Who's Afraid of the Big Bad World?
As we were nearing our final years of elementary school, the world at large came into sharper focus because of a recession. Car sales plummeted by more than 30%, unemployment rose, and (to everyone's surprise) consumer prices simultaneously increased. Many of our parents felt uneasy. As some lost their jobs, the rest worried: "What if prices keep going up and I lose my job, too?"
1958 Edsel Corsair coupe
The Edsel became the unintended symbol of the 1957-1958 recession
pinterest.com
The recession did not last long, but it was the most severe post-war recession until the 1970s. Its lasting casualties would be mourned in Detroit, as Hudson, Nash, Packard, DeSoto, and Edsel were doomed. All but the last enjoyed customer loyalty to the end, but they no longer had enough customers to be profitable. Smaller cars, led by Volkswagen, had gained lasting footholds in the U.S.
Davy Crockett and Mickey Mouse Club played their parts in our childhood, but so did "take cover" drills. One day, while crouching under my desk (i.e., to dodge hypothetical flying shards of window glass caused by shock waves from distant nuclear blasts), I heard a fellow student observe, "Of course, we'd all die from radiation anyway."
The Korean War - oops, Conflict - ceased before we learned much about it. I don't think we were taught much about the war at Lee Avenue, but I read an overview in a comic book in the barber shop at Allied. Obviously, it had been published to drum up popular support for the UN effort. Incidentally, while checking facts as I wrote this, I learned that when Ted Williams was activated for his second war, and flew fighters over Korea as a Marine, he was chosen to fly alongside someone whose name was later in the news a great deal.
John Glenn and Ted Williams, his wingman in Korea
military.com
In addition to Korea, there still were the Cold War, combat in Suez and in Algeria, and guerilla fighting in Budapest; moreover, the U.S. had begun advising / training South Vietnamese troops. When we visited UN headquarters on school trips, it seemed too tranquil a place to belong to the world we heard about in the news.
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