3. Consumer prices were far lower in the 1950s
In 1953 the national average price for gasoline at the pump was $.27 per gallon. Adjusted for inflation, that price is equivalent to $2.60 in 2020. The price of a gallon of milk in 1953 was around $.94, which equates to roughly $9.00 in 2020, making milk far more expensive in the 1950s than in today’s supermarkets. Men in 1953 had an average median income of $3,200 per year, with women lagging them by $2,000. How they spent those incomes changed drastically as the decade went on. In 1953 the railroads still dominated domestic travel, carrying over 46% of all travelers. By 1960 air and automobile travel surpassed the railroads, and more and more Americans vacationed by car. National Parks and public beaches replaced resorts and spas as travel destinations, driven by lower costs and the rapidly improving highway system.
The 1950s are often remembered as the heyday for small, mom-and-pop businesses, which thrived during the decade. The truth is the opposite. In 1950 the business failure rate stood at just over 34%. Over the next two years, the last of the Truman Administration, it declined slightly. Then it soared, climbing each year until it reached a height for the decade at nearly 56% in 1958. The fabled prosperity of the Eisenhower years is one of the long-standing myths about the 1950s. While many did enjoy prosperous times they were not universally shared, and farmers, in particular, suffered low prices for their produce. In many urban communities and in rural Appalachia grinding poverty was the norm, with little in the way of relief.