You could run the neighborhood on bikes with your friends and all of your dogs without fear of getting snatched by a perv.
Every show on your black and white TV was family friendly and the whole family watched together.
One of the greatest thrills was putting your pajamas on and going to the drive in for a John Wayne movie on Saturday night. My dad would roll the windows down and light a punk coil on the dashboard to keep the mosquitoes out. My Mom would pop a huge bag of popcorn at home to take with us.
Born in 1942. Lived on a dirt road in a house the old man built that had an indoor bathroom. My grandmother who immigrated to this country [legally] in the early 30’s, was aghast at the idea of s...ing in the house.
I’d go back to those years in a heartbeat, despite the polio scares and hiding under the desk in drills because the Russians were going to bomb us. Took a turn with a relative in the spotter posts up on stilts by the firehouse where you watched the sky for bombers sneaking in below the radar.