Posted on 01/09/2007 9:18:52 AM PST by HungarianGypsy
I am wanting to write a story based on a young adult in the 1960s. Since I was born in 1973 all I really know is what I studied in books. But, I want to get beyond love beads and LSD. I want to be able to write this as it really was. I know it's said if you remember the '60s you weren't really there. But, if anyone does remember I would appreciate reading your stories and facts. Thank you.
Does anyone remember "IRON LUNGS", or hearing about people having "SHOCK TREATMENTS" My ex-father-in-law had Shock treatments. It was scarry!!! He drank too much and they thought that would help him. Gosh amighty to think if they still did that type of thing in today's world.
A child named Bobby Greenleaf was kidnapped and the nation was in suspence, waiting. When he was found murdered, his kidnappers were tried, found guilty and executed. The nation mourned and the nation rejoiced at justice being done.
We kids were given sugar cubes with a solution dropped on it. Polio disappeared because of it. TB sanitariums had to close because the disease was irradicated in the USA.
Sports stars were heros and genuine role models...the truth about their human weaknesses was not broadcast and as a result, many of us followed the straight and narrow, trying to be like them.
TV shows adhered to something called the Television Code of Ethics and Standards. We saw people smoke cigarettes on the tube, but we didn't see clothing ripped off, bodies mutilated and people killed to the point where we became desensitized to violence.
It was an era when the air was clean and sex was dirty. It was an easier time for kids to grow-up. We did the "Duck and Cover", but we didn't obsess about it.
Just a few random thoughts.
My dad didn't buy a color TV until 68 or 69. I remember that most of my friends had color tvs long before we did...and my dad (being a dentist) was the richest guy in the neighborhood. I had a lot of trouble understanding that one.
A kid in our neighborhood shot down a TV news helicopter and the crash killed the pilot.
It was right before I moved there, so I missed it all - but he finally was let back in school my first year here and was somewhat shunned by most of us. *Delinquent.*
Of course, that was much later - well, no it wasn't - 1966.
How about lining up at the local school to get the "sugar cube" polio vaccine.
I would get Sunday Night Idices so I did not have to go to church.... and could stay home and watch Disney. In my family, you did not miss 2 Sunday services, and Wed night.
Now days,it is good if I go twice a month.
I remember Wetson's! One was located accross the street from our school. At the time, Mom's idea of a treat was getting Wetson's for dinner.
How about lining up at the local school to get the "sugar cube" polio vaccine
Ohhhhhhh that took me back. Those were some strange days..... and everyone in that age had chicken pox marks on this side of their head. I have them....... and the shot on our arms... don't remember what that one was for.......
I hated it when my mom redeemed them and got back half a book or 1/3rd of a book and they would staple together a bunch of pages.
I'd have to count them every time, if they didn't put a little sticker on top saying how many pages it was. Nice, neat, filled-up books were much better, in my little OCD opinion, lol.
Smallpox.
... hehehehehe... I'm sure it had to be a cedar plant.
Iron lungs scared the hell out of me . Polio was the terror word .A friend of mine got polio when he was in third grade . Messed up one of his legs so much he limped for the rest of his life . I remember my mom telling us to be careful at the playground swimming pool or we gould get polio .
That reminds me of saving the WAX paper from sandwichs to sit on when we went down the METAL sliding board . Tripled your speed .
We believed the media was unbiased.
Try to rent The Trouble with Angels. I was 13 when the movie came out in '66 and went to a similar school. Girls and women wore 'traveling suits' when they went somewhere. They didn't just put on a pair of jeans and a sweat shirt. I wore white gloves for Sunday and dress up.
Obviously no iPods, but I had a transistor radio that swung from the handlebars of my bike. Even a big city newspaper like the Washington Star had a teen section where kids could talk about music and girls signed their letters to the section 'the future Mrs. Paul McCartney' and such.
In the movies, people smoked a lot and ate red meat. On tv, children and teens respected their parents. Looking at some of the classic tv now, I see that the problems kids got into back then are similar to all kids, I don't really see a lot of sugar-coating. I think the difference is the tv shows didn't talk about difficult problems such as teen pregnancy, etc. The kids who smart-mouthed adults or weren't generally well-behaved were pointed out as the exception, not the role model.
For a more urban view, check out Cooley High, made in the 70s but about the mid 60s. Good film.
"Cat's Eye" glasses!
Those things went from cool to super nerdy. I think they have become cool again, or maybe not.
I was born in 1966, but my earliest memories include the Moon landing -- Neil Armstrong, et. al. The space race was a huge deal in our household. Also, my brother "dropped out and tuned in" and consequently flunked out of high school.....first time (and one of the only times) I ever saw my mother cry...he went to Vietnam.
No ATMs (the world revolved around going to the bank during banking hours...), no car seats, Nat King Cole on the record player at Christmas time....Camelot and Rogers & Hammerstein musicals everywhere....you could run around the neighborhood and every neighbor knew who you were and policed you up -- biggest fear would be having a neighbor report on your infractions to your parents.
My memories are vague, but good from the 60s and especially the 70s!
Me too! We were home from a bomb scare if I recall correctly. Did the name of your school start with an 'A'?
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