Average Cost of new house $12,700.00
Average Monthly Rent $98.00
Cost of a gallon of Gas 25 cents
23 inch Television $219.95
Average Cost of a new car $2,600.00
Piaggio / Vespa Scooter $319.95
Can of Beef Ravioli 30 cents
Loaf of Bread 20 cents
Men's Electric Shaver $20.30
Polaroid Land Camera $93.45
The latest in Danish contemporary furniture for the 60's home Danish Contemporary Living Room Furniture $350.00
1960 The cold war continued to become colder as the two sides distrusted the other more and tried to influence other parts of the world. John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson won the Presidency with one of the smallest margins in history ( 113,000 votes ) out of 68.3 million.
The "Flintstones" is shown on television for the first time and movies this year include "The Magnificent Seven" and "Psycho" .
Notable technical achievements include the invention of the Laser and a Heart Pacemaker.
France tests its first atomic bomb and joins those countries with nuclear bomb technology.
Notable names that appear in the limelight that year include "Cassius Clay" and "Sir Francis Chichester" .
The US sends the first troops to Vietnam following the French withdrawal in 1954 in the fight against communist North Vietnam.
Cost of Living 1961
Average Cost of new house $12,500.00
Average Income per year $5,315.00
Cost of a gallon of Gas 27 cents
Average Cost of a new car $2,850.00
Bacon for 1 lb 67 cents
Eggs per dozen 30 cents
1961 The cold war continued to worsen with the USSR exploding some very large bombs during testing and then masterminding the building of the Berlin Wall separating East from West Berlin, America sent a battle group to Germany and Americans and Russians Glared at each other across the border, due to this uncertainty many Americans built backyard fallout shelters in case of nuclear war. To make matters worse the Americans financed anti-Castro Cubans for an invasion at the bay of pigs which was an unmitigated disaster.
The Soviets put the first man in space on April 12th Yuri Gagarin followed by the US in May with Alan Shepard.
Popular music included Chubby Checker's “Pony Time” and “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” by the Shirelles, and top movies included "West Side Story" and "The Parent Trap.
Ref: the People History
top teenage movie stars Sandra dee and bobbie daren
ReplyDeleteRhonda, Its amazing that you were able to summarize all of that in just a short write up. I think I learned more from your blog entry than I did in my school text book about the 1960s. Hopefully teachers are doing more in Social Studies to teach this properly than what I got. Due to budget cuts in the 1990s, my school did not push for social science because our teachers ran over their time slots for math and science. Sounds like this might still be the case today.
ReplyDeleteGood idea sharing this info! I'm looking forward to Melody's release! I wish they'd give us a date already! I also wish AG would go back to illustrated books containing a history lesson at the end with real life photographs. I don't think kids will learn as much about the times of BeForever characters as they did or would have the classic historical characters. I miss all the old books & paper items, especially those World Books, now they were informative!...
ReplyDeleteAnother fun fact about 1961, it's the year Disney released 101 Dalmatians, one of my favorites, & my mom was born that year too :)
The cost of a new car was a little over half the average household income and the cost of a new house was only a little over double. Now you need two incomes just to pay bills.
ReplyDeleteI know I'm showing my "old" but I'm ok with that.
Thank you, Rhonda! I am now feeling far out ancient! I was born in 1960. LOL!
ReplyDeleteIt really doesn't seem that far away; wait until you get to age 56 and you will know exactly what I mean. My parents bought a brand new home in 1963 for $14,500. Now that exact same home here in Vancouver BC is worth $1,400,000. It's ridiculous to say the least. Thanks for the informative post.
That is a great return on investment! Madelon
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