I miss the good old days...

[ladder13]

I'm the same age as Saxon Pig. My first job paid $1.65/hr. You could work on cars but they were shot at 100k miles. Medical care wasn't a pimple what it is today. Hate to tell you but we are the victims of our own success. EVERYONE goes to college-EVERYONE is a chief-we have no indians. The farmers import Mexicans because they can't get the Urban youths to work for the $9.50/hr they pay the Mexicans. And when they do, they only get about 1/3 of a days work out of them. Dads left for work in the factories-they worked hard for their share ofthe American dream and ate a lot of.....manure so they could send their kids to college so they would have a better life and wouldn't have eat the same sandwich their dads had to eat. And you know what????? They succeded beyond their wildest dreams. Our economy became based on not making things and getting our hands dirty-but based on selling things. We are a consumption and service based economy. Nobody has to debase teirselves toiling away at manual labor. We wear coats and ties-gamble on Wall Street and make money out of nothing-all the while supercharging our ecomomy to the point where it is actually cheaper to make something a world away and ship it across the ocean than if we made it here. But we drive nice cars, own rolexes and don't get our hands dirty anymore. I'm just as guilty as anyone-

Whew!!!!!!!!!!!!! Whee in the hell did THAT just come from??

Whole lotta truth right there.

 

[G.T. Smith]

I was born in '50 and remember quite a but of the last half of the 50's. It was a good time for me but I don't think little kids much care. I thoroughly enjoyed the 60's though. graduated the same year my 37 was made in 1968. I miss those time and the friends I had.
Peace,
Gordon

 

[trapper704]

Once a month my folks gave dollar to go to the movies, 10 cents x2 cokes and popcon mabe a box of black crows, and a date of a lifetime was in progress. My first work in the 50's was 1.00 an hour 8 hrs 8.00 14 hrs 14.00. farmers didn't know about overtime back then. But you know I wish things were that simple again, I think people were happyier. I had to milk a cow twice a day mom sold eggs milk and stuff from the garden. My first vechile was a 75.00 1929 model a pickup, drove it for a year and the transmission went out, so sold it for 50.00 and bought a 90 hp 49 ford flathead v8 for 275.00. Did you ever wish you had some of those things back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I do

 

[ImprovedModel56Fan]

I was a kid growing up in the country in North Texas in the '50s. We didn't lock the doors to the house, left the keys in vehicles, helped our neighbors even when they didn't ask for it, and pretty much trusted a person based on his or her word and handshake... man, whatever happened? Based on my dealings with forum members, reading comments in various threads, likes and dislikes posted, I'm of the opinion that most of us here woulda been good friends growing up had we had the opportunity.

Blessings,
Hog

This is approximately what I remember from Winston-Salem in the fifties. Money-wise, however, CAJUNLAWYER has described the past accurately. I can certainly afford what guns I want today. And do y'all remember that if you were stuck in traffic, your car was going to overheat? My 1988 Camry didn't, nor any car after that. That Camry lasted 357K miles with the original rings still good, and the original clutch plate. Main problem was a bit of rust.

 

[imjin138]

I remember around 66 my dad was driving us to Missouri to visit some friends. It was around 11 PM and the gas station was closed but the pumps were on. He put in the gas and left the money on top of the pump under a rock. Being a Navy vet he never passed up a hitch hiking serviceman. In the Mid 70's I worked at a Mr. Steak restaurant, the owner was a former Marine and served in the Korean war When ever a service member in uniform came in his meal was comped.

 

[Bud11]

Some say these are the good old days, but being 55 now I think those were the good old days. But, I'm still enjoying life and living in the U.S. Still, CO beckons in about 10 days and I'm hoping to find a smidge of the good old days there compard to CA. Good post. Bud

 

[David Sinko]

In the not too distant future when we have the economy of Zimbabwe and we're paying for basic items with $100,000 bills we'll all be looking back and saying "Remember 2011 when gas was only $3.80 a gallon?" Come on people, you just don't realize how good we have it now. It's just a matter of time before today is the good old days.

Dave Sinko

 

[anglaispierre]

The good old days? I think we had the first washing machine in our street but the folks over the road had the first TV (black and white) and possibly the first telephone. We (all the kids in the street) used to knock on their door to ask if we could watch childrens TV at about 5pm. We all took our shoes off, and sat on the floor watching things like The Lone Ranger. Children's TV was about one hour a day. TV transmissions ended at about 10 or 10:30pm. No round-the-clock TV in those days. There was one station, the BBC.

Computers, mobile phones, holidays in foreign countries, men on the moon; all were years away. We still had rationing in the UK when I was a young child. Consumer goods for the home were expensive and rare. Personal consumer goods didn't exist.

We made our own fun. Ropes hanging from trees over the local stream where we played dares. In later years we played other "games" in the same area, but that's another story for another day.

Kids these days are bored; nothing to do despite the vast amounts spent on Play Stations and other gadgets for them. They haven't a clue how to entertain themselves and are in many cases semi-literate, writing text messages on their mobile phones to someone 2 streets away in an incomprehensible text language which has no grammar as we know it. They even write the same "language" in English exams and later in job applications. There are exceptions, but they are a minority. They have nothing to look back at as their "good old days". Who wants to remember days of self-indulgent boredom?

Were we happier than the kids of today? Undoubtedly, despite the diseases that plagued us and the hardships we and our parents had to endure. I had heart surgery in the late 50s and had to take things easy for the years before and after, but still did things my parents knew nothing about. Would I want to go back? Not a chance. At 60+ I wouldn't want to return to the hardships of that era. In fact when I was young, 60 was very old. My dad only made it to 45. But I would like to see a return to the standards of the 50s. To some extent they still exist for me, because some years ago I moved to rural Normandy, France, where things have changed more slowly and I still shake hands every day when I meet French friends. And kids are polite to adults. And I often leave the door unlocked when I go out. But sadly it is catching up.

Even nostalgia isn't what it used to be.

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

It's great to get nostalgic now and again...but some of us wouldn't be alive today with 1950's medical technology.

Quite true. If it's a dose of nostalgia that we want, perhaps Medicare should be limited to 1950's medicine.

It was no picnic for lots of children either. Polio reached it peak in the 1950's. School children played in toxic waste at where we all know as Love Canal.

It was a brutal time for millions... especially for those who did not have a right to vote. While some bask in fond memories of "what it was like to live in freedom in the good old USA", others have nightmares.

It's easy to paint a picture of whatever you want of the past, from paradise to hell. Time passes... and we leave some good stuff and some bad stuff behind.
---------------

Guns - Tennessee had more restrictions on handgun carry in the 1950's than today. Here's a link to some of the nonsense of the past (still plenty of nonsense today). Take a look at the history of your state laws. You may be surprised. I'm guessing most states had bans on handgun concealed carry during the 1950's. Anyone know?

http://www.tfaonline.org/index.php/civilian_permits/index

 

[Pilgrim]

I"m 65 and miss those days a lot.

We always played out side as kids and got to watch Howdy Doody in the evening...not much else on the one or 2 channels we had. Dad was one of the first in the town to get a TV.

We kids were never bored. Mothers never had jobs outside the home.

We had real families.

The 50's were great. The early 60's weren't so bad either. It wasn't until Vietnam reared it's head and the drug scene came about that things started going downhill.

 

[Rule 303]

In High School I paid 26 Cents for a gallon of gas to go into my 1953 Chevy Pickup and 10 Cents for a quart of oil.

I was born in the late forties and being a teenager in the sixties was more fun than a barrel of monkeys. Especailly the part where I went to Vietnam and they gave us all the ammo and explosives we could shoot.

Rule 303

 

[Bat Guano]

Went to a boarding school in the late '50s; although not military it was not a sissy place. Still we were all in the same boat and we all managed to get along ok. At one time a class put on a play that for some reason called for a bit player to portray an AP. The kid that took the role showed up in the full rig; class A blues white scarf and hat cover, blouses boots, and working 1911--first one I ever saw. We all had to see it. That was the start of a fifty year love affair...

I got home by train for Christmas, Easter, and summers. We were twelve miles from town, and we hitch hiked everywhere in all weathers. To some extent we raised ourselves. We knew what was expected of us and pretty well lived up to it. By the time we graduated we might have been naive by today's "standards", but we could roll with the punches pretty well.

Oh, yeah. By the time I was a junior I was allowed to keep a Ruger .22 auto pistol in a locked box in my desk. It was a nonissue, and nobody ever bothered it.

Those were good years, on the whole.

 

[Armyphotog]

A couple of things you got wrong for my town and generation. There were no strip malls. Nudity was definally illegal! Burgers were a dime and cheese was an extra nickel. I did carry a switchblade. Thought it was cute. Cleaned my fingernails with it. And when you messed up, you sat in the Principal's Office. Messing up including smoking anywhere, talking in class, and chewing gum. Drag racing didn't count as long as it was off the school premises. And, short hair was as popular as long hair with our girls, so where tight sweaters and skirts.

 

[Pilgrim]

yup. every girl/woman wore a skirt or a dress, too.

 

[joeintexas]

Around 1956, my dad had a few acres planted in watermelon with a small shed next to the road for folks to either buy the ones in the shed or pick their own. When we weren't there, which was most of the time, a coffee can was there to leave the payment. There was always money in the can, and I doubt any melons walked without payment. Try that now.

My guess is someone would even steal the can!!

 

[8thring]

additon

This illustration evokes some memories for me; perhaps also those of you who can remember the late 1950s.

Ike was in the White House.

Gas was 32 cents per gallon.

The country was not at war.

Folks left their home doors unlocked 24/7.

Leaving the keys in the ignition made it more convenient to get in your car and go.

Being armed on the streets was not a necessity.



A burger cost 25 cents - with cheese, 30 cents.

Teachers actually taught, and students actually learned. In high school, rowdiness got you sent to detention for remedial reflection. Smoking was allowed, but only in the baseball dugouts under the bleachers with supervision. Most guys carried a pocket knife, if only to play mumble-de-peg or sharpen pencils.

Music was music, not noise for effect. You could actually understand the lyrics and most music had a catchy melody.

Ed Sullivan was our reality show on TV.

You could go on the outskirts of town and plink with your .22.

Drive-in movies were just the thing for cuddling with your sweetie.

The neighborhood strip mall had pretty much everything you really needed. Ours had a grocery store, a hardware store, a bakery, a clothing store (with clothes made in America), a barber shop, and a drug store. The drug store had a soda fountain - Coke was a nickel. And it was a pleasant drink, not a hallucinatory.

Kids of differing ethnicity pretty well got along.

You could bring a gun to class (for shooting on the school's indoor range).

Your dog knew every other dog in the neighborhood, because he was free to run there when he wanted to.

Neighbors brought over some of their favorite dishes just for the fun of it.

Your clothing budget was basically for Levis and T-shirts.

You could actually work on your car yourself with a few screwdrivers and wrenches. And the gas station owner let you use his lift.

College was not just a dream; you could work while you attended to earn your way.

Your phone number was 5 digits long and the phone book was about an inch thick.

A phone call from a pay phone was... "it's your nickel."

You often walked to school because it was more fun that way and you saw interesting things along the way.

The government was not in debt, and taxes were affordable.

Government did not try to control every aspect of your life. You were pretty much free to do what you wanted, when you wanted, and with whom you wanted as long as you didn't harm anyone else in the process. And the environment was just fine the way it was, thank you.

Girls wore makeup, sure, but it was usually just lipstick. The girls had long hair and the boys had short hair. You could tell them apart easily.

Tatoos were for bikers, sailors and drunk Marines on shore leave, and piercings were limited to needlework.

The cars were Chevrolets, Pontiacs, Buicks, Oldsmobiles, Cadillacs, Studebakers, Fords, Mercuries, Lincolns, Plymouths, Dodges, DeSotos and Chryslers. You could get Jeeps, too, and they were all made in America. Loved the Corvette. You didn't have to go to Europe to get a nice sports car. The Thunderbird was a two-seater and a real chick magnet. If you wanted a motorcycle, it was a Harley. And the best bike was a Schwinn, with three speeds.

Japan? They lost the war, and they made cheap junk. Who would want it?

Your TV set and radio was made right here in the U.S.A.

Factories actually made things here, and the quality was pretty good. Smith and Wesson made pinned and recessed magnums without a politically correct doo-dad called an "internal lock." If you wanted to lock it, you put it away in a locked drawer or a locked room where the kids couldn't get to it.

You could order one of those nice Smiths direct from the factory or a large distributor, and it would come right to your door. Ditto for war surplus guns like Springfields, Garands, Lugers and P.38s.

A grandparent could take a grandchild shooting without a written permission slip from his or her parents.

There was no such thing as "gun free zones," now known by the cognizant as victim disarmament zones.

Crazy people were easily identified and placed where they belonged - in nut houses where they couldn't hurt anyone and could get professional treatment. No one tried to keep them on the streets because they were disadvantaged or had unhappy childhoods. And by and large, there were no mass killings. Murderers got the death penalty after a trial by jury and a swift justice system.

Our borders were pretty secure - those illegals who did manage to sneak into the country were rounded up by Ike and sent back where they came from. It was called "Operation Wetback." Look it up. If you wanted to immigrate, it had to be done legally. And that was that. That was the law.

If you wanted to speak Spanish, you learned it in school and you could use that skill to travel in Mexico and Spain. Legal immigrants learned English so they could use that skill to get along in the U.S. You didn't say "Me and him," you said "He and I." "Like" was a word of friendly affection, not a preface to a sentence.

Judges mostly had common sense (which is why they were elected judges in the first place) and didn't try to re-write the Constitution to suit their own value systems.

A preponderance of politicians actually tried to respond to the wishes of their electorates rather than basically try to get themselves elected in perpetuity.

A promise made was a debt unpaid, and deals were often made with no more than a handshake. A man's word was his bond.

There wasn't a lot of fine print to read, and you didn't need a magnifying glass to read all the **** on a bottle of aspirin.

Gold was $35.10 per ounce, compared to over $1,800 today...

People actually read books and learned from the wisdom of earlier generations.

It was "Mr. Jones" and "Mrs. Jones," not Charlie and Judy to the kids.

Most Democrats were pretty much the same as most Republicans - JFK argued for lower taxes to help the economy and was an NRA member. Anyone remember Scoop Jackson? He and Barry Goldwater got along fine. "Hands across the Aisle" was not just a catch phrase, and most everyone swung on the same of oars to help the country.

The high school day began by playing a record of "To the Colors" as ROTC cadets raised the flag in the morning, and everyone on campus paused, faced the flag, and held their hands over their hearts. Cadets in uniform rendered the hand salute.

Things have surely changed; and they call what has happened "progress."

Sadly, I don't think many people today remember what it was like to live in freedom in the good old USA. I miss all of that. Is it just me?

Sadly,
John

add; and when everyone wasn't strutting around in tactical gear with close cropped haircuts, wrap around sunglasses and tattoos acting like some military/cop/ swat wannabee. hippies were more bearable. and yes i do remember the mid to late 50's

 

[firestrat]

It's all just a matter of perspective. Someone is going to remember now as the good old days and the only people who will say they are wrong are the generations that came before and the one that comes after theirs. And I'm sure back in the 50's some of the "old" people thought the world was going to heck in a handbasket with all that rock and roll and the Soviets having the bomb.

 

[beach elvis]

I'm confirming my status as a codger-in-traning here, but I even miss how it was when I was a single-digit age in the 'early '70's. My parents still live in the house I grew up in. When I was a kid, it was a suburb. Now it's the 'hood.

I'm convinced that we're witnessing the de-evolution of the human race.
Hardly anyone would feel remorse to be considered as having no sense of honor, even to the level of CEO's and government.

Don't get me started.

 

[sipowicz]

I posted this once before but I think it's fitting here...always chokes me up no matter how many times I watch it.

Pixar "Cars" - Our Town - YouTube

 

[nogoodnamesleft]

I remember my dad telling me stories about segregated water fountains, bathrooms, etc ..... but eggs were cheap.