According to Panati’s Parade of Fads, Follies, and Manias, the 1950s decade, particularly in the first half, was the "Do It for the Kids" decade. The Depression had ended, the War was over, and people we ready to settle back and raise a family. They wanted to relax and they were ready to spend some money --- and they wanted to lavish it on their kids. They craved consumer goods after being deprived of spending for such a long time.
The decade was full of firsts including the Barbie Doll, Silly Putty and Slinky. Drive-In theaters, which first appeared during the Depression, really became big time especially with B-Horror movies like, I Was a Teenage Frankenstein. There was the Hula Hoop, Scrabble, and the Calypso became the latest dance craze.
Unsettling change was brewing in the second half of the decade, however, when Rock and Roll emerged with Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis and "The King", Elvis Presley. To the "older" generation, the music seemed chaotic, sensual and extremely loud. What was the world coming to?
Times had changed for Johnson Smith as well. The big catalogs of the past were no longer economically viable – simply put, they cost too much to print. The 1951 catalog expanded to 584 pages with a new cover, both front and back, but apparently it wasn’t enough. Thereafter, at least until 1959, the catalogs were produced in black and white and were never more than 96 pages. They were simply copies of the supplemental catalogs the company had issued since their beginnings, but without the “supplemental” title. The supplementals, though, were usually less than 96 pages. These 1950's “slim ones” appeared to be put together with little enthusiasm and their contents were often “so-so." They had minimal eye-appeal.
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1950 Catalog
1951 Catalog
1954 Catalog 
1959 Catalog