Well, not to burst your bubble but I happen to live through some of that protectionism. When you went to the buy a pair of shoes you didn't get much choice. You got the protected brand. The rest were too high so they weren't stocked. then the protected brand increased the price to slightly under the others. A good pair of shoes in the 40's and 50's cost a lot of money.
Rush is mentioned a lot in this thread, but he also says, "if we had protected buggy whip makers, we would still be making buggy whips."
Back in the 50s and 60s, far more families could afford to raise a family with just the father working as well. While Americans can afford more usesless toys such as consumer electronics, it is more difficult to afford housing, fuel, medical and send children to college.