Macro View

Macro View

Setting: New York City, New York 1959.

1) January 3 – Alaska is admitted as the 49th U.S. state.

As the landscape of America was changing, so were the attitudes of its citizens. J.B. and Sarah surely would have been filled with a sense of pride that America was extending its claim to other lands and increasing the natural resources of the United States.

2) January 7 - The United States recognizes the new Cuban government of Fidel Castro.

A pivotal moment in the relations between the U.S. and Cuba. This would have dominated the news and with relations with Russia already strained, all eyes would be on Cuba including J.B. and Sarah.

3) January 29 - Walt Disney releases his 16th animated film, Sleeping Beauty in Beverly Hills.

This would be of particualr interest to J.B. and Sarah's five children especially the three girls who surely would have seen the film in theatres.

4) February 3 – A chartered plane transporting musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper goes down in foggy conditions near Clear Lake, Iowa, killing all 4 occupants on board, including pilot Roger Peterson. The tragedy is later termed "The Day the Music Died", popularized in Don McLean's 1972 song "American Pie".

One of the biggest events in modern music history this would have had an impact on the music the family listened to, specifically the teenagers Jonathan and Mary as well as J.B. and Sarah.

5) March 9 – The Barbie doll debuts.

J.B. and Sarah's younger daughters Ruth and Rebecca would surely have played with Barbie dolls at the start of the play when the family was together and well off.

6) April 9 – NASA announces its selection of 7 military pilots to become the first U.S. astronauts.

The unofficial start of the space race that captivated the nation and the whole world, the whole family surely would have been keeping up with the latest developments.

7) June 9 – The USS George Washington is launched as the first submarine to carry ballistic missiles.

A direct product of the cold war, this submarine carrying ballistic missles is a sign of the times in 1959 and directly correlates to the atomic bomb that goes off in J.B. killing thousands.

8) August 21 – Hawaii is admitted as the 50th U.S. state.

As the landscape of America was changing, so were the attitudes of its citizens. J.B. and Sarah surely would have been filled with a sense of pride that America was extending its claim to other lands and increasing the natural resources of the United States.

9) December 1 – Cold War – Antarctic Treaty: 12 countries, including the United States and the Soviet Union, sign a landmark treaty, which sets aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve and bans military activity on that continent (the first arms control agreement established during the Cold War).

Another development in the cold war this would have dominated the news in 1959 and the whole world would have known about it.

Ongoing:

10) Vietnam War (1959 - 1975)

Though most of the Vietnam war would not have happened until the after the setting of this play, all of the build up of the U.S. entering the war would have been felt by American citizens and some troops were actually sent in '59. J.B. and Sarah who had teenage boys would definitley have been paying attention to this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1959