The 1950s are remembered with an air of nostalgia; color photography was just coming into its own at the time, so even relics we have of this decade themselves are nostalgic. The 50s in Pennsylvania were in many ways similar to the lives we lead today, but some things have changed. Check out the below pictures to see some aspects of Pennsylvania life as they were back then.

1. The lobby of the Strickland Mountain Inn in Mount Pocono looked festive in the 1950s. Pocono resorts were hugely popular in this era.
1950sunlimited/ Flickr
2. Many of Pennsylvania's state parks don't look too different today than they did back in the 1950s. Here is Loleta Forest Camp in Allegheny National Forest as it looked in 1958.
Forest History Society/ Flickr
3. Some boys play cricket at Haverford College in 1956.
Roger W/ Flickr
4. A young boy poses atop a pony at Camp Hill in 1957.
wackystuff/ Flickr
5. This photograph was taken at Bella Vista, Philadelphia in the early 1950s.
Jim, the Photographer/ Flickr
The young boy in the picture is actually the Flickr user Jim, the Photographer, many of whose photographs we've featured in Only In Pennsylvania. Thanks, Jim!
6. Carnegie Mellon University has been a major landmark in Pittsburgh for longer than anyone can remember. Here it stands in 1959. You can see University of Pittsburgh's Cathedral of Learning looming in the background.
elston/ Flickr
7. School teacher Albert King and his wife, Mary Elizabeth King, pose in Greene County.
Greene County, Pennsylvania/ Flickr

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8. A woman celebrates her 90th birthday, 1950s style.
Greene County, Pennsylvania/ Flickr
9. Hess Brothers in Allentown as it stood in 1950— Hess was once an iconic department store in the region.
Wikimedia Commons
10. The Plain and Fancy Diner in Allentown in 1959.
Wikimedia Commons
11. Here's another quaint picture of Allentown, this one from 1950. Pictured is the 700 block of Hamilton St.
Wikimedia Commons
12. This photograph was taken in 1997, but it features cars from the late 1950s. Most notable is that Crown supercoach schoolbus. This picture was taken in Hershey.
Wikimedia Commons
13. Some swimmers in the Old Gym at Washington & Jefferson College in 1956.
Wikimedia Commons
14. How beautiful! A wedding party takes photographs at the Rose Gardens in Allentown in 1955.
Wikimedia Commons

Do you have any 50s photos from our state? Feel free to share them below.

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