The 1950s in America were conservative and very strong anticommunist attitudes. One of the most popular programs, and one I watched every week it was on, was "I was a Communist for the FBI" a program about FBI agent Herb Philbrick. That was the decade when "under God" was added to the Pledge of Allegiance. Religious Americans knew the Russians were opposed to religion, so that added to the non-military/cold/political war between the US and USSR.
Since the US in the 50s was conservative, so were the fashions American generations wore. Many men wore grey flannel suits, and that was the title of a movie starring Gregory Peck. That movie was a story of the post WWII and 1950s decade. Women wore dresses with tight waists and high heels. French fashions were copied: Dior, Chanel and Givenchy.
Families worked, vacationed in national parks and Disneyland and played together. Kids held gender roles: boys copied Davy Crocket...a very popular Disney TV series and many wore raccoon lids. Roy Roger and Gene Autry, the singing cowboys, were also popular. Some fashions were very popular. Bill Blass and his blue jeans, poodle skirts made of felt and decorated with sequins and poodle appliques, pony tails for girls, and flat tops and crew cuts for guys. Teen boys were defined in the popular teen movie that decade, Rebel Without a Cause, starring James Dean...a popular actor who never lived to an old age.
Kids liked activities in those 50s days of "looking in the sky for flying saucers", watching Dick Clark and teen dancing on American Bandstand. It was common for us to watch that when we got home from school. Many dances were held often at Rogers: special ones or short ones. Hula hoops were also used by many kids.
Those were fun years for that generation, even though they were sometimes scary years.