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.