1954 History, Facts, and Trivia
Quick Facts from 1954
- World-Changing Event: The Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Brown v. Board of Education on May 17, 1954, that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional — overturning Plessy v. Ferguson after 58 years and setting the legal foundation for the civil rights movement
- Other World-Changing Event: RCA put the first color television sets on sale to the public. They cost $1,000. About 29 million American households had televisions, nearly all of which were still in black and white.
- Biggest Songs: Three Coins in the Fountain by the Four Aces, Secret Love by Doris Day, and Goodnight, Sweetheart, Goodnight by The Spaniels
- Influential Songs: Mr. Sandman by The Chordettes, Shake, Rattle and Roll by Joe Turner, Earth Angel by The Penguins
- Must-See Movies: Rear Window, On the Waterfront, Godzilla, Sabrina, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Dial M for Murder, and Creature from the Black Lagoon
- The Most Famous Person in America: John Wayne
- Notable Books: The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien and Lord of the Flies by William Golding
- Redwood picnic table set: $22.00; RCA Victor color TV: $1,000.00; milk (gallon): 91 cents; Swanson TV dinner: 89 cents
- U.S. Life Expectancy: Males 66.7 years, Females 72.8 years
- The Funny Comedy Duo: Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis; The Funniest TV Duo: Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca; The Funny Late Show Host: Steve Allen; The Funny Guy: Milton Berle; The Funny Girl: Jean Carroll; The Funny TV Lady: Lucille Ball
- Chinese Zodiac: Year of the Horse, associated with energy, freedom, and a restless need for motion
- The Conversation: Did you hear about the Supreme Court school ruling? And have you tried one of those TV dinners yet?
Top Ten Baby Names of 1954
Girls: Mary, Linda, Deborah, Patricia, Susan
Boys: Michael, Robert, James, John, David
Fashion Icons and Sex Symbols
Martine Carol, Dorothy Dandridge, Doris Day, Diana Dors, Anita Ekberg, Ava Gardner, Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, Gina Lollobrigida, Sophia Loren, Jayne Mansfield, Marilyn Monroe, Julie Newmar, Kim Novak, Bettie Page, Jane Russell, Elizabeth Taylor, Mamie Van Doren
Hollywood Hunks and Sex Symbols
Marlon Brando, Harry Belafonte, Humphrey Bogart, Montgomery Clift
The Quotes
“Hey kids, what time is it? It’s Howdy Doody time!” — The Howdy Doody Show
“Melts in your mouth, not in your hands.” — M&Ms
“You don’t understand! I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I could’ve been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am.” — Marlon Brando, On the Waterfront
“Winston tastes good like a cigarette should.” — Winston Cigarettes
“Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?” — Joseph Welch, Army counsel, to Senator Joseph McCarthy, June 9, 1954
Time Magazine’s Man of the Year
John Foster Dulles, Secretary of State under President Eisenhower, was recognized for his aggressive anti-communist foreign policy, including the doctrine of “massive retaliation” and the formation of SEATO
Miss America and Miss USA
Miss America: Evelyn Ay, Ephrata, PA Miss USA: Miriam Stevenson, South Carolina
We Lost in 1954
Johnny Ace, the rhythm-and-blues singer known for Pledging My Love, died December 25, 1954, backstage at a concert in Houston. He had been playing with a handgun between sets and reportedly pointed it at himself, saying the gun wasn’t loaded. His last words were approximately: “It’s okay! Gun’s not loaded… see?” He was 25.
Enrico Fermi, the nuclear physicist who built the world’s first nuclear reactor under the bleachers at the University of Chicago in 1942 and whose work was foundational to both nuclear power and nuclear weapons, died November 28, 1954, at age 53, of stomach cancer, likely related to radiation exposure from his work on the Manhattan Project.
Maurice Tillet — “The French Angel,” a professional wrestler whose acromegaly — a glandular condition causing abnormal bone growth — gave him a distinctive appearance. He was, according to the creators of Shrek, the physical inspiration for the character’s face. He died September 4, 1954, at age 51.
Born in 1954
Oprah Winfrey — January 29, 1954. John Travolta — February 18, 1954. Jackie Chan — April 7, 1954. Denzel Washington — December 28, 1954. Ruby Bridges — September 8, 1954, who, the following year, would become the first Black child to integrate William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans.
America in 1954 — The Context
Dwight D. Eisenhower was in the second year of his first term. The Korean War had ended in July 1953, and the country was exhaling from a decade of war and crisis. The economy was growing, the suburbs were filling up, and television was in half of American homes, with that share climbing. The Cold War was the dominant fact of international life, and at home it had produced Senator Joseph McCarthy, whose hearings into communist infiltration of the federal government had created a climate of fear and accusation that was, in 1954, finally beginning to collapse.
Two events defined the year politically: the Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling that school segregation was unconstitutional, and the nationally televised Army-McCarthy hearings that exposed McCarthy’s methods to the American public for the first time. One was the beginning of something enormous. The other was the end of something corrosive.
Brown v. Board of Education
On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court issued its unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, reversing its 1896 decision in Plessy v. Ferguson, which had established the “separate but equal” doctrine used to justify segregation in schools, public transportation, and other facilities across the South. Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote: “We conclude that in the field of public education, the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.”
The decision did not immediately desegregate American schools — that process took decades of follow-up litigation, federal enforcement, and often violent resistance. But it established the legal framework that made every subsequent civil rights advance possible. It is considered one of the most significant Supreme Court decisions in American history.
The ruling provoked a formal “Declaration of Constitutional Principles,” signed by 19 senators and 77 representatives from Southern states in 1956 — known as the “Southern Manifesto” — pledging resistance to it. The resistance it predicted was substantial. The ruling stood regardless.
The Army-McCarthy Hearings
Senator Joseph McCarthy had been the dominant political figure of the early 1950s, his accusations of communist infiltration creating a climate of fear that destroyed careers, inspired loyalty oaths, and produced blacklists in Hollywood, academia, and government. His power peaked in 1953. In 1954, it collapsed.
McCarthy turned his attention to the U.S. Army, accusing it of harboring communists and subversives. The Army, for the first time, fought back. The hearings were televised nationally from April 22 to June 17, 1954, and millions of Americans watched McCarthy in action for the first time. What they saw was a bully: interrupting witnesses, making baseless accusations, and badgering anyone who challenged him.
On June 9, 1954, Army counsel Joseph Welch, responding to McCarthy’s attack on a young Army lawyer named Fred Fisher, turned to the senator and said: “Until this moment, Senator, I think I never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness… Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?”
The room fell silent. McCarthy tried to continue. The moment had passed. His approval ratings collapsed. The Senate voted to censure him 67-22 on December 2, 1954. He died in 1957.
Elvis Presley’s First Recording
On July 5, 1954, Elvis Presley recorded That’s All Right at Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee, with guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black. Sam Phillips, the studio’s owner, had reportedly been looking for a white performer who could sing with the feel of Black rhythm-and-blues music. The session was casual — Presley was there for a professional audition, broke into the song during a break, and Phillips immediately recognized what he was hearing. That’s All Right was released as a single on July 19, 1954. Elvis was 19 years old. It was his first commercial recording.
Willie Mays’ Catch
In Game 1 of the 1954 World Series at the Polo Grounds on September 29, Cleveland Indians batter Vic Wertz hit a deep fly ball to center field — a ball that by all conventional analysis should have dropped for a hit. Willie Mays turned his back to the infield, ran at full speed, and caught the ball over his shoulder at the warning track approximately 460 feet from home plate, then whirled and threw back to the infield to prevent base runners from scoring. It is known simply as “The Catch” — the most celebrated defensive play in baseball history.
The Giants went on to sweep the Indians in four games, one of the largest upsets in World Series history. The Indians had won 111 games that season.
Pop Culture Facts and History
Roger Bannister ran the first sub-four-minute mile on May 6, 1954, at Oxford’s Iffley Road Track, finishing in 3 minutes 59.4 seconds. The four-minute barrier had been considered by some physiologists to be at or near the human physical limit. Bannister broke it, stopped competitive running shortly afterward, and became a distinguished neurologist. He was knighted in 1975 for his contributions to medicine, not to running.
The Swanson TV dinner was introduced in 1954, priced at 89 cents. It came in an aluminum tray with turkey, cornbread dressing, sweet potatoes, and peas, and was designed to be heated in the oven in 25 minutes. The name was a deliberate marketing choice: Swanson wanted the product associated with television, the decade’s defining appliance. Americans bought 10 million TV dinners in the first year.
Sports Illustrated published its first issue on August 16, 1954, with Milwaukee Braves outfielder Eddie Mathews on the cover. The magazine was initially dismissed as a commercial risk — conventional wisdom held that there wasn’t enough sports content to fill a weekly magazine. The conventional wisdom was wrong.
Burger King was founded in 1954 in Miami, Florida, by James McLamore and David Edgerton. The original location used an open-flame broiler that McLamore had designed himself. The Whopper was introduced in 1957.
Marilyn Monroe married Joe DiMaggio at San Francisco City Hall on January 14, 1954. He was 39, she was 27. The marriage lasted nine months. DiMaggio reportedly objected to the famous scene in The Seven Year Itch where Monroe’s dress blows up over a subway grate. They divorced in October 1954. DiMaggio sent roses to her grave three times a week until his death in 1999.
The Marlboro Man debuted in 1954, designed by the advertising agency Leo Burnett. Marlboro had spent decades as a premium cigarette marketed to women with the slogan “Mild as May” and a red filter tip intended to conceal lipstick stains. The relaunch, centered on rugged, Western masculine imagery, increased sales by over 3,000% within a year. The cigarette’s formula was unchanged. The marketing did everything.
The Castle Bravo hydrogen bomb test was conducted by the United States on March 1, 1954, at Bikini Atoll in the Pacific. The explosion produced a yield of 15 megatons — three times the predicted 5 megatons — making it the largest nuclear detonation in American history. The unexpected yield spread radioactive fallout over a much larger area than anticipated, contaminating the crew of a Japanese fishing vessel, the Daigo Fukuryū Maru, approximately 80 miles away. The test accelerated the global debate about nuclear weapons testing and contributed to the eventual nuclear test ban treaties.
The first mass vaccination of children against polio began on February 23, 1954, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, using Jonas Salk’s vaccine. The trial involved 1.8 million children. The vaccine was declared safe and effective in April 1955. Within two years, polio cases in the U.S. dropped by 85%.
The USS Nautilus — the world’s first nuclear-powered submarine — was launched on January 21, 1954, at the Electric Boat Company in Groton, Connecticut. First Lady Mamie Eisenhower broke the traditional bottle of champagne on the hull. Its first transmission on nuclear power, made January 17, 1955, was: “Underway on nuclear power.”
Ellis Island closed as an immigration station on November 12, 1954, after processing approximately 12 million immigrants since 1892. The last person processed through Ellis Island was Norwegian merchant seaman Arne Peterssen. The island sat vacant until 1976, when it reopened as a museum in 1990.
Bell Labs developed the first practical silicon solar cell in 1954, announcing that it could convert approximately 6% of sunlight hitting it into electricity. The researchers predicted it would never be economically practical. Subsequent decades did not confirm this prediction.
Godzilla premiered in Japan on November 3, 1954, directed by Ishiro Honda and produced by Toho Company. The original film was a serious work about nuclear anxiety, drawing directly on the trauma of Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and the Castle Bravo test. The American version, released in 1956, added scenes featuring Raymond Burr and edited out most of the film’s political content. Godzilla is now the longest continuously-running movie franchise in history, still in production over 70 years later.
The Comics Code Authority was established in 1954 following the publication of Fredric Wertham’s Seduction of the Innocent, which claimed comic books caused juvenile delinquency and asserted, among other things, that Batman and Robin were gay lovers and that Wonder Woman was a lesbian. Congressional hearings followed. The Comics Code prohibited horror and terror in titles, required good to always triumph over evil, and mandated “dress reasonably acceptable to society” for all characters. The Code effectively killed EC Comics, one of the most creative publishers of the era, and constrained the medium for decades.
The CIA produced and financed an animated film version of George Orwell’s Animal Farm in 1954, altering the ending to make it more explicitly anti-Soviet. Orwell had died in 1950 and was not consulted. The CIA’s involvement was not publicly confirmed until the 1970s.
The “call sign” Air Force One was formally established in 1954 after an incident in which a commercial Eastern Air Lines flight and President Eisenhower’s aircraft operated under the same flight number in the same airspace. Air Traffic Control became briefly confused about which aircraft they were tracking. The dedicated call sign was created to ensure that any aircraft carrying the president would always have an unambiguous identity in the air traffic system.
The words “under God” were added to the Pledge of Allegiance on June 14, 1954, by act of Congress, in response to the perceived threat of atheistic communism. The original 1892 pledge had no religious language. The addition has been the subject of constitutional challenges ever since.
Joseph Murray completed the first successful organ transplant on December 23, 1954, at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston — a kidney transplant between identical twin brothers Richard and Ronald Herrick. The surgery took approximately five hours. Richard Herrick lived eight more years. Ronald Herrick, the donor, lived until 2010. Murray won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1990 for the work.
The first transistor radio, the Regency TR-1, went on sale in October 1954 at $49.95. The size of a paperback book, it was the first consumer product using transistors rather than vacuum tubes. Young people could now listen to music away from the family living room, which turned out to matter significantly.
The term “mondegreen” — a misheard lyric that creates a new meaning — was coined in 1954 by writer Sylvia Wright in a Harper’s Magazine essay. She described mishearing the line “and laid him on the green” in a Scottish ballad as “and Lady Mondegreen.” The word has been in standard use in linguistics and musicology since.
April 11, 1954, has been identified by a data analysis program as the most boring day in recorded modern history. The most noteworthy events of the day were Belgium’s general election and the birth of a Turkish academic. The program examined 300 million historical data points. April 11, 1954, produced essentially none of them.
Willie Mosconi sank 526 consecutive pool balls without a miss in Springfield, Ohio, in 1954, setting a record that has never been approached.
Paul Newman took out an advertisement in Variety magazine apologizing for his performance in the 1954 film The Silver Chalice. When the film was later broadcast on television, he also placed an advertisement in a Los Angeles newspaper urging viewers not to watch it.
The 26th Academy Awards
From Here to Eternity won eight Academy Awards at the ceremony on March 25, 1954, including Best Picture. Audrey Hepburn won Best Actress for Roman Holiday. William Holden won Best Actor for Stalag 17. Hepburn had appeared in the Broadway production of Gigi before being cast in Roman Holiday — a transition from stage to screen that earned her an Oscar on her first nomination.
Nobel Prize Winners
Physics — Max Born and Walther Bothe. Born for his fundamental research in quantum mechanics, particularly for his statistical interpretation of the wavefunction; Bothe for the coincidence method and his discoveries made therewith
Chemistry — Linus Pauling for his research into the nature of the chemical bond and its application to the structure of complex substances; Pauling later also won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1962, making him one of only four people to win two Nobel Prizes and the only one to win two unshared prizes
Medicine — John Enders, Thomas Weller, and Frederick Robbins for their discovery of the ability of poliomyelitis viruses to grow in cultures of various types of tissue, which made the Salk polio vaccine possible
Literature — Ernest Hemingway for his mastery of the art of narrative, most recently demonstrated in The Old Man and the Sea; Hemingway was hunting in Africa when he heard the news, having survived two consecutive plane crashes the month before
Peace — Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Broadway in 1954
The Pajama Game opened May 13, 1954, at the St. James Theatre, with music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. It ran for 1,063 performances, won the Tony Award for Best Musical, and produced Hey There and Hernando’s Hideaway. The original production was directed and choreographed by Bob Fosse and George Abbott.
Hello, Dolly! — still a decade away — but 1954 saw significant theatrical activity. The Boy Friend opened in September, launching Julie Andrews’ Broadway career at age 18.
Best Film Oscar Winner
From Here to Eternity, directed by Fred Zinnemann, starring Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Frank Sinatra, Donna Reed, and Deborah Kerr, won Best Picture at the 26th Academy Awards in March 1954, presented for the 1953 film year. Frank Sinatra’s career had been in significant decline before the film; his performance as Maggio revived it entirely.
Top Movies of 1954
- Rear Window
- White Christmas
- 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
- There’s No Business Like Show Business
- On the Waterfront
- The Glenn Miller Story
- Sabrina
- Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
- Creature from the Black Lagoon
- Dial M for Murder
Most Popular TV Shows of 1954
- I Love Lucy (CBS)
- The Jackie Gleason Show (CBS)
- Dragnet (NBC)
- You Bet Your Life (NBC)
- The Toast of the Town (CBS)
- Disneyland (ABC)
- The Jack Benny Show (CBS)
- The George Gobel Show (NBC)
- Ford Theatre (NBC)
- December Bride (CBS)
The Disneyland anthology series premiered on ABC on October 27, 1954, and was the first significant partnership between a major Hollywood studio and a television network. Disney used the show partly to promote the Disneyland theme park, then under construction in Anaheim, California. Father Knows Best also premiered in 1954, along with Lassie.
1954 Billboard Number One Songs
November 21, 1953 – January 1, 1954: Rags to Riches — Tony Bennett
January 2 – February 26: Oh! My Pa-Pa — Eddie Fisher
February 27 – March 12: Secret Love — Doris Day
March 13 – March 19: Make Love to Me — Jo Stafford
March 20 – March 26: Secret Love — Doris Day
March 27 – April 9: Make Love to Me — Jo Stafford
April 10 – May 28: Wanted — Perry Como
May 29 – August 6: Little Things Mean a Lot — Kitty Kallen
August 7 – September 24: Sh-Boom — The Crew Cuts
September 25 – November 5: Hey There — Rosemary Clooney
November 6 – November 12: This Ole House — Rosemary Clooney
November 13 – December 3: I Need You Now — Eddie Fisher
December 4, 1954 – January 21, 1955: Mr. Sandman — The Chordettes
Sh-Boom by The Crew Cuts was a cover of a song originally recorded by The Chords, a Black doo-wop group. The Crew Cuts’ version reached #1; The Chords’ original peaked at #9. This pattern — white performers covering Black artists’ songs for mainstream audiences — was common in the mid-1950s and is one of the more uncomfortable chapters of early rock and roll history. Shake, Rattle and Roll by Big Joe Turner was similarly covered by Bill Haley, whose version reached a wider white audience. The music that would become rock and roll was already in motion.
Biggest Pop Artists of 1954
Doris Day, Rosemary Clooney, Perry Como, Eddie Fisher, The Chordettes, Kitty Kallen, Tony Bennett, Jo Stafford, The Four Aces, Dean Martin, Frankie Laine, The Crew Cuts, Les Paul and Mary Ford, Georgia Gibbs, Elvis Presley (emerging)
Popular and Best-Selling Books of 1954
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis
Benton’s Row by Frank Yerby
The Egyptian by Mika Waltari
Live and Let Die by Ian Fleming
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien
Love Is Eternal by Irving Stone
Mary Anne by Daphne du Maurier
Never Victorious, Never Defeated by Taylor Caldwell
No Time for Sergeants by Mac Hyman
Not as a Stranger by Morton Thompson
The Royal Box by Frances Parkinson Keyes
Seduction of the Innocent by Fredric Wertham
Sweet Thursday by John Steinbeck
The View from Pompey’s Head by Hamilton Basso
J.R.R. Tolkien published the first two volumes of The Lord of the Rings in 1954: The Fellowship of the Ring in July and The Two Towers in November. The Return of the King followed in 1955. The trilogy had been in progress since 1937. Tolkien’s publisher initially asked him to divide it into six shorter volumes to reduce financial risk. He refused. The three-volume format became standard.
Sports Champions of 1954
World Series: New York Giants swept the Cleveland Indians 4-0 in one of the greatest upsets in Series history; the Indians had won 111 games in the regular season; Willie Mays’ over-the-shoulder catch in Game 1 remains the most celebrated defensive play in baseball history
NFL Champions: Cleveland Browns defeated the Detroit Lions 56-10
NBA Champions: Minneapolis Lakers, their fourth championship in five years
Stanley Cup: Detroit Red Wings — defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-3
U.S. Open Golf: Ed Furgol
U.S. Open Tennis: Men/Women: E. Victor Seixas Jr. / Doris Hart
Wimbledon: Men/Women: Jaroslav Drobny / Maureen Connolly
NCAA Football Champions: Ohio State and UCLA (co-champions)
NCAA Basketball Champions: La Salle, led by Tom Gola, one of the most versatile players in college basketball history
Kentucky Derby: Determine
FIFA World Cup: West Germany defeated Hungary 3-2 in what became known as the “Miracle of Bern”; Hungary had been unbeaten in four years and was considered the greatest team in the world
Sports Highlight: Willie Mays’ catch in the 1954 World Series is considered the greatest defensive play in baseball history. Roger Bannister’s sub-four-minute mile on May 6 is considered one of the most significant athletic achievements of the 20th century. The four-minute barrier had never been broken; within 46 days, Australian John Landy also broke it, and within three years, a sub-four-minute mile was routine at the elite level. Bannister’s record lasted 46 days. His achievement lasted forever.
FAQs: 1954 History, Facts, and Trivia
Q: What was the most important Supreme Court decision of 1954?
A: Brown v. Board of Education, decided unanimously on May 17, 1954, ruling that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional and overturning the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson decision. It is considered the most important civil rights legal ruling in American history.
Q: What ended Senator McCarthy’s power in 1954?
A: The nationally televised Army-McCarthy hearings, during which the American public watched McCarthy’s bullying tactics firsthand. Army counsel Joseph Welch’s question — “Have you no sense of decency, sir?” — punctured McCarthy’s authority in a single exchange. The Senate voted to censure him 67-22 in December 1954.
Q: Who recorded his first single in 1954?
A: Elvis Presley, who recorded That’s All Right at Sun Records in Memphis on July 5, 1954, at age 19. It was released as a single on July 19, 1954, and marked the beginning of one of the most consequential careers in popular music history.
Q: What was Willie Mays’ famous catch?
A: During Game 1 of the 1954 World Series, Mays caught a deep fly ball by Vic Wertz over his shoulder while running at full speed away from the infield at the Polo Grounds, then immediately wheeled and threw to prevent base runners from scoring. The Giants went on to sweep the heavily favored Indians in four games.
Q: What was the four-minute mile, and who broke it?
A: On May 6, 1954, Roger Bannister became the first person to run a mile in under four minutes, finishing in 3 minutes 59.4 seconds at Oxford. The barrier had been considered by some to be at or near the limit of human capability. Bannister then retired from competitive running and became a neurologist.
Q: What was the Castle Bravo test?
A: A U.S. hydrogen bomb test on March 1, 1954, at Bikini Atoll that produced a yield of 15 megatons — three times the predicted 5 megatons — the largest nuclear detonation in American history. The unexpected yield spread radioactive fallout much further than anticipated, contaminating a Japanese fishing vessel crew and accelerating the international debate about nuclear testing.
Q: What did Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio have to do with 1954?
A: They married on January 14, 1954, at San Francisco City Hall. They divorced nine months later. DiMaggio reportedly objected to the famous Seven Year Itch subway grate scene. Despite the failed marriage, DiMaggio never stopped caring for Monroe and arranged for roses to be placed at her grave three times a week from her death in 1962 until his own in 1999.
Q: What was the first Swanson TV dinner?
A: Introduced in 1954 at 89 cents, the original Swanson TV dinner contained turkey, cornbread stuffing, sweet potatoes, and peas in an aluminum tray designed to be heated in the oven in 25 minutes. Americans bought 10 million of them in the first year. The name was designed to associate the product with television, which was in half of American homes.
More 1954 Facts & History Resources:
BabyBoomers.com (1954)
Most Popular Baby Names (BabyCenter.com)
Popular and Notable Books (popculture.us)
Broadway Shows that Opened in 1954X
1954 Calendar, courtesy of Time and Date.com
Fact Monster
Fifties Web (1954)
1950s, Infoplease.com World History
1954 in Movies (according to IMDB)
Retrowaste Vintage Culture
1954 Television
1950s Slang
Wikipedia 1954
