Where Were You in 52?
One of the most popular types of stories we print is on history.
So…… What were you doing in 1952?
The New York Yankees won the World Series in 1952. They beat the Brooklyn Dodgers in seven games. That was their 4th consecutive title, tying the mark set in 1936-1939 under manager Joe McCarthy, and Casey Stengel became the second manager in Major League history to win four consecutive World Series.
The Yankees won the decisive Game 7 by a score of 4–2, thanks to a great catch by second baseman Billy Martin that preserved the Yankees’ two-run lead in the seventh inning. Yankees that hit home runs included Mickey Mantle, and Johnny Mize.
The 1952 NFL Championship Game was the 20th annual championship game. It was held on December 28 and pitted the Detroit Lions (9-3) from the National Conference and the Cleveland Browns (8-4) from the American conference. It was the first of three consecutive matchups for the title between these two teams.
The Lions were led by quarterback Bobby Layne and running back Doak Walker and the Browns had quarterback Otto Graham and Head Coach Paul Brown.
The Lions were 3 ½ point favorites and won by ten points 17-7.
Ticket prices ranged from three to seven dollars.
Chevrolet sold the most cars in 1952 with more than 818,000 vehicles produced. Ford was second with 672,000 units. Both of those car makers had exceeded 1,000,000 units in 1951.
Chrysler’s Plymouth brand continued to hold down a distant third while the Buick, Pontiac, and Oldsmobile divisions of General Motors hogged the fourth, fifth, and sixth slots respectively. The trend was clear: Surely and steadily, the independent automakers were being squeezed out. Nash managed only 154,000 units in 1952; Packard only 62,000. Crosley built a mere 6,614 vehicles for the year and on July 3, 1952, departed from the automobile business.
According to the Department of Commerce the median average income of persons in 1952 was estimated at $2,300 which was about 5 percent increase from 1951. At the close of World War II, the median income in the United States was $1,400.
The highest grossing movie in 1952 was “ The Greatest Show on Earth,” a drama. “ The Snows of Kilimanjaro” and “High Noon” were second and third.
Harry S. Truman was the President in 1952 with Alben W.
Barkley as Vice-President. The 1952 Presidential election went to Dwight David Eisenhower who began his two-term Presidency in 1953. Eisenhower won by a wide margin over Adlai Stevenson.
The top song of the year was “Blue Tango” by Leroy Anderson. Kay Starr, singing “Wheel of Fortune” was the second highest record seller of the year.
CBS had three of the top four most watched television shows in 1952. “I Love Lucy” was the most watched show followed by “Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts”, “Arthur Godfrey and Friends” and NBC’s “Dragnet”.
The United States exploded its first thermonuclear bomb on November 1 and Britain announced its development of atomic weapons in October 1952. Also in Britain, George VI died and his daughter Elizabeth II was coronated queen upon his death.
There were 3,846,986 births in the United States that year: 1,974,414 males and 1,872,572 females. White males born in 1952 were given a life expectancy of 66.31 years.
I was one of them, born on September 28. I have exceeded living expectations!
According to the Life Expectancy Calculator from John Hancock, a white male in the United States with above average health, who is turning 71 on September 28, taking no prescription medicine, does not smoke or drink, has a projected life expectancy of 88.5 years.
If all of that is true that means I only have about 880 Viewpoints left to write. Who knows, some of them may even be more interesting than this one. But, don’t get your hopes up, I am getting older.