Natalie Wood and Steve Rowland apparently on their way to a game of Chicken at the Thalians Beach Ball in Malibu, 1956. BY EARL LEAF/MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVES/GETTY IMAGES. via
San Onofre, California, 1950. Loomis Dean/Life Pictures/Shutterstock via
Spring Break by Slim Aarons. High schoolers picnic on the beach at Bonita Springs, Florida, 1955 via
Sandra Dee plays with her pet poodle, while filming Gidget on the beach in 1958 via
1950s Beach Fashion by Nina Leen. The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock via
Marilyn Monroe goofs around on the beach, while filming for a project in Los Angeles, California in 1950 via
San Onofre, Calif., 1950. Loomis Dean/Life Pictures/Shutterstock via
Crazy Swim Caps 1959 by Ralph Crane. The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock via
Young people 16 to 20 are the beneficiaries of the very economic collapse that brought chaos almost a generation ago. The Depression tumbled the nation’s birth rate to an all-time low in 1933, and today’s teenage group is proportionately a smaller part of the total population than in more than 70 years. Since there are fewer of them, each in the most prosperous time in U.S. history gets a bigger piece of the nation’s economic pie than any previous generation ever got. This means they can almost have their pick of the jobs that are around. . . . To them working has a double attraction: the pay is good and, since their parents are earning more too, they are often able to keep the money for themselves.
‘The Luckiest Generation’: Teenagers in the ’50s
Jere Reid Jr., 17, who bred chinchillas, held one valued at $3,000. Nina Leen The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock via
A young sales girl holding up a blouse to a store customer. Nina Leen The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock via
A young investor, David Lenske, 17, having bought four shares of A.T.&T., talked with a banker. Nina Leen The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock via
Pay in trade was taken by Margaret High, 17, who worked in a music store and spent her salary on records. Nina Leen The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock via
The Luckiest Generation Nina Leen The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock via
Rada Alexander, 19, a bookkeeper, earned $200 a month in a job she got with an auto firm after graduation. Nina Leen The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock via
An electrician, Jack Harris, 16, still in school, picked up good pay doing part-time repair jobs. Nina Leen The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock via
The prosperous pay-off of after-school jobs brought Mike Sweeney and Harold Riley (right) with Pat Marsh (left) and Nita Wheeler, all 17, to Carlsbad’s Red Barn restaurant, a favorite party spot. Nina Leen The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock via
FROM THE BYGONE 