by Daniel Lee

 

Chinatown in the 40’s and 50’s...

NYC’s Chinatown back then had a border on the Bowery from Canal St. to Chatham Square wrapping around Worth and Mulberry Streets back to Canal St. (At one time the 3rd Ave El rumbled above the streets on the Bowery to Chatham Square before turning into Park Row to go down to City Hall or to South Ferry). The streets in Chinatown were Mott, Pell, Doyers, Park, Bayard, and Elizabeth Streets. On the peripheral of Chinatown were Forsyth, Chrystie, Division, Henry, East Broadway, Madison, Catherine, Oliver Street(s) and St. James Place

 

1948 -- Cornerstone laid for True Light Lutheran Church; Polaroid Camera Introduced; Subway Ride-- Five Cents; Chinese Intercity Basketball Tournaments; The 1^st 33 1/3 rpm LP was sold.

1949 -- Bikini Swimsuits are the Fad; NY Yankees Defeat Brooklyn Dodgers to Win World Series; The 1^st 45 rpm Records Sold; China Became a Communist Country under Mao Tse-Tung.

 

1950 -- Price of Average Home-$8500.00; NYC has Severe Water Shortage--Prolong Drought; USAF Academy Colorado Springs CO; US Population--151 Million; Start of Korean War.

1951 -- Color TV is Introduced; Minimum Wage is 75 Cents/Hour; Rock and Roll is the New Rage--Alan Freed; Baked Char Sue Bow-Latest Hit on Bayard St, Lin Heung Coffee Shoppe.

1952 -- Dr. Salk Discovers Polio Vaccine; Average Annual Salary is $4500.00; Dr. Lee’s- Best Shoeshine--10 Cents on Mott St; American Bandstand Makes Debut; US 1^st Hydrogen Bomb.  

1953 –- IBM’s-1st Computer; Playboy Magazine Arrives; Bowl-“Just Wonton Soup”-35 cents; Chinatown Baseball Team in Ice Cream League; Lonnie’s Coffee Shoppe Opens at 21 Mott St..

1954 -- Postage Stamp-3 Cents; First McDonald Opens; TV Dinners Debuts; USS Nautilus 1^st Atomic Submarine; Latin Dancing-Mambo, Cha Cha, Merengue the Latest Hot Sizzling Dances.

1955 -- DA Haircuts are the Fad; Third Ave El Demolished; Disneyland Opens in California.

1956 -- Elvis Presley on Ed Sullivan Show; A Car Costs $2,100.00; Dow Jones at 500; NY Yankee Don Larsen Pitches 1st No Hitter in World Series; Miss Chinatown NY-Debbie Gong.

1957--Ford Debuts the Edsel; Both NY Teams--Brooklyn Dodgers Play Last Game at Ebbets Field & NY Giants Play Last Game at Polo Grounds; Russia Launches Sputnik into Earth Orbit.

1958--Hula Hoop Craze; Harvard Tuition $1200.00; Stereo Sound Introduced to Hi-Fi Fans; NASA Created for Space Age; US Launches Explorer 1; 1^st Toyotas & Datsuns Imported to US.

1959--Compact Cars Debut-Corvair, Falcon; Barbie Doll Debut-Mattel; Gas-25 Cents a Gallon; Movie Ticket-$1.00; Boeing 707 Jetliner in Service; Alaska-49^th State; Hawaii-50^th State.

 

1960--Chubby Checker Introduces” The Twist Craze”; Fantasticks Opens in Greenwich Village and Start of a 42 year Run; US Population-180 Million; 1^st Playboy Club Opens in Chicago.

1961--NY Yankee Roger Maris hits Record Setting 61 Home Runs; China’s Population—650 Million; Berlin Wall--Separating East & West Germany; Peace Corps--President Kennedy.

1962--American Astronaut John Glenn Orbits Earth 3 Times; Cuban Missile Crisis; Diet Coke Introduced; Bosa Nova & Watusi the Latest Popular Dances; Playboy Club Opens in NYC.

1963--Average Worker Earns Over $100.00 a Week; ATT Introduces Touch Tone Phone;

Dr. ML King Jr.-“I Have a Dream Speech”; President Kennedy Assassinated in Dallas, Texas.

1964--Discotheques & Go-Go Dancing Cage; Beetles make TV Debut on Ed Sullivan Show; World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows NY, 1964 & 1965; US Heavily Involved in Vietnam War.

1965--NYC Massive Blackout; Latest Fashions--Bell Bottom Trousers & Mini Skirts, Flip Top Cans for Soft Drink & Beer; US Congress Pass Immigration Act of 1965.