By Dave Link, Eastside News
Browsing through copies of East Side News from the 1950s one gets the sense that this is when “modern times” begins on the east side of Madison. Articles in ESN foreshadow the coming of suburbia and a much greater reliance on consumerism.
On the front page of the April 27, 1950, ESN is the headline “Biggest Building Boom in History Hits East Side.” The corresponding article tells how planned private, commercial and public projects will cost more than $2 million. Up to that point, there were 46 building permits issued on the east side for single-family homes. The estimated cost for all 46 homes is $264,000! Good luck today finding a home on the east side for $264,000. More building projects would continue to move east through the decade.
Homes were also getting more comfortable. The May 1, 1958, ESN has an advertisement by the W.O. Zimmerman company for a furnace with air conditioner — with an offer to pay it off in three years.
Fast food was more prevalent during this time in the neighborhood. The Pup and Burger, 102 Linden Court, advertised it was now open 24 hours. Phil’s Milky Way Drive In at Suburban Corners (the intersection of U.S. Highways 51 and 151) offered 10 cents off purchases on Saturdays and Sundays and the Nibble Nook hamburger chain opened where Tex Tubb’s is today.
Grocery store chains started replacing mom and pop markets. IGA, Kroger and Super Valu all served the area. In fact, the Hi-Lo Super Valu advertised the public could see a U.S. Army Nike anti-aircraft missile on display daily at the corner of Jenifer and Division streets in the Jan. 6, 1959, ESN. Hi-Lo was also running a special for a free five-pounder of sugar with purchase of a carton of cigarettes.
Still, ESN was about community. A small article notified readers that community garden plots were available on unused land next to the Monona Golf Course. They needed to call the East Side Youth Activities Council for information. Another article told of how the Atwood Community House, 2425 Atwood Ave., needed furnishing and kitchen utensils. Interestingly, membership at the center was 250, making it “the largest of the three such agencies sponsored by the Madison Community Chest.”
Local history buffs will know East Side Youth Activities Council turned into Atwood Community House in 1954 and that it’s the forerunner to Goodman Community Center.
ESN also continued to document life on the east side, from youth baseball to celebrating East High School’s state basketball championship in 1958 to Rosebud Beauty Shop’s vibrating mechanical weight reduction machine.
As the article states, “… more than ever before, good figures and correct posture are ‘musts’ if women are to carry off the slim skirts and more ‘hatty’ type of millinery now being advanced by all the important fashion designers.”
Yep, body shaming ’50s style. Not all articles created community.
As the decade closed, there appeared to be no indication about the turmoil to come in the 1960s for East Side News — and I don’t mean social unrest and anti-war demonstrations.