# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-name-comes-immediately-to-mind-when-you-hear-1950s/680839/41 "2014-02-08T21:01:45Z")
McCarthy ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-name-comes-immediately-to-mind-when-you-hear-1950s/680839/42 "2014-02-08T21:09:38Z")
James Dean ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-name-comes-immediately-to-mind-when-you-hear-1950s/680839/43 "2014-02-08T21:13:25Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > James Dean Bingo! He’s been mentioned earlier but not as a first choice. I’ve been hoping somebody else would name him. I saw a picture of Liz Taylor from 1956 and it made me think I ought to do this thread. Way to go, **notfrommensa**! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-name-comes-immediately-to-mind-when-you-hear-1950s/680839/44 "2014-02-08T21:28:12Z")
I’m feeling a little embarassed to have come up with Arthur Godfrey, but that’s who I thought of. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-name-comes-immediately-to-mind-when-you-hear-1950s/680839/45 "2014-02-08T21:42:23Z")
Milton Berle. And I never liked him. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-name-comes-immediately-to-mind-when-you-hear-1950s/680839/46 "2014-02-08T22:01:50Z")
[Ralph Kramden from the Honeymooners (Jackie Gleason).](http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=A0LEV1oaqfZSkn8AgwxXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTB0NTcya3NtBHNlYwNzYwRjb2xvA2JmMQR2dGlkA1ZJUDIyMF8x?_adv_prop=image&fr=chr-greentree_gc&va=ralph+kramden) ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-name-comes-immediately-to-mind-when-you-hear-1950s/680839/47 "2014-02-08T22:04:51Z")
Eisenhower ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-name-comes-immediately-to-mind-when-you-hear-1950s/680839/48 "2014-02-08T22:08:40Z")
Joe McCarthy, followed quickly by Edward R. Murrow. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-name-comes-immediately-to-mind-when-you-hear-1950s/680839/49 "2014-02-08T22:44:21Z")
The first name that came to mind was Eisenhower. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-name-comes-immediately-to-mind-when-you-hear-1950s/680839/50 "2014-02-08T22:44:31Z")
I wasn’t there. But definitely Elvis. ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-name-comes-immediately-to-mind-when-you-hear-1950s/680839/51 "2014-02-08T22:48:16Z")
Churchill, which seems a bit odd to me as he was past his prime by the 50s. I was born in the fifties, in the UK but my first cultural memories were laid down in the sixties. I think I must have interpreted the question as “well known people from just before I was born.” I remember Churchill’s funeral, from 1965, so he fitted the bill. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-name-comes-immediately-to-mind-when-you-hear-1950s/680839/52 "2014-02-08T22:49:57Z")
I can’t explain it at all but the first name to pop into my mind was… Jack Benny. I would say in general that he would normally be around the 40th or 50th most prominent person from the era in my mind, but he was first for some reason this time. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-name-comes-immediately-to-mind-when-you-hear-1950s/680839/53 "2014-02-08T22:51:16Z")
James Dean ---
**Author:** ![No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea5d25/32.png) [@No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_umlaut_for_U)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-name-comes-immediately-to-mind-when-you-hear-1950s/680839/54 "2014-02-08T23:14:16Z")
McCarthy. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-name-comes-immediately-to-mind-when-you-hear-1950s/680839/55 "2014-02-08T23:33:45Z")
Elvis, then Sputnik. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-name-comes-immediately-to-mind-when-you-hear-1950s/680839/56 "2014-02-08T23:36:32Z")
Call me self-centered, but my own name. It’s the decade I was born. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-name-comes-immediately-to-mind-when-you-hear-1950s/680839/57 "2014-02-08T23:51:18Z")
James Dean ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2014, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-name-comes-immediately-to-mind-when-you-hear-1950s/680839/58 "2014-02-09T00:24:02Z")
Elvis for me. ---
**Author:** ![Carl\_Corey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Carl\_Corey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carl_Corey)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2014, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-name-comes-immediately-to-mind-when-you-hear-1950s/680839/59 "2014-02-09T00:56:44Z")
Joe McCarthy. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2014, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-name-comes-immediately-to-mind-when-you-hear-1950s/680839/60 "2014-02-09T00:58:59Z")
Elvis Presley (Without looking at any other responses.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-name-comes-immediately-to-mind-when-you-hear-1950s/680839.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-name-comes-immediately-to-mind-when-you-hear-1950s/680839.md?page=4)