The Way We Were – In 1959

Submitted by Richard & Judi (Leisten) Bort

In 1959, Livingston High School graduated its third class, 182 of us – the first LHS class to spend all three years (grades 10 through 12) in that new building. Some of us thought this was the end of a 13-year struggle, while others saw our high school graduation as only the beginning. Now, 50 years later we look back and remember some of the highlights of that year. How did we survive 50 years ago?

We drank water from the tap and water fountains, not a bottle, and nobody knew about the dangers of lead poisoning. Cars didn’t have seat belts or air bags, soda was made with sugar (“not high fructose corn syrup”), and we ate real white bread and butter and drank whole milk.

Parents couldn't reach us (no cell phones), and most of the day we would be out playing or hanging with friends. Mom’s call or whistle or cow bell at 6 o’clock meant it was time for dinner. Parents knew we would be safe with virtually no weirdos wandering the streets. If we got caught doing stuff we shouldn't, the cops would take us home where we had to face our parents. And if we got out of line in school the same applied.

We had no fancy games but could find things to do that occupied us for hours. We rode our bikes without helmets. We would find a ball and whatever we could use as a bat. If we were not good enough to make the team, that was that. Many of us participated after school in school clubs, sports (both organized and unorganized) and in youth groups,. We begged Mom or Dad for the car keys so we could go to the Colony Theater followed by Bonvini’s for pizza or Don’s for pizzaburgers, and to Teen Canteens and dances at LHS. Our Senior Prom (which we held jointly with the Class of 1960) was in the gymnasium as usual, then we went to one or two of the many post-prom house parties or to the Stagecoach Inn on Route 46 to see Sarah Vaughn, while some went down the shore for the evening. In the summer, we went to the new town pool or to a pond or lake, and if the water wasn't that clean we just didn't swallow it.

But most of all we were allowed to be kids, to dream, to invent, and to play.

It's no wonder that our generation created some of the most innovative and exciting technology we have today. It happened in 1959 . . . Dwight D. Eisenhower was President of the United States and Richard M. Nixon was Vice President. Harold Macmillan was Prime Minister of Great Britain and General Charles de Gaulle was President of France. Fidel Castro came to power in Cuba in 1959. Vice President Richard Nixon engaged Soviet President Nikita Khrushchev in the famous “Kitchen Debate,” an impromptu encounter in Moscow. Two new states, Alaska and Hawaii, were admitted to the Union, bringing the total number of states to 50. Some notable new products were introduced in 1959, including Mattel’s Barbie doll, DuPont’s Spandex synthetic fiber, and Boeing’s 707 jet airliner, which cut eight hours from transatlantic flights. Technology marched on in 1959 with the launching of Explorer 6 from Cape Canaveral, and Russia’s Luna 2, which sent back the first photos of the far side of the Earth’s moon. Also, NASA introduced John H. Glenn Jr, and Alan Shepard Jr. as America's first astronauts. Other inventions in 1959 included the microchip, the computer modem, and Etch-A-Sketch. Eveready invented the long-lasting alkaline battery, leading to the ubiquitous pink bunny. IBM launched its new 1401 mainframe computer and the 7090 computer, both using transistors instead of vacuum tubes. Xerox launched the first commercial copier. Hormel sold its one-millionth can of Spam. The Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series, beating the Chicago White Sox four games to two. The Baltimore Colts defeated the New York Giants for the NFL Championship. (The American Football League was formed in 1959, with its first games played in 1960.) The Boston Celtics swept the Minneapolis Lakers in four games to win the NBA championship of the 1958-59 season. Prices we paid in 1959 . . . · Gallon of regular gasoline: 25¢· Ticket to a double feature at the Colony Theater: $1.00· House: $30,000 (large house on one-third acre in Livingston’s Broadlawn tract)· Average yearly income (nationally): $5,016· Ford car: $2,132 - $3,979 (only $59 per month at Livingston Ford)· Freshman year at Rutgers University, including room and board: $1,900· Gallon of milk: $1.01· Loaf of bread 20¢· T-Bone steak: $1.09 lb.· Nestle’s Quick 1 lb can: 39¢· Pair of ladies stockings $1.00 · Postage stamp: 4¢ In Livingston in June 1959 . . . 1959 was in the Golden Age of television. Most families ate dinner together, and after dinner watched TV together (after we did our homework, of course). There was typically only one TV in the house, and the kids couldn’t go to their bedrooms to talk on the phone because we probably had only one phone in the whole house . . . unless, perhaps, there was an extension in our parents’ bedroom.

A teenager in 1959 might have had his or her own small record player, and maybe a transistor radio, which is where we learned about rock ‘n roll. In many cases, families had two cars, but few of us teenagers had our own cars. We had to borrow the car keys from our folks, and that was very effective leverage they had over us. What did we do for fun in somewhat isolated Livingston, New Jersey? We visited with one another. In those days you could walk home at night without ending up with your picture on a milk carton. There were no malls where we could hang out, no cell phones, no videogames, and (gasp!) no home computers. After school and on most weekends, many of us went to Don’s Drive-In at the corner of East Hobart Gap Road and South Orange Avenue, next to the Esso gas station. Remember those Don’s Drive-In ads in the West Essex Tribune, “Eat here and get gas!”? The West Essex Tribune on June 11, 1959 featured these articles . . . In its first year as a member school, 31 LHS 1959 grads were honored by election to the National Honor Society. This was an amazing 17 percent of the class! The Class Trip for the graduating class of 1959 was “to the Poconos, at a pleasure camp where there are a multitude of sports activities, climaxed by a dinner and an evening of dancing. This program is put on in place of a graduation dance.” DeCamp Bus Lines, locally owned by the DeCamp family, initiated a “New fast express route” to New York using “Deluxe buses” on the new #77 line. The local telephone exchange was “Wyman 2,” since commoditized to “992.” Livingston was in the 201 area code, since changed to 973 as faxes, cell phones, and multiple residential lines proliferated. The Meadowbrook Theatre on Route 23 in Cedar Grove was featuring “Can-Can,” including the show, dinner and dancing for $3.95 (“Saturday $5.50 and up”). The Livingston Little League had two major league divisions of four teams each, plus several minor leagues. Kiwanis Karnival was about to take place June 22-27 at Central School (The building was sold in the 1960s and became the Weight Watchers building.) Local businesses advertising in the West Essex Tribune included . . . · Hanley’s Men’s Shop (sport shirts, on sale for $2.95 – regularly $4.95 to $5.95)· Northfield Supply Co. (sheetrock – 4’ X 8’ X 3/8” for $1.12)· Arnold Shops (Bermuda shorts from $2.95)· Livingston Paint & Wallpaper (Vita-Var house paint, $5.95 a gallon)· Silverman’s Stationery (rent a typewriter for $20 for 3 months, or $8/month) · West Essex Auto Sales (featuring the French “Simca”)· English’s Grill (dinners $2.25 to $4.25. Lobster tail dinner - $2.85. Lunch $.95 and up)· Livingston Lanes (bowling rate after 6 PM: 50¢)· Fisher’s Feed (Sheep Manure - $2.00 for 20 pounds, cow manure - $2.25 for 50 pounds)· The Carousel Shop (Playtex Magic-Cling strapless bra –$5.95)· Levin-Sagner Homes (new “split ranch” models with 4 bedrooms, 1-1/2 or 2-1/2 baths, 70’ X 120’ lots on Greenwood Court and Winchester Road, for $21,500 to $23,500)· Sam’s (men’s name-brand suits from $29.95. slacks from $5.95, dress shirts $2.95 to $5.00· Acme Market (“Get S&H Green Stamps too!”) –Cantaloupes, extra large: 2 for 45¢Sunkist oranges: 4 lb bag for 39¢Sunkist lemons: 49¢/dozenBumble Bee Solid White Tuna Fish: 3 7-oz cans for $1.00Skippy peanut butter: 3 12-oz jars for $1.00· A&P Super Market –Halibut steak: 59¢/lbHeinz beans: 4 16 oz cans for 49¢Libby’s tomato juice: 46 oz can for 25¢large white eggs: 43¢/dozen Do you remember . . . . . . the Livingston Public Library, which was located in an old two-story house with a rickety stairway on E. Mt. Pleasant Avenue? (The library moved to the new building in Memorial Park in 1961.) . . . Livingston Junior High School, which anchored the new Memorial Park oval before the high school was added? (The junior high students vacated the building with the opening of the Heritage Junior High School several years after we graduated.) The World of Entertainment in 1959 . . . In Hollywood, 1959 was best known for the landmark motion picture, Ben-Hur, which won Oscars for Best Picture and Best Actor (Charlton Heston). Other memorable 1959 flicks were Auntie Mame, Pillow Talk, Room at the Top (Simone Signoret), and Some Like It Hot (Marilyn Monroe and Jack Lemmon). The popular song, “High Hopes” won an Oscar for the Best Original Song, from the movie A Hole In the Head. The musical Grammy Awards were inaugurated in 1959 by honoring Domenico Modugno for “Nel Blue Dipinto di Blu,” Henry Mancini for the album, “The Music From Peter Gunn,” Ross Bagdasarian for “The Chipmunk Song,” the Kingston Trio for “Tom Dooley,” Ella Fitzgerald for “Ella Fitsgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Songbook,” Count Basie for “Count Basie,” Perry Como for “Catch a Falling Star,” Louis Prima and Keely Smith for “That Old Black Magic,” and the Champs for “Tequila.” The biggest hit singles of 1959 were Bobby Darin’s “Mack the Knife,” Johnny Horton’s “Battle of New Orleans,” Lloyd Price’s two hits, “(You’ve Got) Personality” and “Stagger Lee,” and Frankie Avalon’s “Venus.” Other popular singers in 1959 were Doris Day, Frank Sinatra, and Connie Francis. Elvis Presley was hugely popular, although he was in the U.S. Army stationed in Germany at the time. As we, the 1959 graduates of Livingston High School, moved into the next phases of our lives, a new crop of babies arrived that year, notably including actress Linda Blair, NFL great Cris Collinsworth, tennis star John McEnroe, actor Tom Arnold, NBA and MLB star Danny Ainge, actress and singer Sheena Easton, country singer Randy Travis, NBA star Magic Johnson, singer Marie Osmond, and Bart Simpson’s voice Nancy Cartwright. Also born in 1959 was actor and LHS graduate (1977) Jay Scott Greenspan, known professionally as Jason Alexander. Yes, life goes on but we lost some notables in 1959, starting early in the year when that terrible plane crash in Iowa during a snowstorm took from us rock ‘n rollers Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and The Big Bopper (aka J.P. Richardson). We also lost the classic wordsmith and comedian Lou Costello (“Who’s on first?”) of Abbott and Costello, musicians Lester Young and Sidney Bichet, jazz and blues singer Billie Holiday, and actors Ethel Barrymore and Errol Flynn. And closer to home, Abner “Longy” Zwillman, affectionately known as the “Al Capone of New Jersey,” was found hanged in his West Orange home shortly before he was to testify before a U.S. Senate Committee on organized crime. On television in 1959, we saw the debuts of some memorable shows, including Rawhide, Bonanza (the first weekly TV series broadcast completely in color), Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone, Hawaiian Eye, The Bell Telephone Hour, The Untouchables, and the cartoon characters Bullwinkle J. Moose, Quick Draw McGraw, and Huckleberry Hound. Long-running shows that ended in 1959 included Your Hit Parade (on the air since 1935 on radio), Dragnet (on TV since 1951), and the Mickey Mouse Club (on TV since 1955). Also in 1959, Fiorello, The Sound of Music, and Gypsy lit up Broadway! And we, the members of the Livingston High School Class of 1959 moved on . . . .

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