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Thread: This was how it was in the USA in the 50's

  1. #41
    Boolit Master
    John Guedry's Avatar
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    My dad (1902 - 1977) once told me that people who talked about the " good old days " either had a bad memory or had never been there. He always brought up the outhouse on a cold rainy night. Also (important in the south) no A/C.
    Old retired guy in Baton Rouge La.

  2. #42
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    Outhouse and freedom vs a/c and slavery.

    Sent from my XT1710-02 using Tapatalk

  3. #43
    Boolit Master
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    Remember those days well as I am older than alot of you that posted. $.49 got you a cheeseburger, fries and a cherry coke at the local drug store. We drove to the farm to get our 1 gallon jugs refilled with fresh, non pasteurized non homogenized milk for $.75 a gallon. In the morning we would shake the jug to mix up the cream. I wouldn't consider them the good old days with the exception that all kids played outside and there was usually only one fat kid in each class room.
    East Tennessee

  4. #44
    Boolit Grand Master popper's Avatar
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    4 major conflicts and 4 major plagues, they counted in the statistics? Gain of 10 from the 50s. You could drive on a date, pay for chow and still have change from 5$.
    Whatever!

  5. #45
    Boolit Master
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    Here's more detail on the period....this is from another forum member:

    I grew up in the 1950′s and remember it well.

    The ever present threat of polio. You would see pictures of children in iron lungs in the newspaper or on posters in school or on TV news shows. And we would get gamma globulin shots to protect us from it if anyone in the school was diagnosed with polio (although it would have provided little protection).
    The ever present threat of nuclear war with the USSR. There would be practice drills for hiding in the event of a nuclear attack. [Of course, today we have practice drills for hiding in the event of a school shooter.]
    Measles, mumps and chicken pox were pretty much experienced by all children and a number of them were scarred or died from the experience.
    Many people could not afford TVs and those who did had 10″ or 12″ black and white TVs. Color was only found in the homes of the rich and they were likely 12″ color TVs. (Most shows were not filmed in color until well into the 1960’s).
    There were no cell phones, computers, internet, GPS navigation systems, or most other electronic devices we use routinely today.
    Most electronic devices such as radios and TVs and audio equipment had vacuum tubes instead of transistors.
    Music was all monophonic. Stereo only came out in the late 50’s or early 60’s.
    Most cars had only manual transmissions. Automatic transmissions were for sissies.
    Racial, religious and ethnic discrimination in housing, education, and many other aspects of life was quite common. For example, you could list your house for sale and say that it was not available to anyone of a specific religion or race or ethnic origin. You could even have deed restrictions forbidding future owners from selling to those you didn’t approve of.
    Each family had a land line phone (if any phone at all). Only the rich had more than one line.
    Air conditioning was rare and only found in homes of the rich and in movie theaters (which is one of the reasons we all went to the movies so often).
    Pollution of the air and water was quite bad in most major cities and many rural areas had polluted waterways.
    The interstate highway system was just being built. Most of us drove on two lane roads.
    Cars typically only lasted about 4–5 years before they had to be scrapped. Tires (they weren’t radials back then) lasted about 20,000 miles.
    Kids routinely walked a mile or more to school. Parents would rarely drive kids to school, even in bad weather, because most families had at most one car and the father would have already taken that to work.
    On the other hand

    Gasoline was about 15 cents per gallon
    An ice cream cone cost 10 cents (12 cents for a double dip cone)
    You could see a movie in a theater for 12 cents (often a double feature).
    Cars had fins (at least in the last half of the 1950’s)

  6. #46
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    An enjoyable article to read -- thanks for posting -- BUT I noted no mention of the families then eating home-cooked "from scratch" meals sitting at a table, together (and the following day's leftovers, if any); mom and dad spending TIME with their children as often/much as they could; and, the family going to (whatever denomination) church weekly!
    georgerkahn

  7. #47
    Boolit Master
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    Yea.....I really liked sniffing in coal dust every time I had to shovel coal into the furnace. And removing coal ashes was even more fun. Especially since we had to find a spot in the yard to dump the pile of cancer causing garbage so it could leach back into our well water. Even more fun was running out to the outhouse during a snow storm. Very few cars could make it to the 100,000 mile point without a rebuild. That is, if they were not rusted out by then.
    Good old days? NOT.
    East Tennessee

  8. #48
    Boolit Master
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    Anybody remember "burning fluid" or "city gas"? That would be going back a ways. Burning fluid was a blend of alcohol and turpentine (byproducts of kiln-drying lumber) for lamps and was replaced with kerosene once Rockefeller figured out there was money to be made with this byproduct of refining oil for lubricants. Same with gasoline before internal combustion engines were common. There are old photos of lamps with the glass chimney all carboned up from the soot produced by the turpentine but it was the best anyone had back then. City gas was the gas piped to houses in town for cooking purposes produced by a plant in the city burning trash, wood or whatever fuel would produce the needed carbon monoxide in sufficient quantities. Remember the old movies in which the despondent person would put their head in the oven to commit suicide? This never made sense to me because natural gas, methane, is not precisely a poisonous gas but CO is, and cities produced it before natural gas became widely available. Imagine that, deliberately piping carbon monoxide into your house. Fascinating, the obscure and lost details that can be learned in conversation with the old folks who lived it.

  9. #49
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by John Guedry View Post
    My dad (1902 - 1977) once told me that people who talked about the " good old days " either had a bad memory or had never been there. He always brought up the outhouse on a cold rainy night. Also (important in the south) no A/C.
    Mostly grew up in Memphis. Kind of hot during the summer. Attic fan or box fan was it. Finally got A/C after we moved to Louisiana when I was 14. One thing that was a whole lot better: no child-proof packaging or tamper-proof packaging; did not have to spend so much time opening stuff.

  10. #50
    Boolit Grand Master popper's Avatar
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    Got to slide down the coal chute once and cleaning the coal bin. Lots of fun. Freezer was a box the ice man put blocks into. Milk man picked up the old bottles. First TV in town was a 4" round tube and only one station. Color was a B&W with a color wheel in front of it. Friend had a Whizzer and I got (somehow) a worn out Solex.
    Whatever!

  11. #51
    Boolit Master
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    Those were good times and bad.My Father lived through pretty much all of it.11-11--1896 was his birthday.He died 9-1994.He saw transportation go from horse and buggy to the space shuttle.Served in the trenches in WW1 along with his oldest Brother.Saw Haley`s Comet come and go twice.I came along in 1945.The 50`s and 60`s were also good and bad times.Dad had pretty much one job his whole life.House painter/wallpaper hanger for 50 some years before he retired.Education was much better when I went to school.First grade through 8th was a bit rough(Catholic school).The Nuns cut no slack().But,you got a great education.
    Learned a bunch from Dads friends(WW1 and WW2 and Korean veterans).A really great bunch of gentlemen and ladies.Miss them all.
    Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
    Leo
    People never lie so much as after a hunt,during a war,or before an election.
    Otto von Bismarck

  12. #52
    In Remembrance
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    Born in 58, so can't relate to much of the fifties, but much of the country was still a lot like that in the 60's and even in the 70's in rural towns, at least in Texas and New Mexico.
    Heck here in Alaska, there is a lot of folks that can still relate too several parts of it, out houses, wood heat, etc. lol

    Anybody remember counter checks, where I lived through the 70's there was no need to carry your check book, every place that accepted payment had a stack of counter checks, just sign your name to it.

  13. #53
    Boolit Grand Master

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    Another thing I remember is that most people were more resistant to credit. Back then a workman was more likely to drive a vehicle with a different level accessory/trim package than his boss than they are now. Now days a working man is more likely to drive a truck with a King Ranch or Denali package than in the past. Or to go into debt for a larger nicer house.

  14. #54
    Boolit Grand Master

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    I remember the do it yourself or do without attitude. Home and auto repairs were common after work activities.
    The Sat double feature and serials with a hotdog, drink, and popcorn, left change for a quarter. A cellophane pack of BBs was a penny. There were constant gas wars , and .13.8 was often the price.
    There was a drink that we called the "three center" and most snacks were a nickel. A huge "Lotta Cola" and a 6" Moon Pie made many a 10c lunch. Lots of "penny" candy, and even a small paper bag called a penny poke.
    Nobody I knew had more than one pair of shoes that fit. First order of business after school was to change into old clothes that usually had more hole than fabric. Unlike today it was embarrassing to wear worn or holey pants in public. Most everybody (girls and boys) had overalls with at least one strap held with a safety pin.
    The Butcher, (every grocery had one) wore a stained white apron held with a huge brass safety pin, except for when he was stocking shelves, or running the register. You ordered a cut of meat and he cut it while you waited.
    Hardware, grocery, and even gas stations, sold guns and ammo. Most families had a couple members that hunted and fished to supplement groceries.
    Just like it was yesterday!
    Information not shared. is wasted.

  15. #55
    Boolit Grand Master

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    Also remember most cars trucks and tractors were 6 volt positive ground systems and also had generators not alternators if you drove in the cities a slow speeds the system might not charge and you had to charge it at home. Lawn mowers were a push type usually a reel mower of some sort powered by the operator.

  16. #56
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by country gent View Post
    Also remember most cars trucks and tractors were 6 volt positive ground systems and also had generators not alternators if you drove in the cities a slow speeds the system might not charge and you had to charge it at home. Lawn mowers were a push type usually a reel mower of some sort powered by the operator.
    yep, reel type push mower, and having it slam your breast bone when you went over a walnut or a gum ball. Wish I did not remember that.

  17. #57
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wally View Post
    Here's more detail on the period....this is from another forum member:

    I grew up in the 1950′s and remember it well.

    The ever present threat of polio. You would see pictures of children in iron lungs in the newspaper or on posters in school or on TV news shows. And we would get gamma globulin shots to protect us from it if anyone in the school was diagnosed with polio (although it would have provided little protection).
    The ever present threat of nuclear war with the USSR. There would be practice drills for hiding in the event of a nuclear attack. [Of course, today we have practice drills for hiding in the event of a school shooter.]
    Measles, mumps and chicken pox were pretty much experienced by all children and a number of them were scarred or died from the experience.
    Many people could not afford TVs and those who did had 10″ or 12″ black and white TVs. Color was only found in the homes of the rich and they were likely 12″ color TVs. (Most shows were not filmed in color until well into the 1960’s).
    There were no cell phones, computers, internet, GPS navigation systems, or most other electronic devices we use routinely today.
    Most electronic devices such as radios and TVs and audio equipment had vacuum tubes instead of transistors.
    Music was all monophonic. Stereo only came out in the late 50’s or early 60’s.
    Most cars had only manual transmissions. Automatic transmissions were for sissies.
    Racial, religious and ethnic discrimination in housing, education, and many other aspects of life was quite common. For example, you could list your house for sale and say that it was not available to anyone of a specific religion or race or ethnic origin. You could even have deed restrictions forbidding future owners from selling to those you didn’t approve of.
    Each family had a land line phone (if any phone at all). Only the rich had more than one line.
    Air conditioning was rare and only found in homes of the rich and in movie theaters (which is one of the reasons we all went to the movies so often).
    Pollution of the air and water was quite bad in most major cities and many rural areas had polluted waterways.
    The interstate highway system was just being built. Most of us drove on two lane roads.
    Cars typically only lasted about 4–5 years before they had to be scrapped. Tires (they weren’t radials back then) lasted about 20,000 miles.
    Kids routinely walked a mile or more to school. Parents would rarely drive kids to school, even in bad weather, because most families had at most one car and the father would have already taken that to work.
    On the other hand

    Gasoline was about 15 cents per gallon
    An ice cream cone cost 10 cents (12 cents for a double dip cone)
    You could see a movie in a theater for 12 cents (often a double feature).
    Cars had fins (at least in the last half of the 1950’s)
    Which is worse, Polio, measles, mumps. etc. which we eradicated, or cancer?

    Attachment 238221

    And I really see no disadvantage to the other things highlighted. People were in better physical shape, had more sense of personal responsibility, and families were closer.

    Kids are fatter and killing themselves at a much higher rate today.

    Attachment 238222

    Attachment 238223
    "Luck don't live out here. Wolves don't kill the unlucky deer; they kill the weak ones..." Jeremy Renner in Wind River

  18. #58
    Boolit Master
    Elkins45's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Idaho45guy View Post
    Which is worse, Polio, measles, mumps. etc. which we eradicated, or cancer?

    Attachment 238221

    And I really see no disadvantage to the other things highlighted. People were in better physical shape, had more sense of personal responsibility, and families were closer.

    Kids are fatter and killing themselves at a much higher rate today.

    Attachment 238222

    Attachment 238223
    Look at the scale on that cancer graph. You’re talking about an increase from 13 to 21 out of 10,000 kids. That’s a 0.08% increase. I would absolutely take that over the chance of polio. And those are instances, not deaths. This is a classic example of a graph that was intentionally drawn to be misleading by amplifying only the very top of the scale.

    And what’s preferable about cars and tires that wore out more quickly?
    NRA Endowment Member

    Armed people don't march into gas chambers.

  19. #59
    Boolit Buddy
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    I remember in the late 60's I would put my .22 in its case grab a box of ammo and get on the bus to go to school. When I got to school I put my gun and ammo in my locker. After school I would go into the school basement where we had a 50 foot rifle and pistol range and shoot a match against a different school. After school I would get on the late bus and go home, no problem, no questions we were on the school rifle team. Can you imagine that this was on Long Island, New York? We would go duck hunting before school and some of the teachers that were interested would come out to the school parking lot to look at the shotguns we had. Things have really change here. Now if you can find a place to duck hunt in this area you are a very luck person and if you bring a gun near school you will either be shot by a SWAT team or spend a long time in jail! Some things were better then, some things are better now. I think we tend to forget the bad things then, and are constantly reminded of the bad things now. As Mom used to always say "The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.". Looking back I think that in a lot of cases the grass is greener because we can no longer get on that side of the fence as much a we wish. Speaking of "Wishing" when we were kids, Mom would tell us to go out in the backyard and wish in one hand and pee in the other and see which one would get full first. Not too many people think that way any more or would tell there kids that!

  20. #60
    Boolit Buddy
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    Born in '47, I've seen most everything previously described. I DO note that the folks questioning/disparaging the common disappearance of child molesters tend to be from the more urban areas of the north. In Texas we tended to solve our own problems in a more direct manner. The ice deliveries that confound some of the younger here I find humorous, after spending one summer making these deliveries. Thought it'd be a good idea... cool you know... Doesn't always work out. Family was in the wholesale oil and gas business so I distinctly remember the price wars. Goodyear sent a couple sets of tires out in the mid-60's for the dealers to test. New fangled radial bias tires. When inflated to the listed pressures they still "looked" low so my father aired 'em up... to about 60psi... and then complained that they rode hard. Great uncle on my mother's side 'retired' when the oilfield hit in the '30's and ran a poker game out of his house 24/7. This was the old family homestead that'd been there since the 1860's and had no running water and, for a long time, no electricity. I think what bothered my mother and grandmother the most, tho', was that he didn't have an outhouse either. I loved that old man.

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