The unthinkable happens on Friday, November 26.
Nebraska lets a 21-6 late third quarter lead escape and loses its sixth consecutive game on the 2021 season.
When was the last time Nebraska lost six consecutive games? It was the start of the 2018 season when the Big Red dropped games to Colorado, Troy, Michigan, Purdue, Wisconsin, and Northwestern.
Prior to that?
1957.
The Huskers finished with only one win that year and nine losses. In the last seven games, the Big Red of Bill Jennings fell to Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Missouri, Kansas, Iowa State, Oklahoma, and Colorado.
64 years have since passed.
So, rather than lamenting the six consecutive losses and 2021 Cornhusker football season, let’s remember 1957.
1957 saw the continued growth of bigger taller tail fins on new cars and more lights, bigger with more powerful engines and an average car sold for $2,749.
The Soviet Union launched the first space satellite Sputnik 1.
Movies included “Twelve Angry Men” and “The Bridge Over the River Kwai”, and TV showed “Perry Mason” and “Maverick” for the first time.
The music continued to be Rock and Roll with artists like “Little Richard.”
The popular toys were Slinkys and Hula Hoops.
The continued growth of the use of credit was shown by the fact that two-thirds of all new cars were bought on credit.
Some of the areas that would cause problems later were starting to show South Vietnam is attacked by Viet Cong Guerrillas and Troops are sent to Arkansas to enforce anti segregation laws.
In 1957:
Yearly Inflation Rate USA 3.34%.
Average Cost of new house $12,220.00.
Average wages per year – $4,550.00.
Minimum Hourly Rate $1.00.
Average Monthly Rent $90.00 per month.
Bacon per pound 60 cents.
Gallon of Gas was 24 cents.
Eggs per dozen was 28 cents.
HI FI Portable Record Player $79.95.
The final new episode of the classic television comedy “I Love Lucy” aired on CBS on May 6. The episode was titled “The Ricardos dedicate a Statue.” Throughout the series’ 181-episode run, viewers watched Lucy’s crazy antics unfold with the help of her landlords Fred and Ethel, often to the dismay of her husband Ricky. The show had been nominated for several Prime-Time Emmy Awards and won four. It starred real-life couple Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz who went on to continue the show in a different format from the end of the year to 1960 as “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.”
The popular Philadelphia television show “American Bandstand” makes its national television debut in August. The show aired on ABC and featured groups of teenagers dancing to the most popular songs of the week. Often, one of the featured musical acts would appear on the show to perform a lip-synced version of their hit song. The show was hosted by Dick Clark and ran for over 20 years and the final episode aired during October, 1989.
1957 was two years before I was born.
Photos by GEORGANN FRIEDRICHSEN/Alliance Times-Herald
