re: Question for anyone here that was alive in the 1950's (if any)

The communists were still in hiding then, so it was better.

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Whites only and Negros only restrooms at City Park

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That was pretty much in every public place shared by both races. My aunt ran a small restaurant/bar on the corner of Laurel and Milan called the L & L and it was much like Frankie & Johnnies on Arabella St. The place had a window on the Laurel side of the building where blacks could order sandwiches, plate lunches, etc. The only black folk inside the place were some of the cooks and dishwashers.

The Napoleon Theater a block off Magazine St. allowed blacks to enter but they were relegated to the balcony only area. There were "White" and "Colored" water fountains and restrooms.

Audubon Park had a wading pool near the sea lions exhibit and it too was for white only. Pontchartrain Beach was for white only and the blacks had Lincoln Beach out on Hayne Blvd.

There wasn't a lot of race mixing back then, especially with the old Jim Crow Laws in effect that had some pretty stiff consequences for doing so.

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Cigarettes and ashtrays everywhere

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So true, and pretty disgusting now when you think about it. You could smoke on planes, busses, trains, in restaurants, hospitals, Drs. offices.

About the only place I NEVER saw anyone smoking was in church on Sunday, but many were lighting up as they walked out the door.

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you had racial issues

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grew up in that era, you might have had some of that in big cities but for the most part it was simply segregation, and believe it or not it seemed blacks were just fine with that, blacks we knew had entire families together under one roof, church was a big thing to blacks, my dad worked with blacks who were trying to start their own businesses and he helped them do just that, we had them in our home, would go fishing with them, etc. it wasn't like the revisionists would have younger generations believe