>>509018591 (OP)In the 1950's there was almost no plastic garbage. Plastic was limited to some car engine components and plastic contianers and bags as we have them today were rare or non-existent. Coke came in a glass bottle.
This means that anything that they chucked was made out of glass or metal or wood. Plastic and forever chemicals were rare. That means nature itself was capable of clearing everything up. So it didn't really matter whether people littered or not, whether it all went into the landfill or just stayed there.
This is something that the 'convenience' of plastic has taken away. It's very convenient except the cleaning up part.