[hposter]

Well, from what I found online:

Books initially copyrighted in the US from 1923 through 1963 are still protected by copyright law if the initial copyright was renewed. The initial copyright term was 28 years and the renewal was 67 more years (formerly only 47 years).

So, that means if you wait (assuming they renewed their copyright in 1982), by 2049, you should be able to view, use and copy any of the 1954 manuals.

I'll only be 101 years old, but by then, I might have lost interest in the manuals.

We'll see......