Known as the fabulous fifties (1950s). IT WAS NOT SODA SHOPS AND JUKE BOXES FOR MY PARENTS

The end of World War II brought thousands of young servicemen back to America to pick up their lives and start new families in new homes with new jobs. With an energy never before experienced, American industry grew to meet peacetime needs. Americans began buying goods not available during the war, which created corporate expansion and jobs.  Growth everywhere.  The baby boom was underway... My parents would add a big enough dent to the boom.

My dad was one of those serviceman. He did not use his GI loan for a bungalow and a picket fence. His vision was entertaining the serviceman and their families brininging sports and  comedy and  a show  an unforgetable afternoon or evening to every town and city across the great USA.


The average ANNUAL  salary was  $2,992 for a 40 hour 52 weeks a year that is  $56.19 a week. My dad charged one dollar to enjoy the ball game. A movie was a quarter 50 cents for a double header. So for a family living on $56.00 a week before Uncle Sam got his , going to a TexasCowGirl game was a big event. Men came in fedora's,women in Sunday's best dress and children in their good  school clothes.  Dempsey booked sold out shows/ games everytime 7 days a week .

The  labor force  in the fifties  sent Rosie The Rivitor back to the kitchen to make room for the men on the assembly lines and factory shifts. The female workforce was reduced to a  male/female: 5/2 workforce . 


My dad did not fit into that status quo either. He hired all females to tour on the road as professional athletes playing basketball aginst men. Some of his female employees on the road were making more than their dad's and  brothers back home.

100 percent of his workforce Oct-May was female 

The acception would be his traveling halftime acts  50/50.

Car sales boomed    to   6,665,800- 1950's   Travel was without communicative devices. A man his female ball team miles of roads no GPS no Cell phones no Wireless ANYTHING. 

No one knows how many cars there are in America today  Many are not registered and are stored, in salvage yards, and some just sitting idle. But, there are approximately 250 million registered vehicles on the road today. That figure includes all types of vehicles.
Approximately 16 million new cars are sold annually. That is a long way from 6 million in the fabulous fifties. When tires were changed and gas pumped, radiator tapped and windows washed   all  at the gas pump. There was no plastic credit or debit  personal contact  and conversation  drove the economy.

The NBA games cost $1.00 -$3.50   depending on the seat you got.
                                           13,000 plus spectators    Dempsey's   CowGirls Win 40-28

Then there was my mom in 1950 she was  16 ,an All American basketball player from Arkansas. Living in a rural town with 99 other folks. An outhouse for bathroom services, and a coal burning stove for cooking and warming water  to bath in a rain catcher. were her amenities. One year later after graduating from HS she would meet my dad and her ammenities would become hotel rooms with  hot showers, restaurant breakfasts, miles of highway travel, and sights across the country, Her daddy with her in the overalls gave her his blessing. She would leave all of her classmates behind. One year later her chilhood classmate Leona on the left in the snow would join her and my dad on the road.

She never grew up with poodle skirts and  head scarves. Overalls were practical and one dress was shared between half a dozen sisters re sewn and adjusted for special events. The overalls were traded in for a shiney basketball uniform  , with Levis designed for the team, cowgirl boots a jacket and cowgirl hat for press interviews and photo shoots  when she became one of my dad's Texas CowGirls.