Weelittledrummer: It's funny you should ask. This was during the Eisenhower era, of course. No war, but lots of talk about nukes and the "military-industrial complex (That phrase from the former general himself)." I drove a '54 Chevy, a two-tone, two-door hardtop with dual pipes and 24 inch glass-pak mufflers. I remember my football letterman's sweaters. Our cheerleaders had pleated skirts down to their ankles. The local hangout (also with jukebox, one large one and a small one on each table) served up great hamburgers, with A&W root beer on tap. Among the guys, you saw a lot of crew cuts, held up with "butch wax," "DA's (duck's ass) with long hair on the sides and crew cut on top. We had a lot of auto shop devotees with '32 ford coupes, modified Model A's, souped up '55 Chevy V-8's, chopped, channelled and lowered Mercurys and the like. Hand-rubbed candy apple red, midnight metallic blue or black were favored colors. TV was strictly black and white until "Bonanza" hit the air. We would go over to a rich friend's house to watch it. Drugs were mostly non-existent. We got the annual lecture from the local Sheriff's deputy on "Reefer Madness," complete with graphics. Some of us were known to have partied with wine, beer or liquor. A lot of us lived on surrounding farms and ranches, so livestock, horse trailers and the like were familiar sights on campus, near the Agriculture Department's shop. Do you remember Adlai, the Kefauver hearings, the end of Joe McCarthy's "reign of terror" and Nixon's "Checkers" speech?
If you saw "American Grafitti," which was based on another valley town 70-odd miles north of us, Modesto, you have a pretty good idea of Fresno in the same era, though the film really treats on the era of '59 - '62.   "Draggin' the Main," driving up and down Fulton Street, hanging out at Stan's Drive-in or the Royale (which actually had carhops on roller skates for a time) and friday "ditch day" were familiar themes. There is so much more, but I'm you all need a break from this stream-of-consciousness ramble.