stable 50's

The Stable 50s - in some places

Even though there had been major developments by the 1950’s with automobiles, trains, etc, it should be also noted that communication was mostly by direct contact, and news of the world further than 30 kilometers away was by a weekly newspaper.
Radio was starting to develop, but it was still mostly relatively local. Telephones were now common, but were also mostly used for relatively local communication.
My great-great-great grandfather Douglas, wrote the following in one of his articles:

Our telephone hung on the wall and had a crank on the side. There could be 2, 3, or 5 families on the same line. If you wanted to phone someone not on the same line you contacted the operator and said whom you wanted.
Each of us on the same line had a signal. Ours was two long and one short, so if the telephone rang 2 long and one short signal we answered. Otherwise, the call was for someone else and of course we were not to pick up the receiver and eavesdrop on someone else’s conversation.

There occurred many changes in living conditions for Homo Sapiens during the first half of the 20th century. For many groups, physical conditions improved vastly with much more food, better living accommodations, and better health facilities, while for other groups there were no major improvements, and many people still had very short life spans.