THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT 1953…..
These issues, events and cultural items are some of the underpinnings upon which the characters in “Under the Maidenhair” are sculpted.
* Queen Elizabeth II was crowned at Westminster Abbey
* Jonas Salk announced his polio vaccine
* 200 numbered & signed copies of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 were bound in asbestos
* How Much is the Doggie in the Window by Patti Page was a #1 hit song
* “You’ll wonder where the yellow went when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent”
* Arthur Holly Compton designed the modern speed bump
* The 1st transgender American woman, Christine Jorgensen, had a sex change operation in Denmark
* The TV dinner was launched by the Swanson Company
* Scrabble, Mrs Potato Head & Wiffle Ball were introduced by Matchbox (U.K.)
* Pressed leftovers from a french fry line were introduced as ‘Tater Tots’
* Coppertone Girl ads appeared in magazines across North American
* Triumph & Tragedy by Winston Churchill was a Book of the Month Club selection
* The World Population was ~ 2,732,000,000
* The word “frenemies” is coined, referring to US/Soviet relations
* Louis Saint Laurent was the Prime Minister of Canada
* Ernest Manning was the Premier of Alberta
* Dwight D. Eisenhower was the President of the United States