# What ONE name comes immediately to mind when you hear "1950's"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 8, 2014, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-name-comes-immediately-to-mind-when-you-hear-1950s/680839 "2014-02-08T16:36:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-name-comes-immediately-to-mind-when-you-hear-1950s/680839/21 "2014-02-08T17:58:42Z")
Bill O’Reilly. He’s my character is Fallout 3, which is my biggest (only, really) exposure to anything remotely 1950s. He’s an old, gay black man. If I thought about the for real 50s for a minute, Elvis. ---
**Author:** ![nevadaexile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb8c5e/32.png) [@nevadaexile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevadaexile)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-name-comes-immediately-to-mind-when-you-hear-1950s/680839/22 "2014-02-08T18:01:54Z")
Joseph McCarthy. The man who made the 1950s so unpleasant for so many. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-name-comes-immediately-to-mind-when-you-hear-1950s/680839/23 "2014-02-08T18:03:32Z")
Elvis … then after a short delay … McCarthy. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-name-comes-immediately-to-mind-when-you-hear-1950s/680839/24 "2014-02-08T18:04:20Z")
McCarthy. ---
**Author:** ![Peaton\_of\_peat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecae2f/32.png) [@Peaton\_of\_peat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peaton_of_peat)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-name-comes-immediately-to-mind-when-you-hear-1950s/680839/25 "2014-02-08T18:10:00Z")
Going against the grain here with **Frank Sinatra**. Maybe Boomers see the 1950s as the beginning of an era, but I tend to see it as the end of an era. Elvis spearheaded the new era, while Sinatra led the rearguards of the old one. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-name-comes-immediately-to-mind-when-you-hear-1950s/680839/26 "2014-02-08T18:20:29Z")
First one to mind was Elvis Presley, because “the 1950s” to me is a cultural reference more than historical. If you said, “major event of the 1950s” I’d have first thought of Sputnik, the Korean War (partly because of M_A_S\*H) and the development of the H-Bomb. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-name-comes-immediately-to-mind-when-you-hear-1950s/680839/27 "2014-02-08T18:23:45Z")
Elvis. However, Marilyn Monroe and James Dean would be close behind. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-name-comes-immediately-to-mind-when-you-hear-1950s/680839/28 "2014-02-08T19:06:29Z")
Diefenbaker ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-name-comes-immediately-to-mind-when-you-hear-1950s/680839/29 "2014-02-08T19:14:43Z")
I had to think about it for a second, just to come up with names from the 50’s but Elvis was the first one I thought of. I’m way to young (33) for Eisenhower to come to mind. If I was pressed for more names, they’d be musical acts, maybe some actors (Lucille Ball/Marilyn Monroe right off the top of my head). But Elvis is the first. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-name-comes-immediately-to-mind-when-you-hear-1950s/680839/30 "2014-02-08T19:32:58Z")
Elvis, Eisenhower. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-name-comes-immediately-to-mind-when-you-hear-1950s/680839/31 "2014-02-08T19:46:12Z")
This is a really eye-opening thread. I was born in the early 70s, and most of the names here are 1960s to me (due to my own ignorance of both decades). I wouldn’t have been able to come up with an answer to the OP. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-name-comes-immediately-to-mind-when-you-hear-1950s/680839/32 "2014-02-08T19:47:42Z")
> [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](#): > > Diefenbaker Good Dog. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-name-comes-immediately-to-mind-when-you-hear-1950s/680839/33 "2014-02-08T19:53:04Z")
“Biff”. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-name-comes-immediately-to-mind-when-you-hear-1950s/680839/34 "2014-02-08T20:01:34Z")
Another Eisenhower here. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-name-comes-immediately-to-mind-when-you-hear-1950s/680839/35 "2014-02-08T20:06:28Z")
Marilyn Monroe, then Elvis. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-name-comes-immediately-to-mind-when-you-hear-1950s/680839/36 "2014-02-08T20:10:06Z")
Beaver Cleaver. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-name-comes-immediately-to-mind-when-you-hear-1950s/680839/37 "2014-02-08T20:19:07Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Elvis. > > Then Ike. Another vote for this. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-name-comes-immediately-to-mind-when-you-hear-1950s/680839/38 "2014-02-08T20:26:07Z")
Buddy Holly, then McCarthy. ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-name-comes-immediately-to-mind-when-you-hear-1950s/680839/39 "2014-02-08T20:31:29Z")
Shirley. Probably because of Laverne & Shirley. I can’t stand Elvis. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-name-comes-immediately-to-mind-when-you-hear-1950s/680839/40 "2014-02-08T20:46:32Z")
[Tagging on to your awesome thread idea.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=715275) (I have NO Clue if you recognize me, **Zeld** ) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-name-comes-immediately-to-mind-when-you-hear-1950s/680839.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-name-comes-immediately-to-mind-when-you-hear-1950s/680839.md?page=3)