There was never the hysteria about nuclear war that the media would have you believe. After all, we had just used two nukes a few years back, and while they were awesome no one thought Armageddon was just around the corner. The development of ICBM's did make things more tense but it never dominated public consciousness. We were too busy building superhighways and suburbs amd beautiful long sleek cars. We trusted our President (Ike) and military to do what needed to be done.
The media and academia have a longstanding campaign to deconstruct the 50's and make it out to be like some terrible era. They lie. It is part of their ongoing attack on the American culture and American dream. The fact is, like others, I could write a book on all the ways in which life in the 50's was halcyon compared to what followed.
The sitcom "Leave it to Beaver" has become a synecdoche for what the Left would call the "illusion of the 50's." But it was no illusion. The 50's was the dawn of suburbia, and the mass exodus from the cities. The suburban lifestyle was real for millions, even without air conditioning. The show was so popular because people could relate to it! Obviously life was hard for some, and no one did housework in high heels, but on the other hand, most women were homemakers, and appeared to me to enjoy their lives. There was something to do in the community every night of the week, and everyone belonged to one group or another. You knew your neighbor, and the grocer and the milkman and the plumber, because in the 'burbs they were your neighbors too.. Crime was trivial, divorce rates were low, and before the advent of the Pill, teen prgnancy was rare.
It is useful to ask why the left is threatened by a congenial sitcom of 40 years ago, and why they need to assault a bygone era when life was good.
I was glad to see Barbara Billingsley defend the show as realistic as far as she could remmeber, on one interview a few years ago.