I actually misread your comment. I guess every era has its pros and cons. I had friends who were born in 1939, and were teens in this ear. They said it was stiflingly dull. I was born in 1946, and was a little kid. For me the world was safe and fun.

I was actually being serious. As society and culture morph over time, there's always some of the baby that gets thrown out along with the bath water.

I also think she was fixin' to dance, she has the gleam in her eye and is ready to get down. Also note the jazzy golden metallic thead woven into both the modern furniture arm AND the radio speaker cover. Being an oldie, I too loved the fifties, everything was streamlined and beautiful, color was used generously and Ikea did not create everyone's environment. Clothing was sharp looking, people COULD smoke and drink (their choice), we did not have "food police", naughty kids got a smack when needed and everyone had more fun but NOTHING was as great as the best-looking cars EVER made (from the fifties through the seventies)in my humble opinion.

Many of the younger generation, who don't remember the 50's, have no understanding of how the dullness and blandness of the era created the convulsive explosion of non-conformity known as the 60's. More or less the only really "Fabulous" thing about the 50's was Marilyn Monroe.

However, if you want to reproduce an authentic 50's environment, just copy every detail in the photo.

On the wall we have a set of framed embossed foil floral representations (filling the same decorative ecological niche as black velvet paintings did somewhat later), and equally if not more ubiquitous, a faux-Chinese landscape, done in vertical to suggest a paper scroll painting. Both available by the bushel in original editions at your local antiques emporium.

Chinese motifs were, for some reason, an extremely popular interior design trend in the 50s. In mid-decade my model-building cohort's folks moved into a Craftsman-style home in Marin County, ripped out the interior and replaced it with a something resembling a lounge in a Las Vegas Chinese restaurant. Very well-done and stylish, but still.

To those who maintain that the decade of my youth was a period of oppressive conformity and mind-numbing blandness, I say: look at the cars and men's ties.