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1950s - Part 2 - Photos give a revealing insight into everyday life in Melbourne in the 1950s
1950s Melbourne:
16 July 1954: Buildings at 88-92 Puckle St, Moonee Ponds that were bought by Woolworths for $84,000.
1954: This dance craze called the Roo Roo Kangaroo was introduced in Victoria at Ormond Hall.
28 July 1954: Locals chat outside a new shopping centre at Nunawading.
1954: Dandenong Town Hall.
1954: Corner of Barkly St and Nicholson St, Footscray.
1954: Bay St, Frankston.
1954: Newsboys Leon Wiegard, Wally Leckie, Kenneth Brian White, Paul Wenn and Brian Galley leave for their rounds.
1955: Intersection of Mount Alexander Rd and Fletcher St in Essendon.
1956: Workers unload ships at Melbourne docklands.
1956: Ahead of the Olympic Games opening in Melbourne, a giant torch was placed outside Flinders St.
November 1956: The Olympics came to town.
Crowds watch the opening ceremony.
1956: Station St, Sandringham.
1 January 1957: Graham Horn, Lillian Stiles, Peter Hunt and Julie Barlow were all dressed up for New Year's Eve at Luna Park. The original caption noted that the group had “a gay time”.
1957: Immigrant men play billiards in the Democritus Club.
1957: Shoppers in Bourke St.
1958: Heatwave? Children at the North Melbourne Day Nursery grab a cool drink.
1958: North Melbourne footballer Laurie Dwyer was nicknamed “Twinkle Toes” and is pictured with his dance partner Veronica Boyhan, with whom he became a national ballroom dancing champion.
AUGUST 1959: South Melbourne footballer Bob Skilton at work.
LIFE IN 1950s MELBOURNE AT A GLANCE
Price of a loaf of bread: 8 cents
Average yearly wage for male factory workers: $592.33
Average yearly wage for female factory workers: $294.40
Average yearly wage for a male clerk or manager: $866.14
Average yearly wage for a female clerk or manager: $325.06
Unemployment rate: 1-1.7 per cent
Biggest names in sport: Dawn Fraser, Betty Cuthbert, Peter Thomson.
Latest tech device (the tablet of its day): Television
Population of Melbourne: 1.3 million in 1950
