The move to the suburbs was the major demographic trend in the USA during the 1950s. There were some suburbs that predated 1930, but they were fairly small scale and upper middle class developments. The G. I. Bill offered low interest loans to young men that served during World War II and this was a major catalyst in the suburbanization of 1950s. This also broke up the tightly packed urban enclaves in the large cities.
The women that married WWII service men tended to be younger than the previous and subsequent generations of American women. They were more likely to be isolated from their own mother or mother in law. Oh, they might be a short drive away, but it was highly unlikely that they were within walking distance. So the young mothers that were raising families in the suburbs were more likely to try new ways of cooking dinner. They might get recipes from the friends and neighbors, but they were also willing to try new food ideas that they saw in women's magazines, like "Red Book".
Recipes were a common feature of 1950's era food advertising. General Foods, the company that made JELL-O brand gelatin, was a major advertiser. Yet General Foods was hardly the only food processing company that pushed kooky, colorful and overly garnished concoctions on the mothers of the baby boomer generation.
A good look at these outlandish 1950s era recipes can be found in the book "Retro Food Fiascos: A Collection of Curious Concoctions" by Kathy Casey 2004.
Another source would be the book "Populuxe" by Thomas Hine 1999, although this book looks more at the 1950s era kitchen equipment, not the food that was cooked in those kitchens.