Speaking of jewelry, these aren’t your grandmother’s pearls. Adding a long strand of pearls can perfectly finish an outfit. While 1952 saw simple, short pearl necklaces as the fashion, we’ve modernized the look with a little length. Put a couple gold chains with the pearls, then try it with a jeans and cardigan outfit for just a touch of elegance.

The movie world brought us a couple big hits. “Singing In the Rain” and “High Noon”.

Starring Gene Kelly, “Singing In the Rain” is one of the all time best musicals. Think about it…even reading the title makes you want to sing the song.

“High Noon” was the movie that put Grace Kelly on the movie map. The blonde ingénue was born to be a princess, first on the silver screen and then a true princess when she married Prince Rainier of Monaco. “High Noon” remains one of the greatest Grace Kelly movies and greatest classics of all time.

Slang in the fifties wasn’t overly exciting but we still use some of it today. “Cool” is usually associated with the 70s but it actually started being used as slang in the 50s. “Boss” meant great. Sometimes television shows today rip on that particular slang having characters use “boss”, “mint”, and “dope”. I like “mint” myself. A more fun slang was used for people making out in their car…”backseat bingo”. Of course, if you were making out with someone else’s girlfriend you were “cruisin’ for a bruisin’”. My personal favorite is to tell someone to “D.D.T.” (Drop Dead Twice), that part isn’t so nice but the common response was “What, and look like you?” Our pattern of calling dibs started in the 50s too. “Meanwhile, back at the ranch” reminded people to shorten their stories while “razzing your berries” meant you really were impressed. Cool, right?

Queen Elizabeth on the day of her coronation.

There were some major moments in history in the fifties that changed the world as we know it today. In 1952, the Today show premiered on NBC, it still airs to this day. In England, on February 6th, Elizabeth II became Queen of England and remains the current queen today. 1952 also substantially defined the Cold War and the nuclear arms race. While it had begun earlier and would continue for years to come, 1952 saw major countries announcing their own possession of nuclear weapons, throwing the Cold War into the public eye. Canada got television for the first time in September of 1952 when the CBC aired. November saw the opening of “The Mousetrap” an Agatha Christie play that is the longest running play in history. It plays at the St. Martin’s Theatre in London.

The Mousetrap is still playing at St Martin’s.

The Mousetrap is still playing at St Martin’s.

Anne Frank

Anne Frank

Great books were written and published in 1952. “The Diary of Anne Frank”, to this day one of the most well-read memoirs from World War II was published. The classic children’s books, “The Borrowers”, “Charlotte’s Web”, and others were published. “The Bridge over the River Kwai” which would later be made into one of the greatest classic movies came out as did “Invisible Man”. “Shiloh” is a Civil War novel that used to be required reading in American schools and really still should be. Steinbeck released “East of Eden” and Hemingway brought the world “The Old Man and the Sea”. Finally, CS Lewis’s “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” was published in 1952. The movie version will be released this year.

Voyage of the Dawn Treader

1952 wasn’t a big music year for individual artists & bands. Perhaps the biggest song was Jimmy Boyd’s recording of “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus”. It was however, a big year for music as an industry. You might have heard of this little thing called the Billboard charts…that started in 1958. But in 1952, NME started the UK Singles Chart, the first music rankings ever. The idea became so popular, the Billboard charts followed a few years later. The rest, as they say, is history.