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The 1950's

Fun Fads of the Fab Fifties

Fun Fads of the Fab Fifties
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 4 to 6
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   3.83

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    backwoods, coonskin, disc, Flyin, homespun, mania, mid-fifties, skillful, sling-shot, toymakers, wacky, zipping, renamed, discs, ducking, pluto
     content words:    Frisbee Baking Company, Pluto Platters, Down Under, Hula Hoop, Hula Hoops, Davy Crockett, Walt Disney, Fess Parker, Potato Head, Candy Land

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Fun Fads of the Fab Fifties
By Toni Lee Robinson 		  
1     The Fifties brought good times to the U.S. A terrible world war was over. There were lots of jobs. Families could afford the things they needed. People felt free to be more playful. Scads of new toys hit the shelves and people bought them by the thousands. Many games and toys we love today were new in the Fifties.
 
2     The idea of the Frisbee had been around for awhile. No one knows exactly when it started. It may have been invented by students. The Frisbee Baking Company in Connecticut was a favorite place for guys going to college at Yale. The college guys ate stacks and stacks of Frisbee's pies. When the pies were gone, the fun loving students found a use for the empty pans. The circles of metal made great missiles!
 
3     The Yalies spent their free time flinging the metal pans back and forth. They found that people passing by didn't like having their hair parted by a flying pie pan, even if it was empty. That didn't stop the college boys.
 
4     They did feel they should give a warning, though. When the pan was flung, the thrower yelled "Frisbee!" (The baker's name was stamped on the bottom of the pan. It was the last thing the pitcher saw as the pan sailed over the crowd.) The metal disc might still slap someone on the head. But the victim couldn't say he hadn't been warned.

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