Fifties Culture Research Page
for the Rick Walker detective novels
"He who acts on inspiration has much to explain afterwards,as my friend Pepi said when he tried to write a detective story."
— John Dickson Carr [in 'Four False Weapons']
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Geography Dept.
Transportation Dept. Fifties-Era Culture Dept. Music of the Fifties |
homepage of Rick Walker, Private Investigator
Cameo Characters Dept.
The Beat Generation [circa 1959]
Howard Hughes [1905-76]
'Frenchy' Rabaitelle
Preston Sturges [1898-1959]
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"Romanoff, Prince of Rogues: The Life & Times of A Hollywood Icon" [1997] by Jane Pejsa Kenwood Publng 9¼x6¼ hardcover [10/97] out of print/used Mike Romanoff entry at Wikipedia
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Geography Dept.
The Ridge Route
Ridge Route Communities Museum
Rick Walker Route 66 Page
Venice of America
McCloud, California Lumberjack Fiesta [in July since 1948]
Catalina Island (off the coast of Southern California)
 | "The Great Black Way: L.A. In The 1940s & The Lost Negro Renaissance" [2006] by R.J. Smith PublicAffairs pb [8/2007] for $11.53 PublicAffairs 9¼x6½ hardcover [6/2006] for $26.95 |
 | "Landmark L.A: Historic-Cultural Landmarks of Los Angeles" [2002] Edited by Jeffrey Herr Photos & descriptions of 700 historic-cultural monuments designated, protected and preserved by the City of Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission. Angel City Press 6x9 pb [11/2002] for $13.97 |
 | "Sunset Boulevard: Cruising The Heart of Los Angeles" [2002] by Amy Dawes L.A. Times Books 10x7½ pb [5/2002] for $17.46 |
 | "The San Fernando Valley: America's Suburb" [2001] by Kevin Roderick L.A. Times Books 11x8 pb [8/2001] for $24.95 author's booksite |
 | "Fabulous Las Vegas In The 50s: Glitz, Glamour & Games" [1999] by Fred E. Basten & Charles Phoenix Angel City Press 9½x9½ hardcover [10/99] for $18.86 |
 | "Los Angeles A to Z: An Encyclopedia of The City & County"[1997] by Leonard & Dale Pitt Univ CA Press 10x7 pb [10/2000] for $17.47 Univ CA Press 10.3x7.3 hardcover [6/97] out of print/used |
Fifties-Era Transportation Dept.
Aviation Museums list
Preston Tucker & the 1948 Tucker Torpedo
San Pedro [CA] 'Red Car' Trolley
The Automotive Chronicles +
McClellan's Automotive
Old Cars - classic cars classifieds
Surfing Woodies Page at Spirit of America Bookstore
![Oldsmobile [1897-2004] logo](images/olds-bw.gif)
![Packard Automobiles [1899-1958] logo](images/Packard.jpg)
![Studebaker Corp. [1852-1966] logo](images/studebaker.gif)
![Natl. Hot Rod Assn. [est. 1951]](images/NHRA.gif)
![Wally Parks NHRA Museum, Pomona CA [est. 1998]](images/NHRAmuseum.gif)
Fifties-Era Culture Dept.
'The Beat Generation' at Maison d'Ętre Beatnik Coffeehouse
Roadside Diners & Coffee Shops
Surfing & Surfing Woodies
L.A. Radio People
Santa Anita Racetrack &
Clockers Corner Cafe
Hopalong Cassidy
The Cisco Kid & Pancho
Sundog's 'The Forties' fansite
Googie-style roadside architecture at Spirit of America Bookstore
Hollywood Blacklist Pages at Magic Lantern Video & Book Store
Atomic USA Page at Spirit of America
 | Conelrad [atomic civil defense]
Cold War Era Civil Defense Museum |
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"Everyday Fashions of The Forties As Pictured In Sears Catalogs" [1992] Edited & with Introduction by JoAnne Olian Dover Publns 11½x8¾ pb [1/92] for $10.06 "Everyday Fashions of The Fifties As Pictured In Sears Catalogs" [2002] Edited by JoAnne Olian Dover Publns 11¾x9 pb [9/2002] for $10.17 |
 | "The Fifties" [1993] by David Halberstam
Fawcett pb [6/94] for $10.50 Random House hardcover [4/96] out of print/used Villard 9½x6½ hardcover [6/93] out of print/used Random House Audio [6/93] out of stock/used |
 | "The Brown Derby Restaurant: A Hollywood Legend" [1996] by Sally Wright Cobb & Marc Willems Rizzoli pb [2/2005] out of print/used Rizzoli Intl. 9¾x9¾ hardcover [10/96] out of print/used official website • entry at Wikipedia |
 | "David Halberstam's The Fifties" tv miniseries [A&E/History airdate Nov 1997] Narrated by Edward Herrmann A&E VHS [2/98] 6 tapes for $89.95 full credits from IMDb |
 | "The Dream Endures: California Enters The 1940s" [1997] by Kevin Starr, California State Librarian Emeritus Oxford Univ Press 9x6 pb [11/2002] for $22.45 Oxford Univ Press 9½x6½ hardcover [5/97] for $48.00 |
 | "A Cultural History of The United States Through The Decades - The 1940s" [grades 6-10; 1998] by Michael V. Uschan Covers World War II and its effects at home and abroad, the beginnings of the Cold War, the growth of suburban living, the rise of television, and the development of the first electronic computers Lucent Books 11x8½ hardcover [9/98] out of print/many used |
 | "A Cultural History of The United States Through The Decades - The 1950s" [grades 6-10; 1998] by Stuart A. Kallen Covers the stark contrasts between the black and white populations of the U.S., between the affluence of the postwar period (and innovations in science & technology) and the tensions of nuclear proliferation, and between the straitlaced, anti-Communist 'establishment' and radical new expressions in music, literature, and film Greenhaven Press 8½x5½ pb [1/2000] out of print/used Lucent Books 9x7¾ hardcover [9/98] out of print/used |
 | "Remembering Muscle Beach: Where Hard Bodies Began - Photographs & Memories" [1999] by Harold Zinkin, with Bonnie Hearn (Hill) Angel City Press 9½x9½ hardcover [6/99] out of print/used |
 | "Grandma's Wartime Kitchen: World War II & The Way We Cooked" [2000] by Joanne Lamb Hayes St. Martin 9½x7¾ hardcover [11/2000] for $20.40 "Grandma's Wartime Baking Book: World War II & The Way We Baked" [2003] by Joanne Lamb Hayes St. Martin 9½x7¾ hardcover [11/2003] out of print/used |
 | "Diners, Bowling Alleys and Trailer Parks: Chasing The American Dream In Postwar Consumer Culture" [2001] by Andrew Hurley Basic Books 8x5 pb [2/2002] for $17.95 Basic Books 8½x6 hardcover [2/2001] out of print |
 | "Southern California In The '50s: Sun, Fun & Fantasy" [2001] by Charles Phoenix Angel City Press 9¼x9½ hardcover [9/2001] for $24.50 |
 | "Embattled Dreams: California In War & Peace, 1940-1950" [2002] by Kevin Starr, California State Librarian Emeritus Oxford Univ Press 9x6 pb [9/2003] for $22.45 Oxford Univ Press 9½x6½ hardcover [5/2002] out of print/used |
 | "Scene of The Crime: Photographs From The L.A.P.D. Archive" [2004] Foreword by Chief William J. Bratton, Introduction by James Ellroy, Essay by Tim B. Wride Harry N. Abrams 13½x8¼ hardcover [10/2004] for $23.80 |
 | "A Gallery of Stars: The Story of The Hollywood Brown Derby Wall of Fame" [2005] by Jack Lane, the Brown Derby's resident caricaturist Luminary Press 9x6 hardcover [6/2005] for $25.00 |
 | "The King of the Sunset Strip: Hangin' With Mickey Cohen & The Hollywood Mob" [2006] by Steve Stevens & Craig Lockwood Cumberland House pb [4/2006] for $16.47 |
 | "American Culture In The 1950s" [2007] by Martin Halliwell Edinburgh Univ Press 9x6½ pb [8/2007] for $29.50 Edinburgh Univ Press 9¼x6½ hardcover [8/2007] for $100.00 |
 | "Golden Dreams: California In An Age of Abundance, 1950-1963" [2009] by Kevin Starr, California State Librarian Emeritus Oxford Univ Press 9¼x6½ hardcover [7/2009] for $23.07 |
 | "It Came From The 1950s!: Popular Culture, Popular Anxieties" [2011] Edited by Darryl Jones, Elizabeth McCarthy & Bernice M. Murphy Palgrave Macmillan hardcover [11/2011] for $68.07 |
Cinema History By Decade - 1950s at Magic Lantern Video & Book Store
Music of the Fifties
Jazz Music Page at Spirit of America Bookstore
Rock 'n' Roll Music Page at Spirit of America Bookstore
Tiki Culture Section on Spirit of America's Fifties Nostalgia Page
'Your Hit Parade' 1935-55
'Your Hit Parade' 1955-59
 | "Central Avenue Sounds: Jazz In Los Angeles" [1998] Edited by Clora Bryant Univ CA Press 9x6 pb [12/99] for $13.97 Univ CA Press 9½x6½ hardcover [3/98] out of print/used |
 | "The Black Music History of Los Angeles, It Roots: A Classical Pictorial History of Black Music In L.A. From 1920-1970" [1992] by Tom Reed, with photos by Howard Morehead & others Black Accent on L.A. hardcover [10/92] out of print/used |
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