R --- Rock and Roll. We see Bill Haley and the Comets doing James E. Myers' biggest hit, "Rock Around The Clock." It was Alan Freed who termed it rock and roll. Hollywood got into it wish Marlon Brando, leather jacket and all, and rock and roll music in "The Wild One." James E. Keyes and the Chords released Sha-Boom," but it didn't do too well. He felt that the "sha-boom" echoed the sound the bombs made when detonated. There was much H-bomb testing in those days. Johnny Perkins and the Chords tweaked the song a little bit and it became a big hit.
That moved the show into a segment on H-bomb testing in the Marshall Islands. Bernard O'Keefe was one who pushed the button at one time. He says they didn't do countdowns back then. Clips of Lyndon Johnson, Dwight Eisenhower and Bishop Fulton Sheen were shown making comments about the testing. Although safety was a prime concern in the testing, many people were affected because of a wind shift which sent radiation in the wrong direction. This activity brought about some box office activity with shows like Creature From The Black Lagoon, Them, and the Japanese film Godzilla.
The sports scene was quiet this episode with only a small portion given to Roger Bannister beating the four minute mile (3:59.4) and the beginning of Sports Illustrated after a trial issue called Minorx.
Since ABC had almost no daytime programming, it put on the (Eugene) McCarthy Senate Hearings which lasted 36 days. The whole point was to search for communists in the army and the state department. He was very harsh and mean. It was his use of a "doctored" picture which began his downfall.
And then there was the Brown v. (Topeka) Board of Education ruling by the Supreme Court concerning "separate, but equal" school policies which had been on the books since 1856. Earl Warren was the Chief Justice. There were no dissenters on the ruling. A popular television program for children was Ding Dong School. The color of the children at that school made no difference to anyone. Linda Brown, her mother, Charles Scott, the Topeka lawyer, and Dr. Frank Wilson, the school Principal, all gave an account.
On television: Ozzie and Harriet, Dragnet, Superman, Burns & Allen, Jack Benny, Liberace, the commercial showing a peach being shaved with an electric razor, and the last of the weekly "Your Show of Shows" (Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca, Carl Reiner) because it was too expensive to produce. (Married people slept in separate beds in those days, too!)
Miscellany, and there is a lot this time: ***#1 song: "Little Things Mean A Lot" ***#1 non-fiction best seller: The Holy Bible ***Robert Zimmerman (Bob Dylan) was Bar Mitzvahed ***Patricia Kennedy and Peter Lawford were married ***First transistor radio ***First two-seater sports car - the Corvette ***RCA was the first color TV...cost about $1,000. ***Swanson TV dinners ***Books: Life Is Worth Living (Bishop Fulton Sheen), The Power Of Positive Thinking (Dr. Norman Vincent Peale) ***Arturo Toscanini conducted his final concert ***Gangster Frank Costello was sent to prison for 5 years for tax evasion ***Dwight Eisenhower authorized the building of the Air Force Acadamy ***"Pajama Game" opened on Broadway ***Audrey Hepburn got best actress for "Roman Holiday" ***Johnny Carson made network debut with the game show Earn Your Vacation ***The tomb of Pharoah Cheops was uncovered
