LLM says: Around 1950–1951, the Korean War triggered a sharp inflation spike, with consumer prices rising faster than wages could adjust. If this chart mixes—or poorly adjusts for—nominal wages and real (inflation-adjusted) wages, it can create the appearance of a sudden “drop” that’s really just a lag in purchasing power, not wages being slashed.

Thanks thats what I was thinking.. didn't make sense for wages to suddenly drop in a post-war boom