1952 World Statistics

1952 U. S. Statistics

• Population: 2,635 billion
• Pius XII was Pope
• George VI dies; his daughter becomes Elizabeth II
• Geoffrey Francis Fisher was Archbishop of Canterbury
• Winston Churchill was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
• Vincent Auriol was President of France
• Konrad Adenauer was Chancellor of West Germany

• Population: 157,552,740
• Life Expectancy: 68.6 years
• Federal debt: $259.1 billion
• Unemployment: 3.3%
• President: Harry S. Truman
• Vice-President: Alben W. Barkley
• Miss America: Colleen Hutchins (Salt Lake City, UT)
• The National Political Conventions were televised for the first time
• Eisenhower defeated Stevenson, and became President-Elect, with Richard M. Nixon as his Vice-President
• Tuition to Harvard University: $600 per year
• Stock Market: 292
• Minimum Wage: 75 cents per hour
• Average Annual Salary: $4,500

Ways Phoenix residents cooled off before air conditioning in 1952

• Slept outside, many coating themselves in insect repellent and putting cot legs in kerosene or water to ward off scorpions and other insects.
• Hung wet sheets in front of whirling fans, the moisture cooling the breeze.
• Slept on screened-in porches, often with wet canvas or burlap hung on windows.
• Set ice blocks in front of fans.
• Swam in the canals.
• Slept in wet sheets (causing numerous cases of pneumonia).
• Put dry ice on the car dashboard.

Events of 1952

• A spud is born! The original MR. POTATO HEAD toy consists entirely of pieces...consumers use a real potato for the body! The MR. POTATO HEAD toy is the first toy ever advertised on network TV.
• 1952 was a leap year
• Lennox began to sell a 3-ton water-cooled air conditioner
• The Korean War continued
• The Polio Vaccine was developed by Jonas Salk
• The hydrogen bomb was detonated for the first time
• Puerto Rico forms a new Constitution; it becomes a commonwealth of the U.S.
• The contraceptive pill was introduced
• The transistor radio was developed by Sony
• M&R Labs introduce the first coffee creamer
• Kirsch launches the first diet soft drink, "No-Cal Ginger Ale"
• Car safety belts were introduced
• BOAC starts first jet passenger service
• Paint by Numbers kits were introduced and 12 million were sold
• Kellogg's Frosted Flakes and Saran Wrap are introduced
• The first Holiday Inn is opened in Tennessee
• Dick Clark hosts the first "American Bandstand"
• The railroads are returned to private control

• The price of a loaf of bread was 16 cents
• Milk: 96 cents/gal
• Granulated Sugar: 85 cents for 10 lb
• Ground Coffee: 74 cents per lb
• Bacon: 54 cents per pound
• Eggs: 25 cents per dozen
• Fresh Ground Hamburger: 53 cents per lb
• Fresh Baked Bread: 16 cents per loaf
• Cotton-knit blouses: $1.98 each at Sears
• Men's rayon sports shirts: $3.66 each, on sale at Sears
• A Magnavox Wedgewood TV-phonograph-radio was selling for $595
• A 1952 two-door Buick Sedan was selling for $2280
• A new Ford listed for $1,480
• Gasoline: 27 cents/gal
• Movie Ticket: 70 cents
• Postage Stamp: 3 cents
• House: $17,000
• Average Rent: $80 per month

Top Movies of 1952

• The Greatest Show on Earth

• Singin' in the Rain

• Quo Vadis

• Ivanhoe

• The Snows of Kilimanjaro

• Sailor Beware

• The African Queen

• Jumping Jacks

• High Noon

• Son of Paleface

• Monkey Business

• The Bad and the Beautiful

• The Quiet Man

• Limelight

• I've Got a Secret
• The Lone Ranger
• The Groucho Marx Show
• The Dinah Shore Show
• The Burns and Allen Show
• Art Linkletter's House Party
• The Guiding Light
• Search for Tomorrow
• Arthur Godfrey Time
• Howdy Doody
• Amos and Andy
• The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet
• Twenty Questions
• Dragnet
• The Perry Como Show
• This Is Your Life

Daytime radio shows in 1952:

• "Slow Poke" by Pee Wee King

• "Wheel of Fortune" by KayStarr

• "A Guy is A Guy" by Doris Day

• "Here In My Heart" by Al Martino

• "Delicado" by Percy Faith

• "Half As Much" by Rosemary Clooney

• "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" by Lloyd Price

• "The Glow-Worm" by The Mills Brothers

• "I Went to Your Wedding" by Patti Page

• "It's in the Book" by Johnny Standley

• "Kiss of Fire" by Georgia Gibbs

• "You Belong to Me" by Jo Stafford

• "Wish You Were Here" by Eddie Fisher

• Paul Harvey

• Bob and Ray

• Stella Dallas

• Chet Huntley News

• Strike It Rich

• Answer Man

• Amos and Andy

• Perry Mason

• Ozzie and Harriet

• Kerry Drake

• Rex Morgan, M.D.

• Mary Worth

• Terry and the Pirates

• Mark Trail

• Pogo

• Howdy Doody

• Moon Mullins

• Johnny Comet

• Joe Palooka

• Orphan Annie

• Li'l Abner

Fiction

• " The Silver Chalice"...Thomas B. Costain

• "The Caine Mutiny"... Herman Wouk

• "East of Eden"... John Steinbeck

• "My Cousin Rachel"...Daphne du Maurier

• "Steamboat Gothic"...Frances Parkinson Keyes

• "Giant"...Edna Ferber

• "The Old Man and the Sea"...Ernest Hemingway

• "The Gown of Glory"... Agnes Sligh Turnbull

• "The Saracen Blade"...Frank Yerby

• "The Houses in Between"...Howard Spring

•  Ian Fleming's James Bond debuts in novel "Casino Royale

Nonfiction

• "The Holy Bible: Revised Standard Version"... Nelson

• "A Man Called Peter"...Catherine Marshall

• "U.S.A. Confidential"... Jack Lait and Lee Mortimer

• "The Sea Around Us"...Rachel L. Carson

• "Tallulah, by Tallulah Bankhead

• "The Power of Positive Thinking"...Norman Vincent Peale

• "This I Believe"...ed. by Edward P. Morgan

• "This Is Ike"...ed. by Wilson Hicks. Holt

• "Witness"...Whittaker Chambers. Random House

• "Mr. President"...William Hillman. Farrar, Straus & Young

1952 Nobel Prizes

Birthdays in 1952

Sports in 1952

Phoenix, Arizona in 1952

An entrepreneur named Paul Hobaica established 
Hobaica's Refrigeration in Phoenix, Arizona, thus beginning a tradition of comfort and quality service for the Valley of the Sun.