1958 Pop Culture

Inventions and innovations

• The microchip was first developed by Intel
• The Wham-O company introduces the Hula Hoop. Over 100 million are sold.
• The Jolly Green Giant appears on TV with less than stellar results! In his first incarnation he looked like a monster which scared kids. So they lightened him up and added "Ho, ho, ho" and the lilting "Good things from the garden" song.
• Sweet n' Low is introduced as an artificial Sweetener, using saccharin instead of sugar.
  
• Cocoa Krispies breakfast food is introduced by the Kellogg Company; it's 45.9% sugar.
• Cocoa Puffs is introduced by General Mills; it contains 43% sugar.
  
• Rice-a-Roni, "The San Francisco Treat," is introduced to stores.
• Friskees introduces the first dry cat food
• Eighteen-year-old Frank Carney sees a story in the Saturday Evening Post about the "pizza fad" among teenagers and college students. With $600 borrowed from his mother, he opens the first Pizza Hut in Wichita, Kansas.
• Bill and Mark Richards of Dana Point, CA, invented the first skateboard. They attached rollerskate wheels to a square board and sold them at their Val Surf Shop for $8 each.

Celebrities born in 1958:

Ellen DeGeneres – Jan. 26
Ice-T – Feb. 16
Mary Chapin Carpenter – Feb 24
Gary Oldman – March 21
Alec Baldwin – April 3
Kenneth “babyface” Edmonds – April 10
Michelle Pfeiffer – April 29
Drew Carey – May 23
Prince – June 7
Kevin Bacon – July 8
Madonna- August 16
Angela Bassett – August 16
Michael Jackson – August 29
Jeff Foxworthy – Sept 6
Bernie Mac – Oct. 5
Thomas Dolby – Oct. 14
Tim Robbins – Oct. 16
Alan Jackson – Oct. 17
Jamie Lee Curtis – Nov. 22

Top 10 films of 1958:

The Bridge on the River Kwai
Peyton Place
Sayonara
No Time for Sergeants
The Vikings
The Search for Paradise
South Pacific
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Gigi

Other popular movies of 1958:
Attack of the 50-foot Woman
The Blob
The Fly
South Pacific
Touch of Evil
Vertigo

Popular songs:

At the Hop – Danny and the Juniors
Tequilla – The Champs
To Know Him Is to Love him – The Teddy Bears
It’s Only Make Believe – Conway Twitty
Get A Job – The Silhouettes
Hard Headed Woman – Elvis Presley
Jailhouse Rock - Elvis
Litlle Star – The Elegants
Bird Dog – The Everly Brothers
Yakety Yak – The Coasters
Great Balls of Fire – Jerry Lee Lewis
Sweet Little Sixteen – Chuck Berry
Lollipop – The Chordettes

Top TV shows:

Gunsmoke
The Danny Thomas Show
Have Gun Will Travel
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Tales of Wells Fargo
I’ve Got A Secret
Lassie
This is Your Life
Cheyenne
Father Knows Best
The Perry Como Show