AT HOME

In 1950 most pursuits were pleasurable, but the nation still confronted a peculiar problem. The military was being integrated, but public schools were not. McCarthyism was widespread in the news and on the street. Still, summertime was the season of fear for many as thousands became infected with the crippling disease poliomyelitis, or polio. What was the life that over a million and a half Americans left, and that most came back to during the Korean War years? Despite problems, the nation was in a good mood, happy to have won World War II, ready to hate communism, and many were thinking about having fun. For most, life was good. Five years after WW II, and used to not fighting, their pursuits had wandered in other directions. Prevailing concerns were not about an unknown war in an unknown place. Instead, people's lives were affected by industries shifting their energies from war, toward the development of home improvements and of everyday life technologies.