My Look Back: 1953

My grandparents have been married for 58 years this month, and in honor of the year they were married, I'm doing a look back to 1953.

• The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II took place on June 2nd, even though her grandmother, Queen Mary, passed away in March of that year (the picture above is of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip after their wedding on November 20, 1947).
• On January 19th over 70% of all of the television sets in the United States were tuned into I Love Lucy to watch Lucy Ricardo give birth (The real Lucille Ball gave birth to Desi Arnaz Jr. that same day).
• Peter Pan (Walt Disney Productions, 1953) premiered.
• Pat Benatar, Chaka Khan, Michael Bolton, Cyndi Lauper, Alfred Molina, Pierce Brosnan, and Tim Gunn were born.
• The Crucible made its premiere on Broadway.
• Playboy Magazine was published for the first time in December, with Marilyn Monroe on the cover.
• TV Guide also made it's debut in April.
• The Greatest Show on Earth (Paramount Pictures, 1952), starring Charlton Heston, Betty Hutton and James Stewart, won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
• A gallon of gas cost about $0.20 cents and the average home cost $9,550.00.
• The first color television sets started selling in the United States for $1,175.00!!
• Popular songs of the year included That's Amore by Dean Martin, Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes by Perry Como, and I've Got the World on a String by Frank Sinatra.
• The movie Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Twentieth Century Fox, 1953) was released (one of my favorites).

RCA's first color television set, Model CT-100

Photo from Cedmagic.com