It's no wonder so many people think of the 1950s as the good old days. The Canadian economy was in prime form, unemployment levels and inflation rates were at rock bottom, and technological innovation was leading to the birth of a number of new industries.
The Canadian economy of the 1950s grew by leaps and bounds. Productivity was high in most sectors, and Canadian manufacturers were able to tap into lucrative export markets in Western Europe -- countries whose own economies had yet to recover from the war.
Fewer than 6% of Canadians were out of work at any given time, and prices for food and consumer goods were relatively stable, creeping up by no more than 2% to 3% each year. These factors combined to create the perfect recipe for prosperity!
Of course, this was also a period of tremendous technological innovation -- a time when some of the products that we take for granted today were coming onto the market for the very first time. Can't imagine a world without television? It wasn't until the 1950s that Canadians began to watch TV.
There were important breakthroughs in other areas as well -- business machines that were able to crunch numbers in record time and satellite technology that promised to revolutionize communications. There were also medical advances that saved lives, such as polio vaccines and penicillin. Last but not least came the birth control pill, first marketed in Canada in 1960.
Yes, these were "happy days" indeed.
