64
votes
Why, in old movies and TV series, do they always use such extremely exaggerated wheel turns when driving a car?
In old cars you had to turn the wheel a lot further, because there was no power steering. For a feel of that, push a car when the engine is dead and try to steer it without engine assistance (it's ...
- 13.8k
59
votes
Did they actually have "mushroom cloud tourist attraction" to Nevada Test Site in the 1950s?
Yes. There are many articles supporting this claim. Here's one from Bloomberg:
For four decades, the U.S. Department of Energy tested more than a thousand nuclear devices at the Nevada Test Site, a ...
- 1,553
46
votes
Why, in old movies and TV series, do they always use such extremely exaggerated wheel turns when driving a car?
In addition to the points that Maury Markowitz described, another factor was the large amount of free play in many car steering systems of that era.
I was a young kid in the late 1950s, and I ...
- 537
40
votes
Accepted
Was there a tax in the fifties for British citizens traveling abroad?
Currency restrictions existed between 1939 and 1979.
The main goal of these restrictions after 1945 was to insure that enough foreign exchange was available to finance needed imports from non-sterling ...
- 9,014
36
votes
Did they actually have "mushroom cloud tourist attraction" to Nevada Test Site in the 1950s?
In regards the secondary question, namely
Am I missing something here?
Yes; absolutely. You have neglected both the shielding effect of the 65 miles of air between Las Vegas and the bomb explosions, ...
- 71.3k
29
votes
Why were kitchen work surfaces in Sweden apparently so low before the 1950s or so?
Why were apparently kitchens so low in Sweden before the 1950s or so?
This may be the same thing everywhere else as well. It's just that I have only heard it in Swedish context.
Before the ...
- 9,014
26
votes
Why were kitchen work surfaces in Sweden apparently so low before the 1950s or so?
Three thoughts:
I doubt that people somehow suddenly got significantly taller in Sweden in the first half of the 20th century.
As a comment already points out, people did get substantially taller.
...
18
votes
Why, in old movies and TV series, do they always use such extremely exaggerated wheel turns when driving a car?
turning the wheel wildly to the left and right
For the very simple reason that they could not see the images. So you get them to make random motions, because steering straight while the scenery is ...
- 337
9
votes
Did they actually have "mushroom cloud tourist attraction" to Nevada Test Site in the 1950s?
For another account on the (this time informed) contemporary attitude, read Richard Feynman's book Los Alamos from Below published here in full or quoted here.
The gist is, he figured that at 20 miles ...
- 213
9
votes
What percentage of people were acquitted in "Stalin's trials"
What were "Stalin's trials"?
If you want to limit the discussion to the few "show trials", like Шахтинское дело or "Московские процессы" (1, 2, 3), you can compute that ...
- 26.7k
9
votes
How can there be a "final edition" of a morning paper, in the morning?
Yes. Earlier editions were run for home delivery (often arriving at homes around 5AM) and later editions for newsstands. For East Coast papers, there would be major differences between the two in ...
- 4,214
8
votes
Possible history behind photograph related to 1962 Sino-Indian War
I'd say, from the partial emblem on the front, that the aircraft was part of the USAF 322d Airlift Division (Combat Cargo) in 1962-3.
According to this article the "[322 Air Division] sent a ...
- 4,717
7
votes
Why, in old movies and TV series, do they always use such extremely exaggerated wheel turns when driving a car?
Other answers are correct when mentioning the absence of power steering at the time and the fact that the actor/actress ‘driving’ could not see the screen behind them, but budget and time constraints ...
- 107k
7
votes
How common was drug abuse and related deaths in the USA during the conservative 1950s?
In the 1950s, drug abuse took place day and night in millions of middle-class bathrooms. The medicine cabinets of average white Americans featured dangerous, highly addictive, 100% legal drugs ...
- 91
6
votes
Date this Jubilee Day photo
The many cues to observe:
Picture quality
Although it might be even higher resolution and a better scan: depth of field, focus, shadows etc point to an overall technology that's more late than ...
6
votes
Why were kitchen work surfaces in Sweden apparently so low before the 1950s or so?
The discovery that people work best at a waist-high workspace was one of the discoveries of efficiency experts working in factories in the late 19th century.
It was brought to the kitchen by Christine ...
- 2,058
5
votes
Accepted
How could someone avoid US military service in the early 1950's?
According to "Military Classifications for Draftees" compiled by the Swarthmore College Peace Collection, the following situations could get you out of military service during the Korean War:
1. ...
- 1,476
5
votes
How common was drug abuse and related deaths in the USA during the conservative 1950s?
Well, drugs and drug abuse has been around since the beginning of man, of that I am positive. In the Victorian era, for instance, addiction to laudanum was a major thing. Mary Todd Lincoln (the First ...
- 3,606
5
votes
Accepted
Who coined the term "Golden Age" in reference to musical theatre?
The earliest use of Golden Age with reference to musical theatre in general which I've been able to find is in this May 3rd 1977 New York Times review by Clive Barnes of a revival of The King and I ...
- 107k
5
votes
Was there a tax in the fifties for British citizens traveling abroad?
Just to precisely answer the question,
Was there a British tax for British citizens staying abroad in the fifties?
No, there was absolutely no tax.
The line of dialog is referring to the limit on ...
- 167
5
votes
Did teenagers in the USA in the 1960s and 1950s really engage in dangerous, reckless driving to this extent?
I think that this is quite a pertinent and interesting question. Depending on one's location, Americans may seem to have a 'natural' predisposition towards cars and using them. However, this ...
- 10.7k
4
votes
What is my grandfather's shoulder patch?
The patch looks like its from the 52nd Armored Infantry Battalion, matching the " Co C 52d AIB" from the papers.
It was redesignated for the 52d Armored Infantry Regiment on 29 September ...
- 80.2k
4
votes
Why did the USA ever test nukes on their own soil?
Perhaps you are not familiar with the US West? Even today (and more so in the 1940s & 50s) there are places where you can be miles and miles (substitute km if desired) away from anything much ...
- 2,895
4
votes
How common was drug abuse and related deaths in the USA during the conservative 1950s?
Two short answers:
1) By today's standards, "not a lot."
2) By the standards of the preceding decades, "a lot." That's because the 1950s represented the "dawn" of today's drug culture.
"...
- 104k
3
votes
What does a black cloth on your upper left arm mean in the context of 1950s USA?
Those are typically worn to designate mourning in Western culture. However, its very rare to see them on anyone other than a man who has just or is just about to attend a funeral, usually as one of ...
- 115k
3
votes
Did they actually have "mushroom cloud tourist attraction" to Nevada Test Site in the 1950s?
I just wanted to add this link to what has been said. Yes, the mindset was that radiation from the bombs was not as dangerous. If you want proof of there, here is a youtube video of five army guys ...
- 39
2
votes
Did they actually have "mushroom cloud tourist attraction" to Nevada Test Site in the 1950s?
There's an important social aspect to this that hasn't been addressed so far. Until August 1949, when the USSR performed its first nuclear test, the atom bomb was the source and symbol of the USA's ...
- 30.4k
2
votes
Did teenagers in the USA in the 1960s and 1950s really engage in dangerous, reckless driving to this extent?
Since this touches on something that affects all countries, I'm going to answer it with statistics from another country: Reported Road Casualties UK.
You can see that last year, 1800 people died in ...
- 13.8k
2
votes
Did teenagers in the USA in the 1960s and 1950s really engage in dangerous, reckless driving to this extent?
America has historically been a young people oriented society that celebrated a youth culture. This youth culture has taken different turns at various times, depending on its intersection with ...
- 104k
2
votes
Date this Jubilee Day photo
It was taken about 1970, if you believe The Pram Museum, since the baby stroller in the right foreground is a Columbia Tuk-A-Way (USA manufacturer).
Although, here's an ad for the same stroller ...
- 121
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible