What was life like in the 1950s?

Not nearly as idyllic as Happy Days and similar shows would have you believe. There was a lot of tension and fear, with the Cold War and worries about Communism, and also a recession during the decade that nobody wanted to talk about. The fact that there was another war (Korea) following World War II, which was supposed to be the "war to end all wars", was a major disappointment to many people. The A-bomb (atomic weapons) and later the H-bomb (thermonuclear weapons) were supposed to be deterrents against any future warfare. That didn't happen.

The Civil Rights Movement and Women's Liberation were in their infancy, the Gay Rights movement didn't even exist, marijuana was considered a "dangerous narcotic", and there were numerous restrictive laws against nearly everything that came to be accepted in later years (interracial marriage, cohabitation, divorce on grounds other than adultery, recreational and non-missionary styles of sex, open discussions about sex and relationships). Cigarette smoking was considered harmless, and driving drunk was actually a legitimate legal defense, if one got into an accident.

Life was rough in the 1950s. At school students would get beat with shoes, rulers, sticks, and hands if they were punished. Only some kids from each neighborhood went to school. Some Catholic school had uniforms but the public schools didn't.