Growing Up in the '50's

I reached adulthood in the 50's and I absolutely enjoyed that era totally. I lived in NY/NJ on and off during that time, and also CA and of course with the Air Force all over the European continent while on flying status. I had a great time. Music was changing and if one could ignore the cold war, it was very quiet after Korea.
 

I didn't see much of the 1950s, but what I did experience was a good place and time.

An example: my brother was in Junior High School; school staff asked parents to come in for an important meeting. The staff addressed the parents: this is not yet in our school, not yet in our neighborhoods, but parents need to be aware of it- it's called 'marijuana.'
 
I was born in the 50's,my memories are walking 2 blocks with my siblings to elementary school,we would come home for lunch,couldn't understand why we had to go back afterwards
My friends were from the neighborhood,,when it was time to come home for dinner I'd hear the cow bell ringing, or one of the parents would let me know
Some of the early children's shows I remember watching are'Howdy,Doody" with Buffalo Bob Smith{who was born in my hometown},Capt Kangeroo_Other TV shows I liked watching were "Mickey Mouse Club, Leave it To Beaver,Lassie
The movie' Pleasantville" '98 reminds me of my childhood.The story is about siblings,David&Jennifer who are transformed via their TV to the black &white 50's sitcom,"Pleasantville" where everything is wonderful,age of innocence
 
I was a young child in the New Jersey suburbs of NYC in the 1950's, which were the best of times, and the worst of times. In general, you felt safe to the extent that concerns about your safety at least in your Caucasian neighborhood never entered your mind; you walked or biked everywhere usually alone, including to school. Anyone could walk into a school at any time for any reason whatsoever; it was a school, and who would want to hurt children?! At school, however, air raid or nuclear drills were held where we were taught to cower against interior walls or under our desks for protection against distant and mysterious enemies, the Soviets, who might someday come to bomb us.

Families had one vehicle, rather than a car for every person of driving age. There was likewise one phone per household, a heavy rotary-dialed model permanently tethered to a fixed location where calls were anything but private. There was also one black-and-white television set per household that might receive several channels, perhaps three of them clearly. Be ready to get up to adjust the "rabbit ear" antennas, or change the channel or volume on the set. Turn on the TV before your show started, because vacuum tube sets were the norm and required several minutes to "warm up." The TV repairman was a frequent visitor as tubes would often need replacement.

Air conditioning was mostly in movie theaters and expensive stores, not in homes and vehicles. It was supposed to be hot in the summer, and everyone was miserable! Be glad you at least had an electric fan, and hope that Mom and Dad would get the car running fast so you could roll the windows down and not fry yourself on the vinyl car upholstery.

Professional men wore hats when going out, and read newspapers to pass time on their commutes via train or bus to work. Many people smoked virtually everywhere, and ashtrays were in homes, on desks, and in cars; you definitely would get your share of second-hand smoke. People tended to die younger from an unwise diet, smoking, or undiagnosed and untreated high blood pressure/high cholesterol. Many men didn't live to see retirement. And of course, racism, sexism, and homophobia were powerful undercurrents that were operational and institutionalized. "Ike" was president, and Elvis was introducing people to a radical new form of music my father considered "noise..."
Same but different. When a tube went out on the tv, dad took it out and we went to the drug store where they had a tube tester. He look at the bottom of the tube and matched it to where he thought it would fit. Once he the right spot, he turn the machine on to see if the tube he had was good or bad. If it was bad, the number was written next to the plug, and he’d get a new tube.

No repair person needed. The machine contained the tubes was not locked, of course. No waiting for a clerk.
 
You can just tell me your favorite story of growing up in the ‘50’s. An officer friend of mine told me that he remembered each summer having a family reunion. He never knew that he had so many cousins. He said they would play all day until it was time to leave. Everyone would bring food and they would play all kinds of games. Then one of the boys would get the hose out and chase everyone with it while spraying them. That would turn into a water balloon fight. There was this one uncle that played a guitar, so as evening would come, they would build a fire and sit around it singing songs of that time. They would also toast marshmallows and hot dogs.
Well, lots of stories about the 50’s. The refrigerator had a very small freezer box. Ice would build on it and you had to take an ice pick and clear the ice off the sides of the freezer being careful not to puncture the sides.

Each weekend we went to the ice palace. A warehouse that made big squares of ice. The ice would come out of the warehouse on a long covered conveyor belt. The cover was simply a long wooden tube. Cars would line up for their turn to get ice.

We would buy a block of ice which was picked up by a worker and placed on an old cloth potato sack in the trunk of our car. We would then drive home and dad, cursing at the weight and coldness, would Carry the ice into the house and put the ice into one side of the sink. It took up the whole sink and stuck up the sides of the sink as well.

We would use the ice pick to chip off pieces for our drinks, or ice for our backs, or ice to just suck on and chew. We had cold cokes all week end long. This was a routine, repeated every weekend.
This also meant I didn't have to do dishes as the sink was full 😀. It was a great time.
 
Whenever I reminisce about my past... 1960's and 70's (the best years... my early childhood and teen years), there's a sense of good old-fashioned warmth that washes over me. I can't help but think about the family suppers we had, where everyone sitting at the table was king. We'd share the happenings we had or encountered during the day, chat about life's events, our experiences, the news, and whatever else was brought up.

I bring the supper and dinner table thing up, because no matter how busy we all were, no matter where any of us were, suppertime was family time, and mom was always adamant about everyone being at the table. Being excused or absent from the daily supper table was a rarity, and I stood by the same with my family.

I remember the game nights we had, where we'd select a board game to play, and there all of us would be gathered around the kitchen table passing the time away together as one. Same for play, unless if miserable out, us kids were scattered all around, visiting friends, at the park playing, running around the neighbourhood doing this and that... always busy, always up to something. Definitely don't see that anymore nowadays among the young and growing.

I can't tell you how many times I've said to hubby, "where are the neighbourhood kids". Seems kids just don't run around and play like we did, and while I understand the differences of today compared to yesteryear, I'm still taken aback by the silence in the neighbourhood. Playing outside doesn't stand for much anymore I guess.

Gosh, I could ramble on and on regarding this, as not only do I have a near unlimited memory of my past, I just love thread topics such as this.
 
I can't tell you how many times I've said to hubby, "where are the neighbourhood kids". Seems kids just don't run around and play like we did, and while I understand the differences of today compared to yesteryear, I'm still taken aback by the silence in the neighbourhood. Playing outside doesn't stand for much anymore I guess.

Kids playing outside? They don't have video games outside and besides, today's kids don't know of any games to play or things to do. If we were to put 10 kids outside and tell them to find something to do, all you would see is 10 kids walking around aimlessly. They would be like lost and confused.
 
I was like every other American kid in the summer, except my last 2 years of high school when I worked on the farm. I would go outside in the late morning and you wouldn't see me back inside until maybe dinner or maybe just after dark. We had a zillion things going on back then.
 
I can't tell you how many times I've said to hubby, "where are the neighbourhood kids". Seems kids just don't run around and play like we did, and while I understand the differences of today compared to yesteryear, I'm still taken aback by the silence in the neighbourhood. Playing outside doesn't stand for much anymore I guess.

Kids playing outside? They don't have video games outside and besides, today's kids don't know of any games to play or things to do. If we were to put 10 kids outside and tell them to find something to do, all you would see is 10 kids walking around aimlessly. They would be like lost and confused.
Your words are so true, 911. I couldn't have said it better.
 
I was like every other American kid in the summer, except my last 2 years of high school when I worked on the farm. I would go outside in the late morning and you wouldn't see me back inside until maybe dinner or maybe just after dark. We had a zillion things going on back then.
We were the same, zero down-time, yet for the most part, I don't remember anyone not keeping their noses clean. We all behaved, conducted ourselves in a semi-respectful kind of way, and no one I knew was adverse to taking on an odd job to put some spending money in their pockets.
 
I can't tell you how many times I've said to hubby, "where are the neighbourhood kids". Seems kids just don't run around and play like we did, and while I understand the differences of today compared to yesteryear, I'm still taken aback by the silence in the neighbourhood. Playing outside doesn't stand for much anymore I guess.

Kids playing outside? They don't have video games outside and besides, today's kids don't know of any games to play or things to do. If we were to put 10 kids outside and tell them to find something to do, all you would see is 10 kids walking around aimlessly. They would be like lost and confused.
Oh not necessarily.. they'd probably have their cell phones in their hands.. :cautious::ROFLMAO:
 
We were the same, zero down-time, yet for the most part, I don't remember anyone not keeping their noses clean. We all behaved, conducted ourselves in a semi-respectful kind of way, and no one I knew was adverse to taking on an odd job to put some spending money in their pockets.
Yeah, we were like the kids in the movie, "Stand By Me." Sometimes we would have to put our money together to buy a milkshake and then ask for a spare cup, so we could split the shake. Cokes were a nickel and a Pepsi cost a dime. A pack of crackers, depending on which ones we bought were either a nickel or a dime. My best friend showed me how to burn ants using a magnifying glass. We would catch lightning bugs and put them in a jar and then in our bedroom at night to see if they would light up the bedroom. Dumb stuff like that. Catch bumble bees and tear a wing off and tie a small string around him, then fly him around in a circle while holding the string. In June, we would lay in a field of Honeysuckle and pick them and pull out the stem to lick off the honey. Go down to the creek and catch garter snakes and crayfish.

We had this old feed mill in our town that went out of business and my best buddy and I would take our .22's in there and try to shoot the rats. The mill had 2 stories. One day, I went upstairs to try to find some rats while my buddy stayed downstairs. Next thing I knew, I heard gunshots ringing out and I could see the dust flying off of the floor where I was standing. I yelled down to him, "HEY, WHAT ARE YOU SHOOTING AT?" He said, "PIGEONS." I yelled back to him to stop. I quickly ran back downstairs and told him that I was standing over the floor where he was shooting. He thought it was funny. I darned near knocked his block off that day.

Yeah, the good old days!!
 
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There should be a law, like, unless it's an emergency, you have to be over 18 or 21 to use a cell phone. I think cell pones and video games have ruined kid's lives to a large degree.
Like this?: https://www.timesargus.com/news/loc...cle_2e4064f1-892f-5a83-95a2-d8a4272942d9.html

I think that's excessive.. not only counting this modern emphasis on 21 as legal age- which is certainly going to backfire... teenagers often do have legitimate reasons to have cell phones. I agree that the way they're used as one of the biggest features in everyday life is unreasonable, though.

Awhile back, I asked my son where he and my daughter-in-law stand on the subject- both very tech-savvy people- and he said my grandson won't be getting one for a long time.
 
Yeah, we were like the kids in the movie, "Stand By Me." Sometimes we would have to put our money together to buy a milkshake and then ask for a spare cup, so we could split the shake. Cokes were a nickel and a Pepsi cost a dime. A pack of crackers, depending on which ones we bought were either a nickel or a dime. My best friend showed me how to burn ants using a magnifying glass. We would catch lightning bugs and put them in a jar and then in our bedroom at night to see if they would light up the bedroom. Dumb stuff like that. Catch bumble bees and tear a wing off and tie a small string around him, then fly him around in a circle while holding the string. In June, we would lay in a field of Honeysuckle and pick them and pull out the stem to lick off the honey. Go down to the creek and catch garter snakes and crayfish.

We had this old feed mill in our town that went out of business and my best buddy and I would take our .22's in there and try to shoot the rats. The mill had 2 stories. One day, I went upstairs to try to find some rats while my buddy stayed downstairs. Next thing I knew, I heard gunshots ringing out and I could see the dust flying off of the floor where I was standing. I held down to him, "HEY, WHAT ARE YOU SHOOTING AT?" He said, "PIGEONS." I yelled back to him to stop. I quickly ran back downstairs and told him that I was standing over the floor where he was shooting. He thought it was funny. I darned near knocked his block off that day.

Yeah, the good old days!!
So many of your memories are memories that my husband has of his childhood, slingshots included. As for the gang I hung out with, every day was an adventure, where we'd hop on our bikes and pedal all around, and in our travels we'd stop-by this neighbours house to pick apples off their tree, then we'd stop-by another neighbours house and pick grapes off their vine, and when the darkness of night fell, it was off to another neighbours house on-foot, to raid the raspberry patch.

Didn't matter what we were up to, we always had fun, and there was never enough hours in the day to do all the things we wanted to do. Baby brother tells of many stories, but the one that stands out in my mind right now, is how he and his friends would visit the school yard on weekends, raid the garbage cans of whatever scrap sheets of paper they could find, then climb the steel fire-escape stairs and fly paper aeroplanes from the top.

Never fails to give me the feeling at time that my childhood days were spent on a different planet, because nothing we did remotely compares to what kids nowadays do and don't do.
 
So many of your memories are memories that my husband has of his childhood, slingshots included. As for the gang I hung out with, every day was an adventure, where we'd hop on our bikes and pedal all around, and in our travels we'd stop-by this neighbours house to pick apples off their tree, then we'd stop-by another neighbours house and pick grapes off their vine, and when the darkness of night fell, it was off to another neighbours house on-foot, to raid the raspberry patch.

Didn't matter what we were up to, we always had fun, and there was never enough hours in the day to do all the things we wanted to do. Baby brother tells of many stories, but the one that stands out in my mind right now, is how he and his friends would visit the school yard on weekends, raid the garbage cans of whatever scrap sheets of paper they could find, then climb the steel fire-escape stairs and fly paper aeroplanes from the top.

Never fails to give me the feeling at time that my childhood days were spent on a different planet, because nothing we did remotely compares to what kids nowadays do and don't do.
My experiences were different than you and @911.. the kids I grew up with weren't "outdoorsy" types at all. And bicycles were for transportation, not play.
 
My experiences were different than you and @911.. the kids I grew up with weren't "outdoorsy" types at all. And bicycles were for transportation, not play.
We had this one game called "Foxes and Hounds." You had to have a bicycle and hide somewhere in our small town, if you were a FOX. Then, the HOUNDS had to find them. There was a 20 minute time window to find the other guys. Losers bought Cokes. A nickel for a Coke. Normally, we would play 3 games, so if it came down to a 1-1 tie after 2 games, the third game was the rubber match and payoff.
 
We had this one game called "Foxes and Hounds." You had to have a bicycle and hide somewhere in our small town, if you were a FOX. Then, the HOUNDS had to find them. There was a 20 minute time window to find the other guys. Losers bought Cokes. A nickel for a Coke. Normally, we would play 3 games, so if it came down to a 1-1 tie after 2 games, the third game was the rubber match and payoff.
Sounds like fun!
 
We had this one game called "Foxes and Hounds." You had to have a bicycle and hide somewhere in our small town, if you were a FOX. Then, the HOUNDS had to find them. There was a 20 minute time window to find the other guys. Losers bought Cokes. A nickel for a Coke. Normally, we would play 3 games, so if it came down to a 1-1 tie after 2 games, the third game was the rubber match and payoff.
Kind of like Hide and Seek, only more fun?
 
Born in 1948, I was too young to drive in the '50s and my only job was a newspaper route.

Social history is defined by those who write it and is, therefore, always biased. The only thing we can describe with any certainty is our personal impression of our own experiences for a given time and place.
Born 1949
 
We had this one game called "Foxes and Hounds." You had to have a bicycle and hide somewhere in our small town, if you were a FOX. Then, the HOUNDS had to find them. There was a 20 minute time window to find the other guys. Losers bought Cokes. A nickel for a Coke. Normally, we would play 3 games, so if it came down to a 1-1 tie after 2 games, the third game was the rubber match and payoff.

You reminded me of a game my friends and I loved and played every night. It was called Jail Break. The girls would hide and the boy that found you could get a kiss. Then the boys would hide and the girl that found a boy got a kiss. One boy was sort of my boyfriend and he would tell me where he would hide and I would find him then he would tell me where to hide and of course he would find me. Of course I don't think we were the only ones cheating in that game, but it was my favorite game.
 


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