45 Wonderful Color Photographs Capture Streets of the U.S in the 1950s and 1960s

In the 1950s, America was a nation that believed it was on the edge of nuclear war. It was a nation where the popular culture of television was gaining strength. It was a nation whose population was growing as never before.

After the terrible suffering of World War Two, Americans thought the world would be peaceful for awhile. By 1950, however, political tensions were high again.

At the beginning of the 1960s, many Americans believed they were standing at the dawn of a golden age. On January 20, 1961, the handsome and charismatic John F. Kennedy became president of the United States. His confidence that, as one historian put it, “the government possessed big answers to big problems” seemed to set the tone for the rest of the decade. However, that golden age never materialized. On the contrary, by the end of the 1960s it seemed that the nation was falling apart.

These wonderful vintage color photographs capture the U.S in the 1950s and 1960s.

(Photos © Dave Gelinas)