The 1959 General Electric blender

My mother has an old upright GE blender, bought in the late 1950's. Its white and brown with a variable speed slider on the bottom. It is the only blender she has ever bought, not because she's cheap (she isn't), but rather because the damn thing still works perfectly. My mom is an excellent cook, so it's had a great deal of use in the last 46 years or so.
I can't imagine, in this day and age, owning an appliance for 46 years. I don't know what the lifespan of the average appliance is, not in how long it works but rather how long you keep it. Maybe we need a new word, rather than lifespan, it's keepspan.
Can you imagine the economic consequences of keeping an appliance for 46 years, I am not talking about digital appliances, but simple motor and switch appliances. It would be catastrophic, I know that's not news to anyone, but it's fascinating nonetheless.
How did they get that blender, so damn right?, I mean its never been serviced, tuned up, tuned down or even had the blade replaced (and its chopped more Ice than an Eskimo).
Which brings me to, somehow, something else I find fascinating. The 1950's.
I wasn't born in the 50's so there's no first hand experience here, just conjecture and historical persuasion.
It is actually (from a North American perspective) the decade I like the least;
Mcarthyism, Eisenhower, Diefenbieker, Bad Music (I cant stand Elvis), Atomic proliferation, the Nuclear family was born (you know the one, Dad sitting on the wing chair, reading the newspaper, puffing his pipe. The two children, usually a boy and a girl sitting dutifully on the floor in blissfull serenity and Mom baking away in the kitchen). That's the family values archetype on which the Republican Revolution has ridden on, in the last two elections, The Korean War and the demise of the Avro Arrow.
One thing though stands out, Design and Innovation flourished, in every element. Every facet of modern life went through a makeover. There was no Retro or looking in the past for ideas, everything was bold, new and invigorating.
It's possible that was simply a reaction to fifteen years of economic depression and War, and I am sure that played a large part in what happened, but I think there was something else going on and I'd like to find out what it was, any ideas ?