This timeline of the history of plastic in the 1950s is simply yummy.
1957: The 'House of Tomorrow' opens at Disneyland. Created by Monsanto, its walls, roof, floors, rugs and furniture are all made of plastic. (It's so strong that the wrecking crew has trouble demolishing it years later.) The injection-molded polyethylene Frisbee is developed. The Hula Hoop is introduced (right); the fad peaks in 1958 (over one million pounds per week of polyethylene plastic is consumed trying to keep up with demand); it's dead by '59. Loma Industries produces the first 20-gallon plastic trash container.
(Thanks, Thor!)
