1949

What happened in 1949 Dad has four children aged 7, 5, 3 and 1

• 1949 After many years of misery through the depression and World War 2 postwar prosperity is starting to get underway with companies now able to supply the cars, Televisions and the other goods demanded in a consumer society. The cars got bigger, the TV's got bigger, with some 6.2 million new cars sold in the US and nearly 10 million Televisions in American homes, A new type of TV program appeared we now call Soap Operas ( the name came from the fact many soap manufacturers sponsored the shows to catch the stay at home mum with advertising ) .
• China became a communist country and Russia had the Nuclear Bomb which increased the tension between East and West in other words The Cold War began.
• There is an interesting story of the Mach 1, the first digital computer built in the US in partnership between IBM and Harvard University. The machine weighed 5 tons, incorporated 500 miles of wire, was 8 feet tall and 51 feet long, and had a 50 ft rotating shaft running its length, turned by a 5 horsepower electric motor. One of the primary programmers for the Mark I was a woman, Grace Hopper. Hopper found the first computer "bug": a dead moth that had gotten into the Mark I and whose wings were blocking the reading of the holes in the paper tape. Hopper is credited with coining the word "debugging" to describe the work to eliminate program faults. On a humorous note, the principal designer of the Mark I, Howard Aiken of Harvard, estimated in 1947 that six electronic digital computers would be sufficient to satisfy the computing needs of the entire United States. (Today we have 5 at out house!)
• RCA Perfected a system for broadcasting color television. First Polaroid Camera sold for $89. The Emmy Awards for US Television first presented. First Volkswagen Beetle is sold in US. The first automatic street lights are installed in New Milford, Connecticut and the first 45 rpm discs are introduced.

How Much things cost in 1949
Average Cost of new house $7,450.00 had only risen $2000 since 1919
Average wages per year $2,950.00 up nearly 2000 from 1919
Cost of a gallon of Gas had gone down to 17 cents
Average Cost of a new car $1,420.00 up $600
Minimum Hourly Wage Rate 70 cents per hour which had almost tripled

1949 was a really good year.

Dad was working for Hancock Dairy, waking up at the crack of dawn to milk cows and then delivering the milk to homes in the area. A few yrs ago I went to a high school reunion. I saw Judy and wondered why she was never my friend when we were in school when we lived so near each other. We were talking about life, children, and catching up in general. Finally she said, 'when we were young she was always embarrassed to talk to me.' I gave her a confused look and she continued to say that if it hadn't been for Hancock Dairy and our family that her family would have starved after her father lost his job. It was enlightening to really understand a lot of things about our past.--Faith