Last year I postulated on our Facebook page the connection between the final episode of M*A*S*H and the founding of the library. The Korean War, as depicted in the TV show, was ending in the summer of 1953, just as the library was starting as a story time in Dr. Martha Logan Bailey’s office. So what else was happening in 1953?
- Gas was $.20-.22/galleon
- Postage stamps were $.03
- Dwight Eisenhower was inaugurated as President of the United States
- Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay successfully reach the summit of Mount Everest
- James Watson and Francis Crick announce the discovery the double helix structure of DNA
- Jonas Sulk announces the polio vaccine
- The first Corvettes rolled off the assembly line
- Ian Fleming publishes Casino Royale, the first James Bond novel
- Professional golfer Ben Hogan wins the Masters, US Open, and PGA Championship tournaments
- The Boston Braves become the first Major League Baseball franchise in 50 years to relocate when they move to Milwaukee
And closer to home?
- The Northern Joint Junior-Senior High School opened (today’s Sports and Learning Center)
- Haar’s Drive-In movie theater premiered
I’d say 1953 was a good year!
Keith Greenawalt, Library Director