• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!
  • Welcome to our archives. No new posts are allowed here.

1950's, a great time to grow up?

Perotista

Perotista

DP Veteran
Joined
Jan 31, 2013
Messages
30,761
Reaction score
22,338
Location
Georgia
Gender
Male
Political Leaning
Other
I grew up in the 1950's and I am curious on how you take this video:

Lost in the Fifties- Another Time, Another Place - Safeshare.TV

For me it was the perfect time and place to grow up, I was an farm boy who rarely got to the city. The nearest town probably had a population of 500 or so and that was were we did our shopping. The city of Atlanta only 30 miles away I never made it to until I was drafted into the army, I really had no desire to go there and to this day, I still don't.

But I am more interested in hearing what you all think.
 
I actually grew up in the 60's, since I was born in the late 50's, but it was a great time to grow up a well. There was still a bit of a sense of wonder that I don't seem to see much anymore, and a sense of strong and intact families seemed to be more of a factor in society than it is today. Of course, it could just have been the particular set of parents I was born to, and not necessarily the time frame.
 
I wasnt even conceived back then so I wouldnt know. :2razz:
 
Perotista said:
I grew up in the 1950's and I am curious on how you take this video:

Lost in the Fifties- Another Time, Another Place - Safeshare.TV

For me it was the perfect time and place to grow up, I was an farm boy who rarely got to the city. The nearest town probably had a population of 500 or so and that was were we did our shopping. The city of Atlanta only 30 miles away I never made it to until I was drafted into the army, I really had no desire to go there and to this day, I still don't.

But I am more interested in hearing what you all think.
Click to expand...

I more of an early '60's kid from the suburbs of Sothern California. I had a paper route, and I sold lemonade to passersby to get money for candy and stuff. I was kicked outside by my mother to go out and play with my imagination as my guide.

It was certainly a simpler time, with responsibility, and ramifications for ignoring it, the principle of the day.
 
lizzie said:
I actually grew up in the 60's, since I was born in the late 50's, but it was a great time to grow up a well. There was still a bit of a sense of wonder that I don't seem to see much anymore, and a sense of strong and intact families seemed to be more of a factor in society than it is today. Of course, it could just have been the particular set of parents I was born to, and not necessarily the time frame.
Click to expand...

I understand, my parent were the same way. Intact families. On my dad side there was 8 kids and on my mom's 9. All lived within a 100 miles of us and there was tons of cousins.
 
ocean515 said:
I more of an early '60's kid from the suburbs of Sothern California. I had a paper route, and I sold lemonade to passersby to get money for candy and stuff. I was kicked outside by my mother to go out and play with my imagination as my guide.

It was certainly a simpler time, with responsibility, and ramifications for ignoring it, the principle of the day.
Click to expand...

That is what I think is missing today, imagination. I remember the old horror flicks where one at times never did see the monster that lurked until the very end. The monster, demon, etc. was mostly in your mind. Those were the scariest movies I seen. Today it is all special effects, no imagination. Yes, it was playing outside, no kid ever wanted to remain indoors. Now it is all video games and computers. Very few kids step outside the house and when they do they have their smart phone with the internet and games go along with them.
 
well, my childhood days were spent in the 50's.. but i kinda bridge the 50's and 60's overall.

I was born in Las Vegas... but that was before it was the Vegas we all know and love and/or hate... the population was about 40 or 50 grand ( as opposed to the couple of million it is now)
it was very much a simpler time to be a kid...and , i think, we enjoyed a lot more freedom to be a kid.
we were dirt poor, but lived a very similar lifestyle as the rich kids did.... we were always outside , always doing **** that would be branded as unsafe and insane by todays standards.. and our parents weren't scared to let us go be kids.

knowing what I know now, and if given the choice... i would choose growing up in the 50's/60's over growing up now... every day of the week ,and twice on sundays.
 
I was born in 1954 but was in Germany (dad was in the army) from 1956 to 1959 so I consider myself to have grown up in the 60's. It was a simpler time and I enjoyed it.
 
Perotista said:
I grew up in the 1950's and I am curious on how you take this video:

Lost in the Fifties- Another Time, Another Place - Safeshare.TV

For me it was the perfect time and place to grow up, I was an farm boy who rarely got to the city. The nearest town probably had a population of 500 or so and that was were we did our shopping. The city of Atlanta only 30 miles away I never made it to until I was drafted into the army, I really had no desire to go there and to this day, I still don't.

But I am more interested in hearing what you all think.
Click to expand...

Sure was a great time for this woman and people like her:

Rosaparks.jpg
 
I was born in 51 and grew up in a small mountain mining and forestry town. Population 300. My Dad was sheriff and I was a spitting image of Opie.
 
born in 1948 and still sneak back to the great songs of that era on occasion. Miss the summer nights at the drive in. Comic books and model cars and sports on a 9 inch Motorola TV. Think now I Love Lucy is still shown in most countries in the world.
 
How does one attribute only one decade as the era that they grew up in? No one is grown up at 10 years old. You would need at least two decades. But then if you were not born at the turn of a decade then your actual childhood might span several decades if say you were born in 1945 (like my parents were). Myself I was born in 1968 so I grew up in the 70's and 80's.


But then some people never actually grow up...
 
Thrilla said:
well, my childhood days were spent in the 50's.. but i kinda bridge the 50's and 60's overall.

I was born in Las Vegas... but that was before it was the Vegas we all know and love and/or hate... the population was about 40 or 50 grand ( as opposed to the couple of million it is now)
it was very much a simpler time to be a kid...and , i think, we enjoyed a lot more freedom to be a kid.
we were dirt poor, but lived a very similar lifestyle as the rich kids did.... we were always outside , always doing **** that would be branded as unsafe and insane by todays standards.. and our parents weren't scared to let us go be kids.

knowing what I know now, and if given the choice... i would choose growing up in the 50's/60's over growing up now... every day of the week ,and twice on sundays.
Click to expand...

The same and I agree.
 
clownboy said:
I was born in 51 and grew up in a small mountain mining and forestry town. Population 300. My Dad was sheriff and I was a spitting image of Opie.
Click to expand...

Mayberry might have had more people living in it than the town I grew up outside of. No sheriff or police, no stop light, just a two lane state highway running through it. There was a single train track that ran by it and an elevator so the farmers could load their produce and harvest on the trains. It ran on into Atlanta which was the major train hub of the south much like Hartsfield Airport is the major hub for flights today.
 
FreedomFromAll said:
How does one attribute only one decade as the era that they grew up in? No one is grown up at 10 years old. You would need at least two decades. But then if you were not born at the turn of a decade then your actual childhood might span several decades if say you were born in 1945 (like my parents were). Myself I was born in 1968 so I grew up in the 70's and 80's.


But then some people never actually grow up...
Click to expand...

I was a war baby from WWII, my dad return from the war and viola 9 month later here was I. I really do not remember anything from the 40's, too young. So the bulk of my childhood did span the 50's. You could throw in 3 years or so of the 60's, But being a farm boy back then by the time you reached 16 you was pretty much thought as grown.
 
The 50's were a mixed bag just as every generation is. But it was a good time to grow up. With rock and roll replacing the swing music of the 40's, the iconic charcoal gray and pink themes, crew cuts, pony tails, poodle skirts, and black leather jackets all making an indelible kind of ID on a generation that has never been duplicated since.

Mostly it was a time of carefree and innocence. Almost every kid had a mom AND a dad in the home, and everybody parented everybody else's kids as needed. We were free to roam the neighborhood so long as we were within earshot of home by sundown. And we were out playing too because television was pretty rare and personal computers and video games had not yet been invented. The boys took their hunting rifles to school, we sang both religious and secular carols in what we called the annual Christmas program--we had Christmas trees and Christmas decorations in the halls and classrooms too with the Jewish kids adding a Star of David or other decorations to the mix. And the school, with zero security, was one of the safest places to be. And teachers were professional, given authority to maintain discipline, and were highly respected members of the community.

When we traveled to the big cities, we kids, quite young, could take a street car all the way down town to shop or see a movie, without any adult supervision and without our parents worrying about us in the least.

The naysayers point to the 50's as a time of racism and segregation and sometimes it was that. But for the large majority of us, it was never an angry hateful thing. Our school system desegregated on its own, long before the civil rights movements, and we kids immediately started bringing our new black friends home for dinner and to play. Our parents, many raised in southern cultures in which you didn't mix the races, swallowed hard but they accepted this new thing and before long it felt normal. Things usually have a way of working out when they are allowed to happy naturally and aren't forced by the angry and militant.

The naysayers point to the limitations and discrimination placed on women, but women overall were much better protected, treated with courtesy and respect. Most were stay at home moms out of choice and thereby provided a stability and stress relieving component to all of the family that benefitted all. Those who wanted careers could have them, many breaking out of traditional roles. Many in my family did so. And many preferred the appreciation and the leisure they enjoyed in the more traditional roles.

It wasn't perfect, but there was far far more good than bad. For the vast majority of us, it was a great time to grow up.
 
lizzie said:
I actually grew up in the 60's, since I was born in the late 50's, but it was a great time to grow up a well. There was still a bit of a sense of wonder that I don't seem to see much anymore, and a sense of strong and intact families seemed to be more of a factor in society than it is today. Of course, it could just have been the particular set of parents I was born to, and not necessarily the time frame.
Click to expand...

I think it was the time frame. I attended the same elementary school from 1st through 6th grade and can still name every student from every class photo (while junior high and beyond became a blur), and only one kid was being reared by a single mom. We didn't even really understand what "divorce" was, only that it was terrible.

I can't count the number of people I've met who've sadly told me, "I was the first person in my family to ever be divorced," but nowadays, many refer to a first marriage as a "starter marriage."
 
AlbqOwl said:
The 50's were a mixed bag just as every generation is. But it was a good time to grow up. With rock and roll replacing the swing music of the 40's, the iconic charcoal gray and pink themes, crew cuts, pony tails, poodle skirts, and black leather jackets all making an indelible kind of ID on a generation that has never been duplicated since.

Mostly it was a time of carefree and innocence. Almost every kid had a mom AND a dad in the home, and everybody parented everybody else's kids as needed. We were free to roam the neighborhood so long as we were within earshot of home by sundown. And we were out playing too because television was pretty rare and personal computers and video games had not yet been invented. The boys took their hunting rifles to school, we sang both religious and secular carols in what we called the annual Christmas program--we had Christmas trees and Christmas decorations in the halls and classrooms too with the Jewish kids adding a Star of David or other decorations to the mix. And the school, with zero security, was one of the safest places to be. And teachers were professional, given authority to maintain discipline, and were highly respected members of the community.

When we traveled to the big cities, we kids, quite young, could take a street car all the way down town to shop or see a movie, without any adult supervision and without our parents worrying about us in the least.

The naysayers point to the 50's as a time of racism and segregation and sometimes it was that. But for the large majority of us, it was never an angry hateful thing. Our school system desegregated on its own, long before the civil rights movements, and we kids immediately started bringing our new black friends home for dinner and to play. Our parents, many raised in southern cultures in which you didn't mix the races, swallowed hard but they accepted this new thing and before long it felt normal. Things usually have a way of working out when they are allowed to happy naturally and aren't forced by the angry and militant.

The naysayers point to the limitations and discrimination placed on women, but women overall were much better protected, treated with courtesy and respect. Most were stay at home moms out of choice and thereby provided a stability and stress relieving component to all of the family that benefitted all. Those who wanted careers could have them, many breaking out of traditional roles. Many in my family did so. And many preferred the appreciation and the leisure they enjoyed in the more traditional roles.

It wasn't perfect, but there was far far more good than bad. For the vast majority of us, it was a great time to grow up.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...




I totally agree.

I have pretty much the same memories of the 50's (I was born in 1943.).
 
If you were a straight, white male, sure.

But, if we were to speak in strictly economic terms, they were great. Early days of the prosperous "Great Compression."

Anyway, not a good time in the long run.
 
AlbqOwl said:
The 50's were a mixed bag just as every generation is. But it was a good time to grow up. With rock and roll replacing the swing music of the 40's, the iconic charcoal gray and pink themes, crew cuts, pony tails, poodle skirts, and black leather jackets all making an indelible kind of ID on a generation that has never been duplicated since.

Mostly it was a time of carefree and innocence. Almost every kid had a mom AND a dad in the home, and everybody parented everybody else's kids as needed. We were free to roam the neighborhood so long as we were within earshot of home by sundown. And we were out playing too because television was pretty rare and personal computers and video games had not yet been invented. The boys took their hunting rifles to school, we sang both religious and secular carols in what we called the annual Christmas program--we had Christmas trees and Christmas decorations in the halls and classrooms too with the Jewish kids adding a Star of David or other decorations to the mix. And the school, with zero security, was one of the safest places to be. And teachers were professional, given authority to maintain discipline, and were highly respected members of the community.

When we traveled to the big cities, we kids, quite young, could take a street car all the way down town to shop or see a movie, without any adult supervision and without our parents worrying about us in the least.

The naysayers point to the 50's as a time of racism and segregation and sometimes it was that. But for the large majority of us, it was never an angry hateful thing. Our school system desegregated on its own, long before the civil rights movements, and we kids immediately started bringing our new black friends home for dinner and to play. Our parents, many raised in southern cultures in which you didn't mix the races, swallowed hard but they accepted this new thing and before long it felt normal. Things usually have a way of working out when they are allowed to happy naturally and aren't forced by the angry and militant.

The naysayers point to the limitations and discrimination placed on women, but women overall were much better protected, treated with courtesy and respect. Most were stay at home moms out of choice and thereby provided a stability and stress relieving component to all of the family that benefitted all. Those who wanted careers could have them, many breaking out of traditional roles. Many in my family did so. And many preferred the appreciation and the leisure they enjoyed in the more traditional roles.

It wasn't perfect, but there was far far more good than bad. For the vast majority of us, it was a great time to grow up.
Click to expand...

I couldn't have said it better myself. I too remember taking my .410 to school and placing in my locker so me and a couple of friends could go rabbit hunting after school. Heck, out in the parking lot were always several pickups with gun racks mounted in the back window with rifles and shotguns in them. They belonged to the teachers, no kid would ever think of taking one of them and no one locked their cars anyway.

I don't remember any girl in my class or the whole school ever getting pregnant and you are right, every kid did have a mom and a dad. I never heard of anyone ever getting divorced either. I never heard of anyone committing any sort of a crime. Our big thing for being devilish was sneaking behind the barn to light up a cigarette. If we ever misbehaved in school and received a spanking there, one could be sure to get another when our parents got home.

Yep, far from perfect, but an ideal time to grow up.
 
clownboy said:
I was born in 51 and grew up in a small mountain mining and forestry town. Population 300. My Dad was sheriff and I was a spitting image of Opie.
Click to expand...

I was born in 51 too. I grew up on a cotton farm and looking back it was indeed a great time to grow up.

I must admit thinking about it is somewhat amazing we are alive. In the country you were given a lot of freedom and we took advantage of that freedom to do some pretty crazy things.

Have fond memories of a buddy and me in empty pasture with our rifles trying to do the rifle spin that the tv show The Rifleman had on as its introduction. Neither of us shot the other but we had one close call that neither of us has ever forgotten.
 
Last edited:
Van Basten said:
If you were a straight, white male, sure.

But, if we were to speak in strictly economic terms, they were great. Early days of the prosperous "Great Compression."

Anyway, not a good time in the long run.
Click to expand...

Yes, in the long run it was a good time too. Most of the kids I grew up married for life--truly until 'death do us part'. The divorces have been very rare. We received a solid grounding in positive values, strong work ethic and belief in possibilities, a strong sense of right and wrong, personal ethics and morality, and went on to build strong churches or synagogues, strong, stable, safe communities in which people helped people and did not look to government as their sugar daddy and/or savior. And there was no angry us vs them mentality either. That lasted pretty much until the late 80's and beyond when progressivism, born in the 60's, came of age and started breaking it all down with increasing government authoritarianism and meddling in all aspects of the human experience, victim mentality, entitlement mentality, collectivism mentality, and dividing us by class and groups for fun and profit.
 
AlbqOwl said:
The 50's were a mixed bag just as every generation is. But it was a good time to grow up. With rock and roll replacing the swing music of the 40's, the iconic charcoal gray and pink themes, crew cuts, pony tails, poodle skirts, and black leather jackets all making an indelible kind of ID on a generation that has never been duplicated since.

Mostly it was a time of carefree and innocence. Almost every kid had a mom AND a dad in the home, and everybody parented everybody else's kids as needed. We were free to roam the neighborhood so long as we were within earshot of home by sundown. And we were out playing too because television was pretty rare and personal computers and video games had not yet been invented. The boys took their hunting rifles to school, we sang both religious and secular carols in what we called the annual Christmas program--we had Christmas trees and Christmas decorations in the halls and classrooms too with the Jewish kids adding a Star of David or other decorations to the mix. And the school, with zero security, was one of the safest places to be. And teachers were professional, given authority to maintain discipline, and were highly respected members of the community.

When we traveled to the big cities, we kids, quite young, could take a street car all the way down town to shop or see a movie, without any adult supervision and without our parents worrying about us in the least.

The naysayers point to the 50's as a time of racism and segregation and sometimes it was that. But for the large majority of us, it was never an angry hateful thing. Our school system desegregated on its own, long before the civil rights movements, and we kids immediately started bringing our new black friends home for dinner and to play. Our parents, many raised in southern cultures in which you didn't mix the races, swallowed hard but they accepted this new thing and before long it felt normal. Things usually have a way of working out when they are allowed to happy naturally and aren't forced by the angry and militant.

The naysayers point to the limitations and discrimination placed on women, but women overall were much better protected, treated with courtesy and respect. Most were stay at home moms out of choice and thereby provided a stability and stress relieving component to all of the family that benefitted all. Those who wanted careers could have them, many breaking out of traditional roles. Many in my family did so. And many preferred the appreciation and the leisure they enjoyed in the more traditional roles.

It wasn't perfect, but there was far far more good than bad. For the vast majority of us, it was a great time to grow up.
Click to expand...

Have you noticed that when an era is chosen to be a theme for parties, school dances, or just fun get-togethers for today's kids, they invariably choose the 50s - poodle skirts and all? Whether they are listening to their parents talk about the "good old days," when Ike was President and life was easier to live back then, or if they are slowly trending back from the "anything goes" mentality that exists today is anybody's guess, but there seems to be a shift in thinking taking place. Ironically, it appears that the radical 60s are not to their liking as far as emulation goes. I hope some research is done on that topic, because it could be important to our future as a country.

Greetings, AlbqOwl. :2wave:
 
AlbqOwl said:
The 50's were a mixed bag just as every generation is. But it was a good time to grow up. With rock and roll replacing the swing music of the 40's, the iconic charcoal gray and pink themes, crew cuts, pony tails, poodle skirts, and black leather jackets all making an indelible kind of ID on a generation that has never been duplicated since.

Mostly it was a time of carefree and innocence. Almost every kid had a mom AND a dad in the home, and everybody parented everybody else's kids as needed. We were free to roam the neighborhood so long as we were within earshot of home by sundown. And we were out playing too because television was pretty rare and personal computers and video games had not yet been invented. The boys took their hunting rifles to school, we sang both religious and secular carols in what we called the annual Christmas program--we had Christmas trees and Christmas decorations in the halls and classrooms too with the Jewish kids adding a Star of David or other decorations to the mix. And the school, with zero security, was one of the safest places to be. And teachers were professional, given authority to maintain discipline, and were highly respected members of the community.

When we traveled to the big cities, we kids, quite young, could take a street car all the way down town to shop or see a movie, without any adult supervision and without our parents worrying about us in the least.

The naysayers point to the 50's as a time of racism and segregation and sometimes it was that. But for the large majority of us, it was never an angry hateful thing. Our school system desegregated on its own, long before the civil rights movements, and we kids immediately started bringing our new black friends home for dinner and to play. Our parents, many raised in southern cultures in which you didn't mix the races, swallowed hard but they accepted this new thing and before long it felt normal. Things usually have a way of working out when they are allowed to happy naturally and aren't forced by the angry and militant.

The naysayers point to the limitations and discrimination placed on women, but women overall were much better protected, treated with courtesy and respect. Most were stay at home moms out of choice and thereby provided a stability and stress relieving component to all of the family that benefitted all. Those who wanted careers could have them, many breaking out of traditional roles. Many in my family did so. And many preferred the appreciation and the leisure they enjoyed in the more traditional roles.

It wasn't perfect, but there was far far more good than bad. For the vast majority of us, it was a great time to grow up.
Click to expand...

Great post, AlbqOwl! :thumbs:
 
Perotista said:
I grew up in the 1950's and I am curious on how you take this video:

Lost in the Fifties- Another Time, Another Place - Safeshare.TV

For me it was the perfect time and place to grow up, I was an farm boy who rarely got to the city. The nearest town probably had a population of 500 or so and that was were we did our shopping. The city of Atlanta only 30 miles away I never made it to until I was drafted into the army, I really had no desire to go there and to this day, I still don't.

But I am more interested in hearing what you all think.
Click to expand...

wow. I watched that video three times; realized I had a wide grin and moisture in my eyes. I was born a curmudgeon and this kinda' surprised me.

Some of the observations have been so eloquently descriptive I haven't much of value to add. I too was a war baby and growing up then was very different in time and space; indeed it was a grand time that likely will not be seen again.

This topic might make a good continuing thread of 'period memories' to enjoy in the "Tavern".

Thanks for posting this Pero.

An old and maybe stale toast, Pero:

To us and those like us.

There's damned few of us left.

To all of us.

Thom Paine
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom