Where in the World did you grow up? In 1950s and early '60s America that I grew up in here in the West, no one spoke or learned a second language (pre-illegal alien era). There was no reason to. With that said, my 22 year-old daughter speaks three languages, because she wanted to learn them.
I grew up in New York City and spent time in Europe. Your assumption of ”there was no need to” is the opposite of the assumption my family had, which was that one wasn’t educated unless one spoke at least one other language. Back then, French was the language of diplomacy, and it was unthinkable to not speak it. The school I went to started French classes in first grade. Our teachers were from France.
The instruction was rigorous. I benfitted from it.