About Me: The 1950s

Period photos:


Mom, Eloise and I on the Staten Island Ferry.


Carving my Halloween pumpkin, October 1956.


Enjoying one of our frequent family picnics.


I can't reach the pedals (but you didn't need to on a Model-T Ford).


Mom enjoyed dressing us up for play.


My first camera.


Ice skating with Eloise, January 1956.


Scared to death on a sled ride.


Eloise and I dressed for Easter, April 1956.


A kiss from my sister.

My roots
Also in 1953
  • Queen Elizabeth II was crowned in England
  • Joseph Stalin died of a stroke at age 73
  • Onassis buys Monte Carlo Casino
  • Attack by Castro's guerrillas halted in Cuba
  • Soviet tanks crush East Berlin uprising
  • Korean Armistice begins
  • Dwight D. Eisenhower was sworn in as 34th U.S. President. Richard Nixon became the Vice President
  • DNA was first described as a double helix
  • Earl Warren was chosen a Chief Justice
  • The Rosenbergs were executed for atomic spying
  • John Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier were married
  • Salk polio vaccine was first used successfully
  • The Small Business Administration was created
  • Academy Award winners for best picture was From Here to Eternity; for best actor was William Holden, Stalag 17; and for best actress was Audrey Hepburn, Roman Holiday
  • Rock and Roll was invented. Popular music included Rock Around the Clock, Ebb Tide, How Much is that Doggie in the Window, and Dragnet
  • The winner of the Kentucky Derby was Dark Star, ridden by H. Moreno
  • The minimum wage was $0.75
  • The average income was $4,011
  • A new car cost $1,651
  • A new house cost $9,525
  • A loaf of bread cost $0.16
  • A gallon of gas cost $0.20
  • A gallon of milk cost $0.94
  • The Dow Jones Average ended at 276
  • Life expectancy was only 68.2 years
  • Also born in 1953 was Desi Arnaz Jr., Pat Benetar, Deborah Raffin, and Kim Bassinger.

I arrived at Rahway Memorial Hospital in Rahway, New Jersey, on Valentine's Day in 1953.

I've been told that I arrived on the wrong day (just hours before my Aunt Peggy's birthday) and was also the wrong sex (my chosen name was Jenifer.) 

I was the second child of four.

I left the hospital for our house in Rahway on Plymouth Drive, across the street from my father's sister: my Aunt Adele, Uncle Bill, and cousin Tim. In 1954 we moved into a brand-new house on Runnymede Road in Colonia.

During the 1950s, Dad directed The Howdy Doody Show and The Pinky Lee Show. Television had a significant influence on my life.

We lived in Colonia, which is a small town in New Jersey about 25 miles outside of New York City. Colonia had originally been founded as an art colony, a quick escape for the wealthy from the New York City summer heat, and was almost entirely residential. We lived on a two-acre lot that was at least half wooded, and there were nearby fields to play in. The house was at the end of a dead-end street.

We were also fairly close to the ocean, and frequently went to the shore at Asbury Park during the summer. At other times of the year, we frequently went to various historic sites for picnics on the weekend. We loved to take weekend drives and have picnics.

Continue to The 1960s