The Fifties have a particular place in our collective imagination: the decade of elegance and sophistication, of the economic boom, of “the Golden Age” of radio, of the birth of rock and roll, of the beginnings of television, and the dawn of commercial air travel.
However, these iconic characteristics of the Fifties represent only one side of the decade, inspired by the bright and optimistic eagerness for change that spread all over Europe after the Second World War ended. The Cold War, the fear of a nuclear conflict, the authoritarian regimes in Spain and Portugal, a divided Germany, and a controlling conservative society were also part of European citizens’ everyday life.
Here is a small set of Kodachrome slides from Dave’s old slides that shows what Europe looked like from the 1950s.
Balestrand, Vestland, Norway, circa 1950s
Balestrand, Vestland, Norway, circa 1950s
Bergen, Norway, circa 1950s
Bergen, Norway, circa 1950s
Dôme des Invalides, Paris, France. Napoleon’s tomb is here, circa 1950s
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