Were you a kid in the Thirties, Forties or Fifties or so ?

5/28/03 | E-mail

[backhoe]

Well, I was a kid in the fifties, and off the bat one large difference I see is that back then, one man worked one job to support one family.

And that also bought one car & one house... now, most families need two wage-earners to make ends meet. Of course, we have so many more goods now.

[homeschool mama]

I was born in 58 but remember a number of things mentioned. :o)

We didn't have air conditioning when I was a kid. Being swarmed by mosquitos while sweating buckets was my experience. I have air conditioning now...and I like it.

Laying in the ditch watching the bats fly overhead was great fun for the neighbor kids. Laying in the middle of the street to see if we'd get run over was even more fun.

Burning leaves in autumn. I can still smell it. :o)

The dry cleaners man picked up and dropped off. He looked like Jimmy Durante.

Our milk was delivered in the 60's.

Hey grammie...you had wooden teeth, didn't you?

[homeschool mama]

It's still like that for many families even now...except it's 2 vehicles rather than 1. All my friends are stay at home moms...a few don't have vehicles to use during the day. Oh...and we love our hubbies.

[gramho12]

Loved this. Remember Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, Fred Astaire - people with everlasting talent and class. Remember when the word "rape" was barely seen in the paper, when your neighbor took care of you when you were sick if your Mom was at the store; when groceries and dairies delivered stuff to your door; when you knew the name of not only your neighbors but your mailman; catching fireflies, listening to the radio for the Shadow....

I grew up in a great time, when people counted more than animals, when we put our friends ahead of TV. when church was the social gathering for like-minded people.

Gosh, I sound old, but they were good times. God, family, friends.. those were our codes words. What happened?

[Scenic Sounds]

And who had more than one bathroom in the fifties?

And whatever happened to the joys of a party line for phone service?

And those expansive closets! Some of the bigger ones were maybe 2 feet by 8 feet.

[Chi-townChief]

"And that also bought one car & one house..."

And one bathroom, one TV (if you were lucky), one hi-fi, etc.

[backhoe]

All my friends are stay at home moms...a few don't have vehicles to use during the day. Oh...and we love our hubbies.

That's very nice to hear- I had a somewhat atypical family- no sibs, and my Dad was retired
( yes, I had the dreaded "older parents"- got a lot of grief from other kids, but mine were so calm & collected compared to their youngish folks... )
and so I got the benefit of having both male & female role-models around all the time.

My Dad was the cook, so I came by my househusbandly proclivities naturally.

I grew up on an island off the Georgia coast, about 3,000 souls, a third or so black, and we never locked the house at night, or the car.

Of course, Dad's 16 gauge Browning shotgun by the bed may have had something to do with that...

[ALASKA]

DOB: 1957

-Water balloon fights
-Bottle rocket fights
-Leave in the morning, come home for dinner
-Digging tunnels
-Riding bikes to the creek during a storm to watch the H2O
-Flushing out moles in the yard
-Catching "horny toads"
-Knowing everyone around my block (I was the paperboy)
-"throwing" the paper (hated Sunday mornings)
-Camping in the backyard
-Coming in the house about 12am from camping in the backyard
-Riding my bike to school
-Building forts in the "Piney Woods"
-Winning 45s by calling the local radio station
-Five of us riding around town on a tandem bike
-etcccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc

[homeschool mama]

Mitch Miller and his Orchestra / Ed Sullivan / Lawrence Welk /Red Skelton

talking the 60's here, folks.

[StriperSniper]

as well as the sound of a reel mower on Saturday morning,

If that's the manual kind with the rotating cylinder of blades that spit the cut grass forward, I remember using my grandfathers from the 50's in the 70's when I was a kid.

(Not actual mower, this one looks much older)

(They sound better when someone else is using it ;-)

[liberalnot]

fifties.

grew up on an isolated farm on the great plains.

no indoor plumbing until age 10.

my mother threatened to divorce unless she got an indoor toilet. the owner of the farm that my father rented put in the toilet in a closet and a kitchen sink.

[backhoe]

And one bathroom, one TV (if you were lucky), one hi-fi, etc.

You're right, of course, and I recall that first B&W TV with the little round tube... no air conditioning ( despite my Dad having an HVAC shop in his business... ) and August nights so hot you could not stay asleep... the dial phone, MElrose 8-2210... my Mom's brother had a party line...

[homeschool mama]

One bathroom for 4 little girls and both parents. Two bedrooms..2 girls in each bedroom..parents slept in a rollaway bed in the living room.

We had a party line til 71!

[RightWhale]

Hi-fi was something bohemians messed with. Most of us had tinny radios or record players.

[homeschool mama]

Sounds like you had a wonderful growing up experience, backhoe. :o)

My daughter is an only child..and we had her while in our 30's. She's 13 now and such a sweetie. I'm the main cook...and that's a good thing. Trust me. lol

My daughter's favorite programs are Bonanza, Big Valley, Father Knows Best and Leave it to Beaver. Oh...and Gidget. She's being raised on good shows!

[homeschool mama]

You sound just like my hubby, Fidgit on FR. But he'd add playing army all day...coming home with fleas. haha

[Sir Gawain]

No.

[homeschool mama]

The newer ones are actually really nice! Always keep those blades sharp though!

[homeschool mama]

My aunt and uncle owned a dairy farm in Wisconsin. No indoor plumbing. It was a long and lonely walk to the outhouse on a moonless summer night.