The Goodness of the 1950s

[C_Clayton_Jones]

The problem with today, is that we want to air out all our dirty laundry right into the streets, regardless of what message it sends to the children or what damaging effects it has on the betterement of society as a whole, because people are just selfish these days, and don't care what damage is caused by the airing out of our dirty laundry into the streets (creating this anything goes society as a result of, all in stead of daring it (the bad part) to come out into the open as it was back in those days.

So your ‘solution’ is to go back to the days of fear, intolerance, and ignorance, when problems were hidden away, when policy makers lied to the people and pretended everything was ‘alright.’

Trying to hide ‘dirty laundry’ is much more harmful in the long run.

As an aside, people were just as selfish 50 years ago as they are today.

 

[Flopper]

True there was death and desease that was not understood back then, but if you were healthy, and was well as a family in that time period, it was a peaceful and friendly time that was found amongst the majority within the white culture, and within the black culture as well, even so the whites came out of that time period looking to help the blacks more and more due their peacful and Godly upbringing from that period, because they (the whites) were God fearing well manored people the most of them (minus a few groups who were bad news), and be it so the good whites honored their wives, children, and friends with dignity and integridy the most of them. Their children became the next generation of folks, who wished no harm to anyone as a result of living in such a promoted peaceful white culture & lifestyle back then, in which was found amongst the majority of white families who lived in that time period.

Their children were those who went forth to right the wrongs of those small groups who did evil deeds amongst them back in the day, and sadly they tried to do it in the "white" peoples name, for whom these bad people went about doing wrong to others, against those whom were also Americans just as well in this nation (i.e. the black folk). If it were not for God being in many white peoples lives strongly back in the day, there is no telling what this nation would have become or looked like today for the black people. Thank God we have all found our way in this nation somehow, and have been abe to live in peace and in harmony the most of us for quite along time or period now together in America.

Uh, lets try and keep it that way ok ? God Bless America !

Memories are always selective. We remember moments not days, events not history. The fifties laid the groundwork for the 60’s and the tumultuous changes that followed.

Race discrimination was not just acceptable, but the law in many parts of the country supported it. A mixed race couple was likely to find themselves ostracized from society. In the south, schools were segregated; the whites went to the good schools and the blacks went to the poor schools.

It was not just legal to pay a women half what you paid a man for the same work, it was to be expected. Barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen was the future for most women from poor families.

Sex was hidden away in the bedroom, something that wasn't discussed in public and certainly not in the classroom or in mixed company. Unwed mothers were scorned by society for their evil deeds. The fathers rarely shared the blame. Child and spouse abuse was common, but hidden away as was incest and homosexuality. In fact, the treatment for most of societies problems was to ignore them and pretend they didn't exist. For many people, the 50's were a happy time as long as you didn't scratch beneath the surface.

Such hypocrisies of the 50’s were not to be ignored by the young people in the 60’s. This brought about monumental changes, some good and some bad.

Yes back then many things were hidden beneath the surface, in order to promote the better good out in the public as it was thought to be, but like you say, if one scratched beneath that surface, there was alot of work to be done for sure.

The problem with today, is that we want to air out all our dirty laundry right into the streets, regardless of what message it sends to the children or what damaging effects it has on the betterement of society as a whole, because people are just selfish these days, and don't care what damage is caused by the airing out of our dirty laundry into the streets (creating this anything goes society as a result of, all in stead of daring it (the bad part) to come out into the open as it was back in those days.

Yes racism needed desperately to come out, and to be worked on out in the open for sure, but the other (((((bad stuff))))) needed not to hitch a ride out of the closet, by clinging to the race issue as a disquise, yet sadly that is exactly what Mr. Bad Stuff had done (got a free ticket to ride).

We air our dirty laundry to the nation and the world today simply because we can. If the Internet were available in every home and business in the 50’s, victims of race discrimination, sexual discrimination, child abuse, and spousal abuse, as well as every whistleblower, and victim of injustice would be telling their story to the world. It’s not that people in the fifties had no voice; the problem was it was difficult to make their voice heard. In 1950, there were just over 2,000 newspapers. Today when you include all the online forums, blogs, and news outlets, there are hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of online publications all asking for input from readers. We have more laws to address injustice and more people interesting in seeing that those laws are enforced.

By bad stuff in the 60’s, I was referring to the assignations of our leaders, riots, and hatred. If you are saying having a more open society in regard to gays, addressing sexual discrimination, hate crimes, and abuse is bad stuff, I disagree.

 

[beagle9]

The problem with today, is that we want to air out all our dirty laundry right into the streets, regardless of what message it sends to the children or what damaging effects it has on the betterement of society as a whole, because people are just selfish these days, and don't care what damage is caused by the airing out of our dirty laundry into the streets (creating this anything goes society as a result of, all in stead of daring it (the bad part) to come out into the open as it was back in those days.

So your ‘solution’ is to go back to the days of fear, intolerance, and ignorance, when problems were hidden away, when policy makers lied to the people and pretended everything was ‘alright.’

Trying to hide ‘dirty laundry’ is much more harmful in the long run.

As an aside, people were just as selfish 50 years ago as they are today.

Why why why are people so ignorant as to what is said here upon this site, and so many times on these boards ? No that is not my solution, because we were only drawing from the good that came from that time period, and not drawing from the bad, even though we know there was bad back then also, as it is throughout time, it is known that it was in a lot smaller quanity in those days, and this in comparison to the greater good found in the culture that had stood strong back then for many who lived as American citizens inside of America.

Back then I feel that we had 7 kids doing well in school, who were not being influenced by the bad ones, and we had 3 being bad amongst the masses in the school system of the 50's , but now adays we have 7 kids doing bad in many schools, and 3 kids doing well amongst the masses that we have within our broken schools today, especially within our more open culture we have today. There are many stats that one can compare easily back & forth from the days in which there was some great promises and things to draw from, just as there are today as well, so no one is talking about revisiting the bad that was going on in these time periods, but rather to revisit the overwhelming good that was going on within these time periods, and to then draw from that good somehow.

 

[beagle9]

Memories are always selective. We remember moments not days, events not history. The fifties laid the groundwork for the 60’s and the tumultuous changes that followed.

Race discrimination was not just acceptable, but the law in many parts of the country supported it. A mixed race couple was likely to find themselves ostracized from society. In the south, schools were segregated; the whites went to the good schools and the blacks went to the poor schools.

It was not just legal to pay a women half what you paid a man for the same work, it was to be expected. Barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen was the future for most women from poor families.

Sex was hidden away in the bedroom, something that wasn't discussed in public and certainly not in the classroom or in mixed company. Unwed mothers were scorned by society for their evil deeds. The fathers rarely shared the blame. Child and spouse abuse was common, but hidden away as was incest and homosexuality. In fact, the treatment for most of societies problems was to ignore them and pretend they didn't exist. For many people, the 50's were a happy time as long as you didn't scratch beneath the surface.

Such hypocrisies of the 50’s were not to be ignored by the young people in the 60’s. This brought about monumental changes, some good and some bad.

Yes back then many things were hidden beneath the surface, in order to promote the better good out in the public as it was thought to be, but like you say, if one scratched beneath that surface, there was alot of work to be done for sure.

The problem with today, is that we want to air out all our dirty laundry right into the streets, regardless of what message it sends to the children or what damaging effects it has on the betterement of society as a whole, because people are just selfish these days, and don't care what damage is caused by the airing out of our dirty laundry into the streets (creating this anything goes society as a result of, all in stead of daring it (the bad part) to come out into the open as it was back in those days.

Yes racism needed desperately to come out, and to be worked on out in the open for sure, but the other (((((bad stuff))))) needed not to hitch a ride out of the closet, by clinging to the race issue as a disquise, yet sadly that is exactly what Mr. Bad Stuff had done (got a free ticket to ride).

We air our dirty laundry to the nation and the world today simply because we can. If the Internet were available in every home and business in the 50’s, victims of race discrimination, sexual discrimination, child abuse, and spousal abuse, as well as every whistleblower, and victim of injustice would be telling their story to the world. It’s not that people in the fifties had no voice; the problem was it was difficult to make their voice heard. In 1950, there were just over 2,000 newspapers. Today when you include all the online forums, blogs, and news outlets, there are hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of online publications all asking for input from readers. We have more laws to address injustice and more people interesting in seeing that those laws are enforced.

By bad stuff in the 60’s, I was referring to the assignations of our leaders, riots, and hatred. If you are saying having a more open society in regard to gays, addressing sexual discrimination, hate crimes, and abuse is bad stuff, I disagree.

The devil will always be in the details, so all we can do is battle him until the end in everything we do, because our children and society depends on that battle for us to always find a way to win it.. There are so many justifications today of bad things and/or goings on in our society, and more and more we see people losing ground in these battles, because they are becoming weaker and weaker as we all go, but funny how in an age of so much communication and high technology flowing through in and through out, that the bad can still be hidden so well right out in the open these days, until the right moment allows it to become more powerful to then come out at strategic times to do the most damage among us all.

 

[The Gadfly]

Memories are always selective. We remember moments not days, events not history. The fifties laid the groundwork for the 60’s and the tumultuous changes that followed.

Race discrimination was not just acceptable, but the law in many parts of the country supported it. A mixed race couple was likely to find themselves ostracized from society. In the south, schools were segregated; the whites went to the good schools and the blacks went to the poor schools.

It was not just legal to pay a women half what you paid a man for the same work, it was to be expected. Barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen was the future for most women from poor families.

Sex was hidden away in the bedroom, something that wasn't discussed in public and certainly not in the classroom or in mixed company. Unwed mothers were scorned by society for their evil deeds. The fathers rarely shared the blame. Child and spouse abuse was common, but hidden away as was incest and homosexuality. In fact, the treatment for most of societies problems was to ignore them and pretend they didn't exist. For many people, the 50's were a happy time as long as you didn't scratch beneath the surface.

Such hypocrisies of the 50’s were not to be ignored by the young people in the 60’s. This brought about monumental changes, some good and some bad.

Yes back then many things were hidden beneath the surface, in order to promote the better good out in the public as it was thought to be, but like you say, if one scratched beneath that surface, there was alot of work to be done for sure.

The problem with today, is that we want to air out all our dirty laundry right into the streets, regardless of what message it sends to the children or what damaging effects it has on the betterement of society as a whole, because people are just selfish these days, and don't care what damage is caused by the airing out of our dirty laundry into the streets (creating this anything goes society as a result of, all in stead of daring it (the bad part) to come out into the open as it was back in those days.

Yes racism needed desperately to come out, and to be worked on out in the open for sure, but the other (((((bad stuff))))) needed not to hitch a ride out of the closet, by clinging to the race issue as a disquise, yet sadly that is exactly what Mr. Bad Stuff had done (got a free ticket to ride).

We air our dirty laundry to the nation and the world today simply because we can. If the Internet were available in every home and business in the 50’s, victims of race discrimination, sexual discrimination, child abuse, and spousal abuse, as well as every whistleblower, and victim of injustice would be telling their story to the world. It’s not that people in the fifties had no voice; the problem was it was difficult to make their voice heard. In 1950, there were just over 2,000 newspapers. Today when you include all the online forums, blogs, and news outlets, there are hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of online publications all asking for input from readers. We have more laws to address injustice and more people interesting in seeing that those laws are enforced.

By bad stuff in the 60’s, I was referring to the assignations of our leaders, riots, and hatred. If you are saying having a more open society in regard to gays, addressing sexual discrimination, hate crimes, and abuse is bad stuff, I disagree.

The only problem was, that we threw out the good and the bad alike. There are alternatives to puritanism other than complete hedonism. There are alternatives to replacing hate with more hate. There are alternatives to simply trashing every tradition for the sake of change; change for its own sake is not always a good thing. No, the fifties weren't all good, not by a long shot, but they weren't totally evil, either. Patriotism is not necessarily jingoism, but still today, we don't appear able to tell the difference. If there's a lesson here, it's that you don't wantonly destroy a society's institutions because they aren't working right; you fix what's broken, and leave what isn't broken well enough alone. That is not what happened in the sixties. We could have done with a lot less rage, and a lot more thought. Sometimes the question should not have been what we could do, but what we should do. We may have fixed a lot, but we messed up a lot too, and America is still paying the price for that.

 

[ginscpy]

I lived the50s - so If Iwas born in 53 first cuople years they were a fog - can still recall around 56 -59

Better times - much better times

 

[rightwinger]

I lived the50s - so If Iwas born in 53 first cuople years they were a fog - can still recall around 56 -59

Better times - much better times

You may even call them Happy Days

 

[ginscpy]

I lived the50s - so If Iwas born in 53 first cuople years they were a fog - can still recall around 56 -59

Better times - much better times

You may even call them Happy Days

got that right

 

[Flopper]

Yes back then many things were hidden beneath the surface, in order to promote the better good out in the public as it was thought to be, but like you say, if one scratched beneath that surface, there was alot of work to be done for sure.

The problem with today, is that we want to air out all our dirty laundry right into the streets, regardless of what message it sends to the children or what damaging effects it has on the betterement of society as a whole, because people are just selfish these days, and don't care what damage is caused by the airing out of our dirty laundry into the streets (creating this anything goes society as a result of, all in stead of daring it (the bad part) to come out into the open as it was back in those days.

Yes racism needed desperately to come out, and to be worked on out in the open for sure, but the other (((((bad stuff))))) needed not to hitch a ride out of the closet, by clinging to the race issue as a disquise, yet sadly that is exactly what Mr. Bad Stuff had done (got a free ticket to ride).

We air our dirty laundry to the nation and the world today simply because we can. If the Internet were available in every home and business in the 50’s, victims of race discrimination, sexual discrimination, child abuse, and spousal abuse, as well as every whistleblower, and victim of injustice would be telling their story to the world. It’s not that people in the fifties had no voice; the problem was it was difficult to make their voice heard. In 1950, there were just over 2,000 newspapers. Today when you include all the online forums, blogs, and news outlets, there are hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of online publications all asking for input from readers. We have more laws to address injustice and more people interesting in seeing that those laws are enforced.

By bad stuff in the 60’s, I was referring to the assignations of our leaders, riots, and hatred. If you are saying having a more open society in regard to gays, addressing sexual discrimination, hate crimes, and abuse is bad stuff, I disagree.

The only problem was, that we threw out the good and the bad alike. There are alternatives to puritanism other than complete hedonism. There are alternatives to replacing hate with more hate. There are alternatives to simply trashing every tradition for the sake of change; change for its own sake is not always a good thing. No, the fifties weren't all good, not by a long shot, but they weren't totally evil, either. Patriotism is not necessarily jingoism, but still today, we don't appear able to tell the difference. If there's a lesson here, it's that you don't wantonly destroy a society's institutions because they aren't working right; you fix what's broken, and leave what isn't broken well enough alone. That is not what happened in the sixties. We could have done with a lot less rage, and a lot more thought. Sometimes the question should not have been what we could do, but what we should do. We may have fixed a lot, but we messed up a lot too, and America is still paying the price for that.

There were so many political and social changes that took place in 60's, it was inevitable that some would be seen as negative by future generations. In just 10 years, we saw the beginning of the Viet Nam war which would tear the country apart, the space program which would forever be looked upon as one our greatest achievements, the assassination of a president, an attorney general, and the leader of the civil rights movement, and the introduction of the first oral contraceptive.

Of all the remarkable changes in the decade, the civil rights movement marked the beginning of the end of racism in America. However, probably the greatest impact on future generations was that Americans really began to utilized their ability of free speech. The people realized their right to free speech and right to protests. And the diverse people who protested and spoke out for what they believed in changed much of the government’s decisions about several different issues. The different freedoms that the people utilized have changed and shaped the US today.

 

[ginscpy]

Tired of revisionists apologizing for the50s.


Best era thatever was or ever will be

 

[ginscpy]

The DP was used more oftem

remember Barbara Graham played by Susan haywardin I Want To Live.

She could have walked but instead got the gas chamber forkeeping silent..........................................

 

[ginscpy]

Watch Cyclops - 1957

movies like this dont made anymore

 

[American Horse]

50s sucked........no interweb

Are you saying your happiness depends on the interweb?

 

[ginscpy]

They don't make movies like Cyclops anymore.

 

[American Horse]

Born in 1941.
There were some fascinating shows on the radio in those days, the family sat around the radio instead of the TV, tuning in each week to be scared by mysteries such as Lights Out, Inner Sanctum, The Shadow and The Whistler; laughed or were fascinated by shows like Fibber McGee and Molly, The Life of Riley.

Remember how Orson Welles caused a wave of fear throughout the country in 1937 with his "War of the Worlds" radio program?

Water was heated on the stove on Saturday nights for our baths. There were so many more neighborhood schools in those days, that most kids walked the few blocks to grade school. Only the kids in the country took the school bus. When the fifties began I was in the 3rd grade, graduating high school in 1959.

Even when TV was in practically every home, say after 1950, kids didn't run home to watch it. There was too much to do in the neighborhood, too much freedom to enjoy. There were some regular shows that you didn't want to miss, like "The Lone Ranger" on Thursday nights, or "I led Three Lives," a little later in the decade, but TV never became what it is today, and even moreso what the computer is.

There were no "latchkey kids" in those days, I guess because almost no mothers worked. There weren't enough jobs then and during the fifties, just after the depression. And parents weren't worried about all the possible crimes that could be committed against their children when they were out of their sight.

 

[Big Black Dog]

I was born in 1951. I enjoyed growing up in the 50's. Really liked the 60's. Loved those mini-skirts. They should hang whoever invented panty hose. I miss the girls all wearing those garter belts and stockings. Sure, there were some problems but compared to the world we live in today, those problems were small.

 

[beagle9]

Born in 1941.
There were some fascinating shows on the radio in those days, the family sat around the radio instead of the TV, tuning in each week to be scared by mysteries such as Lights Out, Inner Sanctum, The Shadow and The Whistler; laughed or were fascinated by shows like Fibber McGee and Molly, The Life of Riley.

Remember how Orson Welles caused a wave of fear throughout the country in 1937 with his "War of the Worlds" radio program?

Water was heated on the stove on Saturday nights for our baths. There were so many more neighborhood schools in those days, that most kids walked the few blocks to grade school. Only the kids in the country took the school bus. When the fifties began I was in the 3rd grade, graduating high school in 1959. Even when TV was in practically every home, say after 1950, kids didn't run home to watch it. There was too much to do in the neighborhood, too much freedom to enjoy. There were some regular shows that you didn't want to miss, like "The Lone Ranger" on Thursday nights, or "I led Three Lives," a little later in the decade, but TV never became what it is today, and even moreso what the computer is.

There were no "latchkey kids" in those days, I guess because almost no mothers worked. There weren't enough jobs then and during the fifties, just after the depression. And parents weren't worried about all the possible crimes that could be committed against their children when they were out of their sight.

1. Yes all the intrigue and adventure that a child could stand, in order to help shape and mold their personalities into becoming life time adventurist themselves in their lives was there, and they were always looking for these kinds of things in their lives, because these kinds of things were fun, and they were good clean fun for them to remember, just as you have done in your looking back now.

2. You are right, TV was not like what we have today, in which is now sadly so highly corruptable to our youth and societies anymore (especially if they are allowed to have full access like so many do now adays). I was watching the show Franklin with my grandaughter on Nick Jr. ( a great channel by the way), and I couldn't help but thinking, hey instead of her watching this on TV, she should be outside doing exactly what that show was doing in character of, instead of watching it on TV.

3. Yes, but people say that these days are better than they were back then, now go figure! Yes of course we can find the bad back then also, however if noted on a scale, these days would be off the chart for loss of freedoms in America, especially for our youth as you explain very well in your words. Look at how many public swimming holes, public meeting places, ice cream parlors, play grounds, violent free neighberhoods, have closed down or have become to dangerous a place to access anymore across this nation, where people once gathered and had the times of their lives & lived peacefully, compassionately, in harmony with freedom loving lifestyles together ? We can keep going and going and going on this stuff, but where does it all lead back to ? Who has stolen America, and wishes to destroy it over time (hollywood, the Media, different groups, politicians, corporations) who ???? I know who, it is the spirit of the devil himself is who, and he has with much help these days, stolen America. He has gained access to so many peoples hearts and souls through his deception now, it makes one wonder how can we ever get back to a more easy simpler time in America once again, and this within the most of our communities (of course to be inclusive of those who also loved the American message carried by many in those peaceful times), where as we all become Americans with an American goal, and that goal is to seperate this nation from the spirit of the devil in everyway that we can, and become as good as we can in a majority against him, it is the only way. Once we all understand this, then we can unite (all of us) to see clearly what the entire problem is, and then begin to fix it.

 

[George Costanza]

I grew up in the 1950's. I turned 11 in 1950 - graduated from high school in 1957, from college in 1961. There isn't much about the 1950's that I don't know about or didn't experience first hand.

People were significantly nicer to each other in the '50's. They didn't crowd in front of others in a rude manner, whether on the road, in the market or wherever. You knew your neighbors by name. Every house on the block. Road rage, if it existed at all, was minor and hardly ever resulted in shootings, beatings or other horrible consequences.

We had music in the '50's. Everyone knew what the popular songs were. They could tell you the name of the songs, the lyrics of the songs and they could even sing the songs for you. Can anyone tell me what the most popular song is today?

You could tell one car from another. Republicans were not mean spirited. People didn't seem to get a kick out of other people's lives being demolished by affairs or other types of scandals. Reality shows were non-existent. Children had respect for their parents and their elders in general. Women dressed decently. No one had tattoos, body piercing or bright purple and orange hair.

Elvis was considered scandalous ("Elvis the Pelvis"). You could read interesting and entertaing magazines such as Life and The Saturday Evening Post. You were not subject to surveillance by some camera everywhere you went. You could listen to great disk jockeys every morning and evening on the radio - Dick Whittinghill and Gene Norman come to mind in the Los Angeles area.

That's right, you heard me - Republicans weren't mean spirited.

 

[George Costanza]

I was born in 1951. I enjoyed growing up in the 50's. Really liked the 60's. Loved those mini-skirts. They should hang whoever invented panty hose. I miss the girls all wearing those garter belts and stockings. Sure, there were some problems but compared to the world we live in today, those problems were small.

But . . . I don't understand . . . . you weren't supposed to be able to SEE the girls' garter belts. How did you know they were wearing them?

 

[uscitizen]

We had polio in the 50's. I guess developing a vaccine and the govt paying for it's distribution was a bit progressive though.