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I think it depends where people lived and were brough up...small towns or countryside dont seem to change much but where I lived in the middle of industry it has.. no more big chimneys belting out smoke all day..with dirty buildings, smog a lot of the time..... illnesses like TB ,Polio were rife , but then now we have many more cars on the road. so the pollution goes on..seems now more allergies and unhappy people being depressed or is it bipolar now... which seems to cover a lot.. autistic children we had never heard of in the 50s..now their are many... for whatever reason... When I was growing up in the 50s kids played in the streets at roller skates, on bikes etc with no fear of traffic now its impossible for games on streets.. which is a shame as children are now more confined to their garden and dont go exploring or use parks as much as we used to. There wasnt as much money around either and no fancy holidays abroad , we went to nearby seaside towns on a good day or for a fortnight in Summer...but never Spain, France Greece Italy.. now its holidays to Mexico , American. even Australia from the UK isnt uncommon.... Is it better though..... Id say no and would love to go back in time.
they would notice these things right off...they would notice fast cars and girls/women wearing less in public.... (its not a bad thing) but theyd also notice the independence of the American woman...before 1960 over 80 % of women did not work outside of the house..
That sounds too low. In 1950, between 30 and 34% of women were working (outside of the house).
My mother and her 7 sisters were all working during at least part of the '50s.
Also, women not working is not a bad thing... they usually didn't work because they had a family and kids to raise.
Basically kind of the same as someone from 1912 thinking of today thread.
So, how would someone from the 1950s react to todays current digital technologies and other cool gadgets and entertainment? a little unimpressed as that is ALL you/we have done with it? we handed you the world and you social media yourself into nothingness? Remember it was scientists of the 1950s that made the space race. Mathematicians who were the 'hidden figures'. Inventors. Grace Hopper. I was expecting the Jetsons flying cars by now.Jonas Salk. Would he be impressed or a little dissapointed? disappointed that those who followed didn't stand on our shoulders. To people who were around in the 50s or knew people who were around in the 50s what do you think of todays technologies? OK for entertainment if that is what you want.
wish we had leapfrogged knowledge, explored more, learned more. guess we of the 1950s were a bit hopeful that more would have been achieved.
Last edited by mensaguy; 08-05-2018 at 04:44 PM..
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I'm mostly thinking of the nerds or people who were into a lot of science fiction or Science Fiction authors. But other people can be fine too.
Okay, proud Nerd and sciffy con addict. Mostly trek but lots of other things too. And do NOT forget filking.
My dad studied electronics, then opened a tv repair shop to support the family the first year or so they became popular. Then he got a job with Locheed working on the products of NASA. He's part to the larger team who helped us make it to the moon.
I watched every bit of science fiction I could, read many books, and I think I grew up part there and part in the fifties Los Angeles, in the Valley.
In my house, we sat up all night listening to reports when there had been a launch. We never missed one. I got to see one. And while I was horrible at math and probably wouldn't be an engineer, I read all the stories written by people who knew the how's it was done already so it was just an extension of the real world I personally lived in.
I was anti-war and never went to demonstrations, but was too sick. But didn't hide it. We just didn't say anything around DAD, though.
The 60's were a surreal mixture of dreams and horror and some of the best there is inside us, and our ability to turn the angers into an us and them with no compromize without damage to the dream. But then pretty much everyone then was busy making us and them worlds around them.
As for fandom, the first con I walked into I fell in love and stll strive to find one I can get to since its the home you never lose, just find a different door.
As for the general society and me over the 60's, that's another post
Ok, question, every seen Leslie Fish at a con? She's awesome and stirs the energies inside for the whole room, and its so *dull* to go home, but we have the songs. I know all the words too, of course, but my try at the guitar never quite made it. One future goal now is to get out the new guitar I got and try to learn to really play it.
Location: Approximately 50 miles from Missoula MT/38 yrs full time after 4 yrs part time
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Interesting answers, IMHO, to a question that can only be answered from a 'subjective' point of view..........
The number and type of environmental variables that a given person was subjected to from childhood to approx age 25 would, IMHO, determine how he or she would answer the original question.
Example: .......
Being born in early 1932, it is my opinion that I and the untold thousands born in that time frame could not have been born at a better time.
Graduating from high school in 1950, offered a variety of choices as to what "direction" they wanted to take :.....
.....:.... College.......Enter the Work Force(in those post-war years, job choices were abundant)......or, enter the Military.
Having lost my father as I entered high school, I was in a position to be deferred from the Draft after H.S. graduation and continue to remain the only family member for my single parent (my mother) to have at home.
I chose to work my way through college in the next four years and begin my adult married life shortly thereafter.
So, for me, those years from the 1950s to present-day could not have been better........YMMV!
I was here in the 50's, born in the 40's. The world was a much, much safer place then than it is today because of technologies. We've come to rely on computers for most everything including our utilities and our vehicles. Considering a EM burst will render any of those toast and it doesn't require much intelligence to trigger one, we are more vulnerable than we were December 6 1941. To the plus side, basic cell phones are almost a must these days as it gives you access to emergency services that in the 50's made you look for a gas station and a pay phone. There was no 911, you called who you needed. The internet is for most folks a plus. It gives you information that is up to date whenever you need it. Otherwise, an encyclopedia was yer best friend. The medical fields are miles ahead of the 50's because of technologies. But the home PC has replaced children outside playing which is causing early diabetes and grossly over weight children. Gaming is the big thing for kids these days. Our education system SUCKS so bad it's hardly recognizable to us older folks. You either learned it or you failed and took the grade over. Today with the No Child left Behind crapola is just that, crapola. Our kids are being taught how to be model socialists, not individuals. Parents are no longer responsible for their children's actions in the school yards. Our schools are raising the children these days. When I was in school God help you if you got sent to the principals office. The worst part was when yer dad got ahold of ya. Divorce was not common and was thought of as only trashy people get divorced. Now marriage is more like going steady until I get tired of you. Jeez, marriage today can be between two folks of the same sex. Gay folks were called queers and it was not a good thing. You could fill the trunk of a large car for 20 bucks with groceries. You had FRESH food at home that mom cooked, not this ready to eat crap you get today. And everybody in the family sat down together every evening for supper where you got to tell about your day. TV of the 50's was pretty much basic and there was little to no reference to sex. If you watch the old stuff, all the men wore suits and the women wore full dresses and there were no four letter words. Today you can all but see folks having sex and the four letter language is apparently common place on TV. We got to see about 28 minutes of program per 30 minute show whereas now an hour program has 40 minutes of show and 20 minutes of commercials. Hardly worth watching the old light bulb anymore. We had prayer at school to start the day. Now the Democrats have shown that being a Christian is not a good thing as they booed it at their convention this year. Sorry, but I'm a Christian and we can chat about it if you like. Hope yer hospitalization is paid up. There was no welfare back then like it is today. The church took care of it's folks. That's why folks went to church and were known in the church. If they had any issues like the husband came down sick, the church folks would take care of his family until he was able to do it himself. Poor folks got a lot of hand-me downs and nobody looked down at them. Now folks make a living screwing over the Gov't programs and DEMAND freebies. Back then if you demanded a freeby you'd end up in jail. And back then jail was not a nice place like it is today.
But everything moves forward. Sometimes it's for the better and sometimes it's for the worst. There are some goods things and there are some real bad things that are going on in this country since the 50's. I'm glad I got to live during the good times. I would hate to be a young person these days as the future looks mighty dim.
I grew up in the 1950s. I like being disconnected.
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we could have done better
