The defense industry bankrolls the mid-century, Southen California scene
Of course, the defense industry was not just about formulas, blueprints, and slide rules; there was plenty of work for those not afraid to get their hands dirty. Following the Korean War, the aviation industry alone increased its workforce by nearly 150%.
By the mid 50s, the number of aircraft workers had grown to almost one million. One out of every fifteen Southern California residents worked in defense. Nearly one half of all personal income was, in some way, connected to the defense industry, which would account for 30% of the Southern California economy by 1960.
In just ten years (1952 to 1962) the United States government would pump over $50 billion dollars into the Southern California economy.
In exchange for the government’s generous patronage Southland firms like Aerospace Corporation, Convair, Ryan Aeronautics, North American Aviation, Aerojet-General, McDonald-Douglas, Lockheed Aircraft Company, General Dynamics, and Northrop would produce rockets (Atlas, Thor, and Titan), ballistic missiles (Minuteman, Polaris), jet fighters (F-86 Sabre Jet, F-104 Starfighter, F-4 Phantom jet), supersonic bombers (XB-70 Valkyrie), and experimental aircraft (X-15 rocket plane), to list just a very few.
By the mid-50s, the Southern California defense juggernaut appeared to be a shinning beacon of America’s technological preeminence, when in fact it was only one earth orbit away from a monumental public relations debacle and widespread condemnation as an association of slipshod arms merchants manned by a society of second-rate scientific slackers—or words to that effect.
Bonus Tracks
This YouTube Video will give you a real good look at an F-86 Sabre Jet.