What was the 50's really like ? ( Vanity )

me

[sushiman]

I would like to hear from folks who were adults during the 1950's ( I was born in 1952 ) about what it was really like back in those days . In nostalgiac moods I often wish I would go back , as an adult , and see for myself if it was a wonderful as I remember it with romantic , childhood visions ...I know this is a very broad topic ...any memories , thoughts , etc...would be appreciated ...

[sushiman]

To me the 50's was Elvis ; Jack Kerouac ; be-bop ; rock & roll ; Sputnik ; The Day The Earth Stood Still ; Brooklyn Dodgers moving to L.A., 57 Chevys ; beatniks ; Motorola televisions ; 77 Sunset Strip ; 10 cent Pepsi Cola ; air raid drills ; MGs ; Ike ...and so much more ...

[Doctor Stochastic]

Blacks and Whites had separate restrooms and water fountains and public schools.

Many restaurants didn't serve Blacks or Jews.

There were no weather satellites; forcasting was much more of a guess.

Life expectancy was 69.6 years; currently 77.6.

Rock'n Roll was just getting started in 1954 (in the White Community.)

[JoeSixPack1]

Public schools taught reading, writing and OLD math!

Doing wrong meant a spanked fanny.

Adults and Cops were a respected commodity.

TV was squeaky clean and shut down with the Star Spangled Banner every night.

Cuffed Blue Jeans were for kids to play in.

Building a skate board meant finding an old 2x4, breaking your metal wheeled skates in half so you could hammer them somehow to the wood.

Maypo was the original breakfast of champions according to Marky.

Baseball was HOT! Football was not.

Eisenhower had the buck stop at his desk. We all knew it, but it never stopped there.

Fixing cars meant you had to own a hammer, pliers and 2 screw drivers.

Tape didn't stick to anything.

TV dinners were the new MRE and tasted like cardboard.

Cap guns rocked.

Indians were bad guys.

The lone Ranger never told Tonto what his name meant in Spanish.

Locked doors were so the cat didn't get out.

The rich and famous and the incredibly insane had bomb shelters.

Sputnik and the XR-15 were way cool.

Little League baseball kept meticulous scoring!!

Fighting was done with fists only but usually degraded to a wrestling match and a week of no TV!

If you got an allowance, it was a quarter a week. Except if the good humor man showed up while dad was home. :-)

Kids had a mother and a father.

[dfwddr]

Some cars didn't even need a key....

[kjam22]

LOL

[Lando Lincoln]

I was born in 1954 but I remember a few things through the lens of time - some of which is no doubt "romaticized" by now. I remember much smaller homes and we never judged someone by how pristine the yards were or how neat the homes were. People wore their best to church - and women wore those goofy fox stoles where the animal were "biting" one another. Working long hours was normal for my dad and mom took care of home. My dad probably drank too much beer but that, too, was normal. Having only a fraction of stuff to do that today's kids do, I never got bored. One family car. The guns of the home were respected but never locked up. A long distance phone call was big deal. The Red scare and iron lungs (polio was beaten by then, I think), and childhood diseases. Electric buses were prevalent - at least in the Milwaukee area. A lot of roadside vegetable stands and big gardens. Everyone had clothes lines - even in the winter. Dandelions in the spring - everywhere.

Lando

[yarddog]

I was not an adult but remember them fondly. Many things were not what they are portrayed today.

Some things were about like we think. There was a hamburger joint where all the teenagers hung out. I remember a guy who dressed and looked just like Fonzie. He was a likeable enough guy but unlike Fonzie wasn't at all popular with the girls, or at least the popular ones. He got killed on his Harley.

The schools really were good. In fact great compared to today. I look back and am amazed how well behaved the students were.

I remember there were public water fountains marked White and Colored. Also the hospital had separate waiting rooms although no one got preferrence as to when they were called. You didn't make an appointment to see the Dr. BTW, you simply showed up and waited in line.

We "the white athletes" got into the Black football games for free and were seated in a special place. The Black atheletes got the same deal.

I can never recall ever seeing a single case of a Black person being mistreated publicly such as one sees constantly in the movies.

I can remember when they changed the pledge of allegiance and added "under God". We always had a Bible reading before class. Each student got to choose his own verses. Some guys would always pick one which showed girls were not supposed to do something such as instruct guys. The local radio announcer always called the President Eisenhoover. He called Governor Fuller Warren, "Buller"

I remember when they only showed TV beginnning at dusk. When someone told me they were going to show it all day, I thought, "how will people be able to see it in the daylight?"

[RedRover]

Growing up in the '50s was the greatest. The adventure of a lifetime.
How can one count the differences between then and now?
There were no warning labels or safety caps or safety belts.
On birthdays, kids were given slingshots and BB guns.
Everybody smoked and lit up in restaurants, elevators, nurseries, and hospital rooms.
Communist spies were lurking everywhere, awaiting word from Moscow to take over your school.
Newspaper comics were actually funny and horror comic books showed the dead coming back from the grave for revenge.
At the movies, creatures lurked in black lagoons. Our favorite comedians walked on their ankles and put pencils up their noses.
Uncles tormented us with joy buzzers and sneezing powder. There were no Miranda Rights.
Parlors had pianos and everyone sang.
We all drank from public water fountains.
And there was the Bomb, which could go off at any moment and we’d all be toast.
Life was cheap, and life was fast, and I loved it. Then came the unspeakably ugly '60s--but the less said about that decade the better!
Thanks for the post! It's sweet to remember.

[johnny7]

I remember 'Cold Beer' signs... because it wasn't a 'given' at package stores. Round Coca-Cola signs were EVERYWHERE.

Men stood at the bar... and used the rail. Shots & beers were a common preference.

The metal on cars was more like cast-iron... it hurt to pound your fist on a hood. Fins.

Hobo towns near the trainyards... milkmen.

[grannyheart2000]

Ah....I could write a book....where does one start. Married in 1955 to a college grad and started married life in Ohio. Didn't buy house until 1960...only husband worked as I was the little woman sitting at home awaiting my first child.Spent the day cleaning...cooking...getting hooked on soap operas.No air conditioning in our little apartment...one car but husband took bus to work. TV was silly little programs that certainly anyone could watch but for us back then it was great having that little tube keeping us informed on what was going on in the world. Social life was getting together with neighbors in apartment complex....having water balloon fights...playing cards..sharing our dreams for when we were older. Having kids at early age (23)was common and most women stayed home to raise them. Never heard of hyper-active kids (well, some were more "active" then others)that were drugged up..most of us went to church regularly...got involved with PTA's and just generally did the "family" thing on regular basis.We did have worries about Russia and at one time panic set in on the street and everyone talking about building a bomb shelter. By this time we were all in our first house ($16,500)three bedroom split level...we knew all our neighbors and were often helping someone out with some crisis they were going through. Funny looking back I can't ever recall worrying about someone breaking into our house (today have security system).Had three daughters and made most of their dresses (yes they wore dresses to school)...didn't have much money but in those days it wasn't as important to keep up with the neighbors and we all basically were in the same boat..perhaps it is todays world filled with all it's problems but looking back on the 50's I'll have to admit it was a pretty good time......maybe I'm forgetting the bad times as we all do but oh those good times are still strong within my memories.....I could go on and on......was there anything specific you wanted to know about?

[federal]

I was born in 1946 in Dallas, I witnessed the 50's as a youth but I remember them well.

I remember sleeping with the windows and doors open (except for screens) and a attic fan running.

I remember all the neighbors setting outside in the front yards, perhaps eating watermelon or making ice cream.

I remember the night time skies ablaze with zillions of stars and galaxies.

I remember pulling into a gas station and several people coming out to pump gas, clean your windshield, check your tire pressure, some even would vacuum your floorboards. Then give you a glass or perhaps some "Green Stamps".

I remember when TV came on around noon and went off by midnight, I remember test patterns and I remember telephones with "party lines".

I remember at night the boys in the neighborhood would watch for cars coming and guess which car make it was just by looking at the headlights. And you really could tell which was which.

I remember going to drive in movies and riding my bicycle several miles to go swimming in "Spring Creek".

I know for sure I got my share and probably a few others share of "licks" in school. And I have to say I always knew and understood why I was getting paddled, One thing is certain it never wrecked my self esteem.

While getting older is tough I'm thankful I grew up when I did and I didn't have to face the pressures kids have to face today.

[tomkat]

... and shut down with the Star Spangled Banner every night.

jaaaayzus, i'd forgotten that !

ya don't see this guy much anymore, either:

[Neville72]

Here are a few of my memories growing up in North La from the mid 50s to mid 60s.

**My elementary school never had air conditioning.
That's what we were used to though and I don't ever remember it being a problem.

**Divorce was rare(or rarer)

**Most women with kids stayed at home and referred to themselves as housewives

**Three channels only on TV. Most shows until the early 60s were in black and white

**Kids entertained themselves. Parents didn't feel like it was their responsibility.

**When around adults, kids were taught to speak only when spoken to.

**McDonald's hamburgers cost 25 cents

**Movies were 50 cents

**If you did poorly in school, it was your fault not the teacher's

[lowbridge]

bump

[JoeSixPack1]

AH!! The test pattern!!! :-) Memories!!!!

[Ditter]

I don't remember cars being left running but cars were not as dependable then as they are now. They wouldn't start or they would flood out and you would have to wait to start them. I remember we always left our keys in the ignition and I don't remember a car even being stolen. I remember seeing someone take their keys out and put them in his pocket and I thought it a very strange thing to do.

[Clink]

Well, I'm 51 and I'm not too thrilled so far. Oh, you meant...

[GOP_Proud]

I was born in '51 and have 7 older siblngs...the first born in '38. My mom and dad are gone as are 2 brothers. When we were all together we agreed that the '50s and (for them) the years immediately after the war (the Big One) were fantastic. I pretty much grew up in a "Beaver Cleaver" household except my mom didn't wear pearls when house cleaning. We did wind up with one "black sheep" but even he eventually wound up to become a good citizen.

I wasn't an adult in the 50s, but my 50s experience was great. We had the neighbors who fought every Saturday night when the father came home drunk, but were in church on Sunday morning. We had the mean neighbor woman with the "grown over with weeds yard" who scared us and kept the ball if we hit it over her fence. Our doors were never locked. We played all over the neighborhood in safety. We rarely got by with anything because all the neighbors were outside sitting on their (front) porches. Happiness and joy was a baseball game on a wornout field in the middle of our neighborhood. My childhood even included milk and cookies after school. We had a retarded boy (yes "retarded" was an acceptable term) who lived across from us. We, meaning the neighborhood, loved him and protected him. He went everywhere we went. If anyone even thought about making fun of him we ganged up on them. Geesh, no one is ever going to believe it, but it's all true.

Of course there was sadness. Accidents happened. People died. We all came together as a neighborhood and helped the one in need. Even if it was the last piece of bologna in the fridge, it went to a hobo walking along the rr tracks nearby.

As a family, things were great from '65 to '80, I just personally wasn't too thrilled at the time. It was really hard being a conservative at that time.

[Lando Lincoln]

LOL.....now that I'm in my 50's, I have a few more aches and pains....

Lando

[sushiman]

I'll be 53 on Thursday ! Yikes !