Most every television (see entry under 1940s—TV and Radio in volume 3) situation comedy of the 1950s featured characters who were contented members of the middle class. Whether living in a big city, a suburb (see entry under 1950s—The Way We Lived in volume 3), or a small town—and whatever the comic situations they found themselves in—these characters inhabited an idyllic mid-twentieth-century America and enjoyed the fruits of the economic boom after World War II (1939–45). One glaring exception was The Honeymooners. The quartet of characters featured in this landmark sitcom (see entry under 1950s— TV and Radio in volume 3) was anything but middle class and comfortable. They were strictly of a lower "blue-collar" class and struggled to pay their bills and to realize their modest American dreams.

Ralph Kramden, the primary character on The Honeymooners, was a New York City bus driver and grade...