On the cusp of the 1960s, 1959 was a year that made waves. Fidel Castro rose to power in Cuba, the Guggenheim Museum opened its doors in New York City, and Barbie made her official debut. All the while, life went on as it had, within elementary school classrooms and city bookstores, on main streets and football fields. Get a glimpse of everyday life in 1959 through these powerful snapshots.
1. Smiling First Graders in a Missouri Classroom
2. That’s One Way To Make a Phone Call
3. Jack Kerouac Giving a Reading at the Seven Arts Cafe in New York City
4. Typewriters on Display at a J.C. Penney Store
5. Cheering at the Big Game
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6. Parents Night Out in the Basement Bar
7. Men Whistling at (Ahem, Harassing) a Woman
8. Hanging Out With the Boys on a Corner in Chicago
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9. 15-year-old Louis Cousins, the Only Black Student in a Newly Desegregated High School in Norfolk, VA
10. ‘My Family Christmas Morning Posing in Our Brand New Matching Bathrobes’
11. A Coveted Chevy Impala
12. Frat Parties in 1959 Hit Different
13. The Sharps at Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth, TX
14. Allen Ginsberg at City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco
15. A Girl Looks Out on to the Street in Mexico
16. A Colorful Fremont St. in Las Vegas
17. Is There a Better Way To Spend a Summer Afternoon?
18. Police Officer About To Get Pelted With Snowballs in Chicago
19. ‘The Jokers, a Teenage Gang From Brooklyn’
20. Angels Flight, a Funicular Railway in Downtown Los Angeles
21. Sweet Ride!
22. Lovebirds Sharing a Meal in Pittsburgh, PA
23. ‘Nolan Morris Poses Proudly After He’d Been Promoted to Manager at the 7-11 in Hurst, Texas’
24. Inside a Piggly Wiggly
25. ‘Ernest Hemingway at a Bar in Havana’
26. Students From Compton College Protesting Against ‘Automized Education’
27. Family Photo at a Wedding
28. Working at the Post Office
29. Members of the Harlem Motorcycle Club
30. Kitchen Talk
Want a closer look into the 1950s?
Take a walk down memory lane with 33 Vintage Photos From the 1950s That Just Make Sense and 15 Photos That Show Famous World Landmarks in Their 1950s Glory. And don’t forget to check out These Early 1950s Photos Are a Window Into Another Era.
