Back in 1952…

• • • Dwight Eisenhower was elected President of the United States
  • • That was the first time the elections were broadcast on TV
  • • Speaking of TV: I Love Lucy, Ozzie and Harriet, Jackie Gleason, Dina Shore, and George and Gracie were all hits
  • • Gasoline was 20¢ a gallon
  • • Jonas Salk developed a successful Polio vaccine at the University of Pittsburgh
  • • Ernest Hemingway published The Old Man and the Sea
  • • The average price of a Ford was $2,000
  • • That’s just over 20 grand in 2022 money. Things cost less back then.

• • • • Famous Births: Paul Stanley (Kiss), Terry O’Quinn (Lost), John Goodman (Roseanne), David Hasselhoff (Knight Rider), Mr. T
    • • The first Mr. Potato Head was sold
    • • You could easily buy a house for under $10,000
    • • That’s about 100 grand in 2022 money. Good luck with that.
    • • Chevrolet Corvette prototype completed, production models introduced the next year
    • • Princess Elizabeth coronated Queen of England
    • • Microwave ovens first sold for domestic use. They were the size of refrigerators.
    • • One pound of ground beef: 53¢
    • • The first contraceptive pill was created
    • • The Yankees beat Brooklyn in the World Series
    • • A loaf of bread cost 12¢
    • • The Greatest Show on Earth, High Noon, and Limelight were at the box office
    • • The Olympics were held in Helsinki, Finland

• • • • • Postage stamps cost 3¢
      • • The Today Show premiered on NBC
      • • Construction began on the first nuclear submarine U.S.S. Nautilus
      • • A hamburger at McDonald’s cost 15¢
      • • The Korean War was still a thing
      • • But Color TV wasn’t
      • • And ball point pens hadn’t caught on yet
      • • Long distance phone calls existed, and cost about 50¢ per minute to call New York from Philadelphia
      • • If you think that’s bad, it cost $2.50 per minute to call California from New York
      • • Puerto Rico became a Commonwealth of the U.S.
      • • T-Bone Steak: 59¢ per pound

• • • • • • The first commercial jet aircraft entered service
        • • More Famous Births: Patrick Swayze, Christopher Reeve, Jeff Goldblum, Mandy Patinkin
        • • Everybody smoked, and cigarettes cost about 25¢ per pack
        • • The first successful artificial heart was transplanted
        • • The first B-52 Stratofortress took to the skies
        • • My mom was born on February 11th in Lebanon, Pennsylvania – Happy Birthday Mom!