Sports & Games

Sherilyn

In the 1950s, sport had become increasing important due to the growing young population from the baby boomer of previous generation in World War II. The growing generation became increasing involve in sports to the extent that sports was a metaphor for life. At the same time, racial boundaries were lowered because of the numerous sports scandals. As years past higher and higher pressure were placed on children and amateurs, while sports industry were on the move to the western part of the nation with the people moving westward. Since the start of the 1950s, the most popular sports were baseball and college football, many watched games broadcasted on television. Then by the end of the 1950s the NFL and NBA dominated the sport channels. Even with American citizens enjoying their time, anti-communism came first and made sure the athletes were citizens and patriotic. Earning among the athletes were quite unfair, major leagues earn six times more than the normal population whereas the minor league earn lower and minimum wages. Problems with club owners and unheard athletic union laws only added to the problems for the athletes.

Meanwhile, “sports builds character” grew increasingly more powerful as the decade wore on. There were more and more awareness in wars as the American leaders needed to make sure youth were exercising; some of the programs opened up to enable that were President’s Council on Youth Fitness, Revival of “muscular Christianity”, Little League Baseball, Pop Warner Football, and Biddy Basketball.

In the post-WWII decade, women lost all of the power they have previously gained. So when the men came back from war, they needed stability, which basically brought women back to where they have started from. Although many agreed that “women did not need to worry about physical well-being” (Baughman the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was opened in 1943 however, it ended up failing, and girls were limited and  could not benefit from any sports participation.

In the 1950s there were numerous western expansion and mergers and by the end of the decade there were major franchises in California.  Also in with numerous problems and threats, in the 1949 to 1950 season NBA, the Basketball Association of America, and NBL, the National Basketball League, merged and taking on a larger quantity of sports. Before 1950s began the minor league baseball shrunk to the point it was barely half its original size.

The most useful and influential technology used at the time was the television; it had access to anywhere the sports team in the country. “Regional differences, loyalties, and rivalries broke down as America became a transcontinental nation.” (Baughman 2) Due the cheap air transportation people could easily visit places they saw on television. Some television shows such as quiz shows circled around scandals in sports; basketball, boxing, and professional wrestling.

The most reflective and insightful development in sports was desegregation and integrating the various sport teams. Jackie Robinson was the first black American to break the color in major league baseball, which then led to desegregation of nearly all sports by the end of the 1950s. Sports were an expression of American freedom. Even then, black Americans had to be better than white Americans to earn the same pay. An unspoken rule of no more than 49 percent of all the teams was African-American. When the media used black athletes to show how integrated sports were, integration had just begun.

Jackie Robinson

Games

Many toys were produced in the 1940s and most of them reached their height in the public in the 1950s. Hula hoop was one the most popular toy of the decade; it was lightweight, hollow with a brightly colored circular band. It originated from ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome. It was first introduced in 1957 by Wham-O Toy Company. It attracted by adults and kids who thought it looks like a hula dancer when they played with it. It was made out of a tough, heat-resistant plastic called Marlex. In 1958 it was the height of the hula hoop craze; contests were held everywhere to see who can hoop the longest time and how many they would twirl at the same time. However its popularity soon died out by the end of 1958.

In 1943 James Wright, an engineer for General Electric was conducting experiments and accidently found the bouncing putty, a moldable glob of silicone, “silicon-based material with very unusual properties” (Lane 2). Unfortunately there was no company that could find a good use of it, but in 1950 Ruth Fallgatter brought it up as a commercial success!

Slinky was a popular springy toy accidently found by an engineer named Richard James in 1943. Originally James was creating an anti- vibration device for ships’ instruments but when he found the “walked down” it immediately fascinated him and he showed it to his wife Betty, together they promoted it as a toy. Slinky first went on sale on Christmas 1945 at Gimbel’s Department Store in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and it sold very quickly. It attracted children and adults for its down step and slope. It was used in school to explain different wave forms, and forces, such as gravity and friction. For the military people they found it was a very good radio antenna. Other thought the arch form was good for holding letters and other paper materials. Slinky was overall one of the best-selling toys in America. And was part of every American’s childhood who’s born since World War II.

Another toy that was enjoyed by adults and children was the Frisbee. It started out at pie tins that became popular in California beaches, then it was marketed as the “Flyin’ Saucer” by Pipco company in the late 1940s but the first actual “Frisbee” was made by Wham-O Toy Company in 1957.

Slinky

Hula Hoop

Frisbee

Silly Putty

A3 1950s Rokicki