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 ...

[kassie]

We never locked our doors either. We lived near a river, bums would come up and steal a chicken now and then, but never came near the house.

[kassie]

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

That is so true, NO excuses.

[backhoe]

my brother and I were sworn to complete secrecy, because my father is a pretty straight guy; he would not have approved of my mother's actions.

Yes, I remember tales of others eavesdropping on partyline conversations that were not meant for their ears. There were about 3,000 people on the Island at the time, and it was quite gossipy and insular.

On the other side of that, however, since everyone knew everybody else, when trouble struck- whether a hurricane, or illness, or death, you got a lot of support. It was good, and bad, depending.

[Ditter]

OMG I am really old. I was born in 1940. I remember when the ice wagon came rumbling down the street. A horse or mule drawn wagon with blocks of ice for sale. Vegetables came the same way. As for gas stations services, they had a little broom and asked if your "floor boards" needed sweeping out. LOL It was another world.

[kassie]

Not sure if Have Gun Will Travel was a 50's show or a 60's show. We would watch it and Red Skeleton.

[Ditter]

Bums would come to our door and ask for food. My mother would scrambled eggs for them. She used the duck eggs because we didn't like them. I remember one road bum who was on horseback. I thought that was so cool I wanted to do the same thing. LOL

[backhoe]

OMG I am really old. I was born in 1940. I remember when the ice wagon came rumbling down the street. A horse or mule drawn wagon with blocks of ice for sale. Vegetables came the same way. As for gas stations services, they had a little broom and asked if your "floor boards" needed sweeping out. LOL It was another world.

While I'm a wee bit younger than you, I remember the icehouses we had- a little one in the Village, and the big one on the mainland which also sold... get this!... coal. Some folks still had iceboxes and burned coal for heat. My Dad used the ice to keep his bait and fish fresh when we went out on the water for a day. Good memories.

[kassie]

They must have had a moral code not to enter the house.
It was never locked.

And they didn't steal all the chickens, just one now and then.

[tertiary01]

I remember milk in bottles with the cream at the top. It was sooo yummy.

My cousins riding horses to our house in Richmond from El Sobrante for a visit, without putting the neighborhood in an uproar.

Some folks in the Cental Valley had swamp coolers to combat the heat.

My dad putting a waterbag infront of the car radiator when we went camping in the Sierras where we could camp anywhere we wanted without permits or fees. And the Forest Rangers were friendly and knew you by name.

[yarddog]

I think it was technically out of the 50's, probably 1960 or maybe 61, that we went camping at Black Rock Mountain state park in Georgia. It was June but it was unusually cold on that mountain.

The park manager brought us some extra blankets. Can anyone imagine that today?

[elkfersupper]

I would ride my bicycle to the corner drug store with a .22 rifle across the handlebars.

I would pay the cashier $1.25 for a box of .22LR, a pack of unfiltered Camel cigarettes (with 2 new pennies inside the celophane), a Coke and a few candy bars.

I would then load my rifle, light up and pedal off to go rabbit hunting.

Any kid doing that today would attract a SWAT team, and the drugstore clerk would be jailed.

[tertiary01]

Currently they treat us like trespassers on their private preserves.

[Dawgreg]

OMG! How could I forget that???? Zorro was my first love and Palladin was my best friends first love.....(we were in 4th grade so you KNOW it was true love) LOL. Red Skelton was another favorite too. Mickey Mouse club every afternoon after school. My favorite series was "Annette". I loved her room and her clothes........sheesh! I would boil with envy that people really lived like that......hehehehehehe.

[tertiary01]

I remember the party line too. While eavesdropping once, I heard the other party planning a robbery and contacted the police. Later the police came to the house and thanked us for our help.

[yarddog]

They overcharged you for .22's

I remember when my buddy and I would kill a large Coon, we would take it to the Black section and sell it for 75 cents which was a pretty good bit back then.

We would then go to the store and buy a box of cartridges. They were .75 for long rifle, .65 for longs and .55 for shorts.

I think today due to mass production, .22's are far cheaper when inflation is factored in. In fact one can still buy LR for around that if bought in the bulk packages.

[yarddog]

Currently they treat us like trespassers on their private preserves

I never thought of that but you are right, at least for the Federal Parks. The rangers act like they are just hoping you will disturb the wildlife so they can arrest you.

[kassie]

Our house was under a grove of trees. We only got ONE channel. CBS. I was raised on Dallas Cowboy football and Yankee and A's baseball.

I went to a one room school house where all the students were related. Teacher left the stove on one weekend, to make sure it was warm enough for Monday and burnt it down.
I loved Paladin!

[A knight without armor]

That is amazing. I remember people using the terms floor boards and running boards. Seems like language goes on a little further than the things themselves such as when is the last time you "dialed" a phone. That is funny! I never saw a floor board broom but I can imagine it.

Some things were kind of sad. Pets seemed to have shorter life spans and there were a lot of stray dogs and cats in the neighborhoods. I remember children with things like cleft palates did not get treated as routinely as nowadays. I remember going to get polio vaccinations or shots or whatever they were. They also gave you a sugar cube or something.

Hah! Remember how your telephone was on a party line and you'd pick up the receiver to make a call and people would be yakking away. When I got into junior high school my father became so worried about his ailing mother we paid extra to have a private line. Just imagine nowadays patiently waiting for your neighbors to get off the phone so you can call someone! You know there'd be murders over that!

[kassie]

Wow!

[tertiary01]

I believe the fifties really ended about 1964 or so. Maybe due to JFK's assassination, or the huge block of boomers getting into their criminal years. Our country started to become more nasty and mean. It's like the older generation just gave up and retired to all the Sun Cities and Leisure Towns that were springing up around the country, leaving the culture of the country in the hands of the immature.