You are here -> HOME – RETROVILLE – 1958
Welcome to Retroville! It’s 1958!
IN THE NEWS:
- Our Lady of Angels School in Chicago, IL, goes up in flames trapping students and teachers leaving 90 students and 5 nuns dead
- Khrushchev becomes Soviet Premier when Bulganin resigns
- General Charles deGaulle becomes French Premier
- The first telephone modem is introduced
- Gordon Gould invents the LASER
- Jack Kilby and Robert Nyoce invent the integrated circuit
- Explorer I (the first US Earth satellite) goes into orbit and sends back signals about the Van Allen Belt
- NY Yankees defeat Milwaukee Braves to take the World Series
- Bobby Fischer becomes the youngest chess champion in history
ON THE RADIO:
- Couple Next Door
- Fibber McGee and Molly
- Frontier Gentleman
- Gunsmoke
- Have Gun Will Travel
- Luke Slaughter of Tombstone
- Suspense
- Yours Truly Johnny Dollar
ON TELEVISION:
- Peter Gunn
- An Evening With Fred Astaire
- 77 Sunset Strip
- The Rifleman
FADS & FASHION:
- Hula hoops
- Bouffant hairdos
- Billboard’s Hot 100 popular music lists
WHAT THINGS COST:
- Car: $2,200
- Gasoline: 30 cents per gallon
- House: $18,000
- Bread: 19 cents per loaf
- Milk: $1.01 per gallon
- Postage Stamp: 4 cents
- Average Annual Salary: $5,500
- Minimum Wage: $1.00 per hour
ACADEMY AWARD – BEST PICTURE:
- Gigi – a musical by Vincente Minnelli starring Leslie Caron and Maurice Chevalier
TONY AWARD – BEST MUSICAL:
- The Music Man – based on the book by Meredith Willson, lyrics and music by Meredith Willson, choreographed by Onna White, starring Robert Preston and Barbara Cook
PULITZER PRIZES:
- A Death in the Family by James Agee (fiction)
- Look Homeward, Angel by Ketti Frings (drama)
- Banks and Politics in America by Bray Hammond (history)
- George Washington by Douglas Southall Freeman, John Alexander Carroll, and Mary Wells Ashworth (biography)
- Promises: Poems by Robert Penn Warren (poetry)
NOBEL PEACE PRIZE:
- Georges Pire, Belgium, 1910-1969, Dominican, head of the aid organization for refugees, L’Europe du Coeur au Service du Monde
TOP SONGS:
- It’s All in the Game by Tommy Edwards
- Sugartime by McGuire Sisters
- Tom Dooley by The Kingston Trio
- At The Hop by Danny and The Juniors
- The Purple People Eater by Sheb Wooley
- All I Have to Do Is Dream by The Everly Brothers
- Tequila by The Champs
- Witchdoctor by David Seville (and the Chipmunks)
- To Know Him is to Love Him by The Teddy Bears
- Poor Little Fool by Ricky Nelson
- Get a Job by The Silhouettes
- Donna by Richie Valens
- Smoke Gets in Your Eyes by The Platters
- Sixteen Candles by The Crests
- I Wonder Why by Dion and The Belmonts
- Yakety Yak by The Coasters
- The Stroll by The Diamonds
- Breathless by Jerry Lee Lewis
- Splish Splash by Bobby Darin
- Lonely Teardrops by Jackie Wilson
- Tears on my Pillow by Little Anthony and The Imperials
- Little Star by The Elegants
- Maybe Baby by Buddy Holly
- Chantilly Lace by The Big Bopper
- It’s Only Make Believe by Conway Twitty
- Speedo by The Cadillacs
- Who’s Sorry Now by Connie Francis
- You Are My Destiny by Paul Anka
- Summertime Blues by Eddie Cochran
