Jerry's Birthday

If you know cars, you know that this one is a '55 Thunderbird. I really don't know cars at all and just found this one by googling 1955, a good year for cars, I guess.

Certainly a good year for my family. My older brother Jerry was born on 23 October 1955. Happy birthday, Jerry! He was conceived in Utah, I'm guessing, and born in Asheville, I think. He lived with Mom and Dad in Missouri for a time too, if I'm not mistaken. (I wasn't around yet, you see.) He lived with them in Sumter, South Carolina, where I joined the family, and in Fayetteville, North Carolina, where he started school. Most of his schooling took place at Walnut School and Marshall High School. Although he was officially a member of the first graduating class of Madison High School, he never actually sat in a classroom there as a student. He graduated from North Carolina State University with a degree Agri-Business (or something like that) and has worked in that field (no pun intended) ever since.

Here's some stuff about 1955:

• OCTOBER 1st: Honeymooners begins a long run with Jackie Gleason
• OCTOBER 3rd: Captain Kangaroo begins on CBS
• By 1955 Elvis had recorded 5 songs and gained some popularity in the South
• Marilyn Monroe releases The Seven Year Itch
• Blue jeans, rock & roll and comic books become increasingly popular
• April 12, 1955. The Salk vaccine against polio is introduced
• 1955 sees dramatic increases in the sales of home appliances, new homes, and televisions; RCA SELLS 20,000 COLOR TV SETS -- most all are 21" models
• Foreign aid to South Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos is begun by the United States
• Feb. 26, 1955. U.S. stockpile of atomic bombs reaches 4,000; the U.S.S.R is estimated to have 1,000
• What Things Cost in 1955:
  Car: $1,950
  Gasoline: 29 cents/gal
  House: $17,500
  Bread: 18 cents/loaf
  Milk: 92 cents/gal
  Postage Stamp: 3 cents
• Stock Market: 488
  Average Annual Salary: $5,000
  Minimum Wage: 75 cents per hour

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