For my birthday a few weeks ago, I received a complete set of National Geographic magazines from 1956, the year of my birth. It’s not easy turning 55 under any circumstances and though I appreciated the thoughtfulness of the gift, browsing the various issues made me feel old.
We don’t really start relating to our environment until we’ve put a few years into life, so the news of the day and the style of the advertising don’t resonate with me. But I can’t deny it’s the time of my birth and I really am as old as the pictures and text imply. Click on any image for a larger view.
The first ads that caught my eye were the ones for cars, which are a quickly dated commodity, especially back then when they tended to have a new and often dramatic look every year.
Mid-century cars often sported a flashy two-tone paint job. You just don’t see many two-tone cars these days, and whatever happened to vinyl “landau” roofs?
My family had a 1956 red and white Buick Roadmaster station wagon, and I do remember spending most of my time in the “way back” where there were no seatbelts or safety devices. But you could watch the traffic out the rear window and wave or make faces at the drivers behind you.
Because of National Geographic‘s highbrow image, there were ads from unusual companies—sort of like the sponsorships on PBS. This series of ads from General Dynamics caught my eye as unusual for the times (and quite attractive).
Telephone calls were still being promoted heavily back then and it was, in fact, the year that the first transatlantic phone cable was laid. So there were a number of ads from Bell Telephone prompting people to use the phone more.
In doing a little research, I discovered that I’m the same age as Tom Hanks, Mel Gibson, Kenny G, Bjorn Borg, Carrie Fisher, and Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
1956 was also the year that Elvis Presley made his debut, both on the record charts and Ed Sullivan, where they would only film him from the waist up because of his scandalously suggestive hip movements.
I’m as old as videotape, which made its debut in 1956, though I like to hope I’m not quite as useless as that invention has become. It was also the year that Norma Jean Mortenson legally changed her name to Marilyn Monroe.
My favorite 1956 invention is the “Snooz Alarm” clock, which many of us still use today. 1956 was also the year that the Interstate Highway System was created by then-president Dwight D. Eisenhower. Sadly, I blame the Interstate Highway System for the decline of local America, but that’s another topic entirely.
Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus held its last “big tent” circus in 1956. After that, the company played smaller arenas. And thanks to a joint act of Congress, the term “In God We Trust” became the national motto that year.
The S.S. Andrea Doria sank in the Atlantic in 1956, and Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis performed their last comedy show as a duo. And at International Business Machines, the hard disk drive was invented.
In a hint of things to some, City Lights Books published Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl and Other Poems.” Times were about to change fairly radically.
I’m actually glad I don’t remember the Fifties. My lasting memories begin with the Sixties, a much more interesting time. Though I do have to say I like some of the cars from 1956, and I wish I had been at that last performance of the circus.
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This article was last modified on May 15, 2023
This article was first published on May 6, 2011
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Gene/Comment Board. Your scans are beautiful. I was 9 in 1956. That year’s Chevy is considered the Classic of Classics. Fifty-seven had the insane knife blade fins. I hope you will tell me if you’ve ever seen adverts for cigarettes in Nat. Geo. This is important, so please write imagigami@att.net. I’m Ray.
Happy Birthday Gene!!! Really cool scans, especially all the illustrations. Be happy to be 55 cuz you have a lot to offer and you’re a cool guy! :)
Thanks for another great post. What a great birthday present– its like a cultural time capsule from the world you were born into. I hope someday to get something like this from 1975. :)
In answer to the question “whatever happened to vinyl ‘landau’ roofs?”: They all rotted away from exposure to the sun and elements.
What I really like about the car ads, they’re all illustration. When was the last time you saw a car ad that was an illustration vs a photo. I have to say these are very classy and speak volumes to the life style they created.
Well, Gene, being 55 isn’t so bad. Thanks for sharing the scans from 1956 – the year I was born also. Wow – solar panels – I didn’t know they were invented that LONG ago! Take care and may the next 55 be the BEST yet!!!
That is very funny about the clarity of phone conversations. Nowadays you have to yell into the speaker to be heard, and if you can understand the garbled cell phone at the other end, you’ve got the exception and not the rule. Whatever happened to “you can hear a pin drop.” Oh have we gone in the wrong direction with this, and paying huge monthly fees to get inferior phone service.
One of the Pontiac ads features a charcoal-and-pink car; that might have been ’56 or ’57, when that color combination was a major fad. My parents painted the inside walls of our house charcoal and pink and I was given a charcoal-and-pink tie as a gift (also a mint+chocolate one, the other color rage).
I’m a bit older at 62, so I have some memories of the fifties. I clearly remember my metal lunch box collection with images of Davy Crockett, Zorro, Superman and others. I guess even back then I was into graphic design. Boy I wish my mom hadn’t thrown out those lunch boxes.
Thanks for the images Gene, I too turned 55 this past week, and the images really hit home. I only have some memories of the first four years of my life, but one is the 1955 Pontiac, almost like the one in the ad, only a two tone, green and cream. Your posts are always a fine view of an era. Keep up the great work!
Ken Miller