In early 1950, in that year of transition from the first half of the century to the second, Life magazine's editors paused to editori- alize on the state of the U.S. economy. They found the country still "hip-deep in a postwar boom" that had been under way for more than four years. The editorial did not mention poverty. There was a passing reference to four million unemployed citi- zens but no indication that the country was troubled by a siz- able number of people who were even chronically hard up, let alone impoverished.