aplacecalledmerrymount: A Place with History: September 1951

Before Ray Self passed away, he told me that he cut short pieces of hose pipe and embedded them in concrete to designate the month and year that the concrete block garage at Merry Mount was completed.

Garage today

Now, sixty-nine years later, I am curious to look back at what life was like in September 1951. Here are a few facts.

Charles L. Woliver and Dorsey Lou Justice were on their honeymoon in Folly Beach, South Carolina after having gotten married on August 31, 1951. A year and a month later, on October 6, 1952, their first-born son, Charles Patrick Woliver, was born.

Charles and Dorsey Lou Woliver

Average Cost of new house - $9.000.00 -
Average wages per year - $3,700.00 -
Cost of a gallon of Gas - 19 cents -
Average Cost of a new car - $1,500.00 -
Loaf of Bread - 16 cents.

Unemployment dipped to 3.3% in the US and new roads were built to take the ever-increasing numbers of cars including the New Jersey Turnpike. The average family income was $3,700 per year and people had money to spend so cars became more luxurious and had more powerful engines with options for two tone paint, during this time things like turn signals were still an extra and most drivers still used hand signals to tell other drivers which way they were turning. Television continued to grow with popular programs like "I Love Lucy". Children were provided piano and guitar lessons and sets of Encyclopedias to improve their minds.

President Harry S Truman fires General Douglas MacArthur as commander of United Nations Forces.

United Nations forces recapture Seoul during the Korean War.

Cleveland Disc Jockey Alan Freed coins the term Rock N Roll.

The Dennis the Menace comic strip appears in newspapers across the U.S. for the first time.

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