In June 1954,
LIFE magazine published an article titled “The Luckiest Generation” that, revisited 60 years later, feels like an almost perfect snapshot of a certain segment of American society at a particular moment in the nation's history...
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In aura of fun and well-being, students dance in gym of Carlsbad's high school at weekly 'Sock Hop' to music of a 12-piece student band. |
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Cars of Carlsbad High students fill own parking lot. |
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Electrician, Jack Harris, 16, still in school, picks up $40 to $50 in part-time repair jobs. |
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A teenage sales girl holds a blouse up to a customer in a store, 1954. |
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Young investor, David Lenske, 17, having bought four AT&T shares, talks with banker, 1954. |
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Outtake from "Luckiest Generation" feature in LIFE magazine, 1954. |
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Teenage mechanic, 1954. |
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Bookkeeper Rada Alexander, 19, gets $200 a month in auto firm job she got after graduation. |
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Sonny Thayer, 19, packs for hunting trip. |
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Utility worker, Jack Krueger, 19, who finished high school in 1952, earns $2.24 an hour. |
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Prosperous pay-off of after-school jobs brings Mike Sweeney and Harold Riley (right) with Pat Marsh (left), Nita Wheeler, all 17, to Carlsbad's Red Barn restaurant, a favorite party spot. |
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Young couples at formal dance dreamily sway on crowded floor of dim, chandelier-lit ballroom, 1954. |
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Outtake from "Luckiest Generation" feature in LIFE magazine, 1954. |
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Outtake from "Luckiest Generation" feature in LIFE magazine, 1954. |
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Outtake from "Luckiest Generation" feature in LIFE magazine, 1954. |
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Pay in trade is taken by Margaret High, 17, who works in music store, spends salary on records. |
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Breeder of chinchillas, Jere Reid Jr., 17, holds $3,000 animal, has paid off note father co-signed. |
(Photos by Nina Leen—
The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)
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