[MAIL] They were called the boom years. A postwar, 1950s America had a flourishing economy, which would give rise to fast-growing families and a generation, as well as the building and expanding of the suburbs.
Baby boomers, those born after the end of World War II in 1946 until 1964, enjoyed the prosperity of the period with more people buying televisions, houses – and the furnishings and appliances to go with the new abodes – and new, sleek cars with tailfins, many of which are considered classics today. Some of the new goods were bought on universal credit cards, introduced at the beginning of the decade.
While Europe worked on rebuilding, the United States started to flex its military might in its bid to stop communism. After the war, tensions between the U.S. and what was then called the Soviet Union began ratcheting up around 1947. On June 25, 1950, American forces were dispatched to the Korean peninsula in support of the South while China and the Soviet Union supported the North. The Korean War ended with an armistice three years later on July 27.
The two superpowers also sparred over who would land on the moon first. The space race heated up during the decade, and the Soviets launched the first artificial satellite called Sputnik in 1957. But the U.S. reached the moon first in 1969.
Rock ‘n’ roll hit the airwaves and the dulcet tones of Dean Martin’s ‘That’s Amore,’ soon were replaced in popularity with Elvis’ ‘All Shook Up,’ and ’Rock Around the Clock,’ by Bill Haley & His Comets. Hit shows, such as ‘I Love Lucy,’ ‘Father Knows Best,’ and ‘Leave It to Beaver’ were watched on America’s black-and-white TVs.
Newly discovered images provide a colorful view of the country from coast to coast. The photos, like the one above taken in 1952 in Michigan, are part a recently launched website called the Lost Colour Library. 
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