SPOKANE, 22ND STREET AND THE FIFTIES

Marilyn Magney Newkirk began writing about the fifties in 2001 while she was working as a Vice President of Operations for Presbyterian Retirement Communities Northwest.

Marilyn was born in the forties and believed that growing up in the fifties was the most wonderful time to be alive as a child.

Her story begins in the late forties when veterans were returning home from World War II. Marilyn wanted to illustrate what life was like in mid-size America for those returning GI'S.

The city of Spokane, Washington was chosen as that mid-size American town. The city had a rich history in lumber, mining & agriculture and at one time was known as the city of "railroad lines." By the end of the war the population was almost at 100,000.

Her book contains a serious of vignette stories that capture the life styles and societal changes that occurred during the fifties era.

Marilyn talks about the beginning of the interstate highway system, the cold war, how to build bomb shelters, the changes in clothing styles for women. She also goes into detail on how the average family was impacted by new technologies that were sweeping across America and changing the way the American life style. Families began purchasing TV's, rock'n roll music became popular, girls played with paper dolls, and boys played "cowboy & Indians." In the fifties being sent to the principal's office was nothing compared to the fate that awaited kids at home, Gasoline cost 20-30 cents a gallon, and almost everyones dream car was the swept 1957 Chevy.

The author of SPOKANE, 22ND STREET, AND THE FIFTIES, recounts some of the history of Spokane by writing about the famous Davenport Hotel, the beginning of the Lilac and Armed Forces parade, old Natatorium Park and the one of a kind "Looff Carousel," historical Browne's Addition, and the famous Crescent Department store. Intertwined with these historical stories, Marilyn mentions several families in Spokane who in the fifties contributed to the city's growth and expansion and assisted with developing Spokane into the second largest city in the state of Washington.

Mrs. Newkirk believes the era of the fifties in America was filled with electric energy that spurred excitement, prosperity, and creativity.