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"Was the 1950s as perfect as everyone says they were?"
Anecdotal personal memories does not history make or answer the question. The fact that so many African Americans have presented prima facia evidence of the imperfections of the 1950's should be sufficient to any objective observer and answers the OP's question is a unequivocal no. The 50's were not as idyllic as some would toportray the era.
Do you guys who were around in the 50's wouldn't be around now if it wasn't for medical technology?
Why would anyone wish for that? That alone is enough to convince me it wasn't good(but what do I know,I'm 30)
I would say 90% of the kids and adults I've took care of wouldn't be alive right now if this was the 50's.
Some of you probably wouldn't be either.
Most of you are in your 60's and 70's now.
There were no stains to control your cholesterol,no glucatrol or lantus to control your diabetes,nothing for angina,and the biggest one: no chemptherapy or radiation for cancer.
None of my parent's siblings died before their mid or late 70's, and they were born in the first two decades of the 20th century. This was an acceptable age to die at.
I lived in a small town where death was a public event, the town newspaper carried the obits and deaths were announced in church...no one died without everyone knowing. And I have no recollection that childhood or early middle age deaths were common. However, we lived in a small town/rural part of western NYS. Thus, I am sure we were in an area of excellent medical care for most decades of the 20th century.
But there was far less stress, and meals contained a large amount of fresh produce as well as canned (and later frozen) products. Overeating was nothing like as common as it is today.
But life in the 50's, at least in my town, was no charnel house. And the introduction of bad diets, the increasing use of chemicals in food, cosmetics and on farms and factories have probably contributed to the increased incidence of many diseases in the later part of the 20th century. That medicine has increased our chances of surviving diseases is not in question, but in parallel has come the deleterious things I mentioned.
There were drugs for cancer in the 50's and other treatments were introduced at the end of the decade. Smoking was the big culprit, of course. Polio was a peril for children admittedly. But when my schoolmates died, which was rare, they died by drowning or in auto crashes.
But when my schoolmates died, which was rare, they died by drowning or in auto crashes.
Another "not perfect" thing about the 50s - no seatbelts. I remember as a kid coming upon car accidents and my mom telling us not to look because there were bodies all over the road. I never had to do that with my kids.
The clothing of the 50s was oppressive. I liked being able to wear shorts and hawaiian shirts to school. Seemed like teens in the 50s had to dress like mini-adults.
I loved the clothes in the 50's and early 60's. Bobby sox, knee sox, pleated skirts, real penny loafers, brown & white saddle oxfords; and shoes that we used to polish and shine. Starching petticoats. Writing in ink on our white sneakers who we "loved". lol ! Jitterbug, and American Bandstand. Slow dancing, school dances; wearing your boyfriend's high school ring on a neck chain / going steady. "Home Ec". The majority of the girls' wearing the same black sweaters with a "circle" pin in photos in the 1961 yearbook. Getting a "permanent". The music of the 50's, Do Wop, Motown, Rock 'n Roll, Bobby Darin, Elvis; movie idols. Portable radios, pajama parties. Convertibles!
No wonder the Mad Men series is so popular. Let the good times roll.
Pegged pants.......OMG, I so wanted to be like the city kids I had become aware of. Pegged pants, teensie-weensie thin belts for your pants, DA hair style, boots, James Dean's red jacket and so on.
I managed the DA when a girl friend, who was going to beauty school, cut it into my hair, which I had let grow longish enough to fake a rather unimpressive DA.
But the pegged pants. I bought a pair of pants, but having a local tailor peg them was a problem. He really balked like it was some unnatural act. But he gave in.
When my mother saw me in them she fairly herniated her larynx she was so outraged! However, I had reached the age of teenage defiance (or at least the rather tame local version), and I continued to wear them and the hair got longer and more impressively DA'ed. And then a drop-dead gorgeous girl who went to Catholic H.S. in the neighboring county seat asked me to a Sadie Hawkins Dance at my high school.
Finally! I had gone from obsequious, a**-kissing, excellent student to teenage success (in my eyes)...the transformation so annoyed my H.S. chemistry teacher that he actually denounced me to my mother while she was waiting on him where she worked in the five-and-dime. And that precipitated a huge brouhaha that ended up with him being given a real dressing down by the school principal.
All for pegged pants and a DA....funny and fond memory now.
Yes, I grew up in the 50's while not perfect, America was a vastly better place to live than it is today. Schools educated, disruptions were at a minimum. A single teacher could keep order with even 30 kids in her classroom, because the kids knew that if they got in trouble at school, there would be bigger trouble at home. Parents backed up the teachers.
It was a very safe time. I could wander all over our neighborhood. Mom was home, but she didn't know where we were, but knew we were safe. I went to the park to play ball, fish, swim with no parental supervision to "protect me." It wasn't needed.
This fine quality of life endured past the 50's. Teens were not having sex, getting pregnant, etc.My town was a very safe fine place to live till I left at 20. In my HS class, only one girl out of a class of 450, and this is before birth control or legalized abortion. There were no murders. All my friends lived with both parents. Divorce was rare, couples shaking up non existent.
We now live in a godless cesspool of moral filth. I'd love to go back to those days.
Yes, I grew up in the 50's while not perfect, America was a vastly better place to live than it is today. Schools educated, disruptions were at a minimum. A single teacher could keep order with even 30 kids in her classroom, because the kids knew that if they got in trouble at school, there would be bigger trouble at home. Parents backed up the teachers.
It was a very safe time. I could wander all over our neighborhood. Mom was home, but she didn't know where we were, but knew we were safe. I went to the park to play ball, fish, swim with no parental supervision to "protect me." It wasn't needed.
This fine quality of life endured past the 50's. Teens were not having sex, getting pregnant, etc.My town was a very safe fine place to live till I left at 20. In my HS class, only one girl out of a class of 450, and this is before birth control or legalized abortion. There were no murders. All my friends lived with both parents. Divorce was rare, couples shaking up non existent.
We now live in a godless cesspool of moral filth. I'd love to go back to those days.
Gee it's fun seeing the 1950's through rose colored glasses.
Gee it's fun seeing the 1950's through rose colored glasses.
On the contrary, these are perfectly valid recountings of typical life in the '50s. I can add that we often left car keys in the ignition and didn't lock the house doors at night. Disbelieve it if you wish, but that's how it was where I lived in those days.
On the contrary, these are perfectly valid recountings of typical life in the '50s. I can add that we often left car keys in the ignition and didn't lock the house doors at night. Disbelieve it if you wish, but that's how it was where I lived in those days.
My grandparents and my father lived through the 1950s, and they never left the door unlocked.
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WE HAD pegged pants and bellbottoms!!
The music of the 50's, Do Wop, Motown, Rock 'n Roll, Bobby Darin, Elvis; movie idols. Portable radios, pajama parties. Convertibles!
