My Look Back: 1955

Photo from Flickr Creative Commons by anyjazz65

Back in May I did a look back to 1958 in honor of my mom's birthday. Now I'm looking three years earlier, at 1955, the year my dad was born.  As we near the holiday season, shopping is inevitably an activity that follows suit.  Although I love to do some shopping, it can be somewhat of a hassle when the crowds get large and the parking lots are full.  Oh what I would give to just be able to stroll my way through an afternoon of shopping on a wide thouroughfare with a couple of friends and my billowy, circle skirt.  On such a shopping trip in 1955 you might be able to find the following in stores and in your town for the very first time:

• Pillsbury Chocolate Angel Food Cake Mix
• One of the first mass marketed microwave ovens for the home manufactured by the Tappan Stove Company (it retailed for $1,295, yikes!)
• You would have found Disneyland in your town if your town happened to be Anaheim, California
• The Ford Thunderbird
• The Village Voice
• McDonald's as we know it today (although it's history dates back to 1940)
• Marty McFly (if you were strolling down Main street on November 12th 1955)
• Johnson and Johnson Baby Shampoo
• The 1955 Les Paul Goldtop Wraptail
• The Motorola Logo as we know it today.  In June of 1955 the stylized 'M' logo was first introduced signifying "the progressive leadership-minded outlook of the company"