Happy to Grow Up In the 50s and 60s

That Guy said:
My older sister was in junior high school when rock 'n' roll was being born and I've always thanked her for making me listen to those fantastic sounds.
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I remember the first R and R song I bought. Rock around the clock with Bill Haley and the Comets. I too went from the big band sound right into R and R. I worked planting Christmas trees for 50 cents an hour so that I could buy my first record player with detachable speakers. I had a rubber pad mounted on a old piano stool and would sit and drum on this pad, with music, for hours.

i still have a few 45s down south. Remember Earth Angel, Honey Don't, Blue Suede Shoes by Carl Perkins to mention a few?
 

Pappy said:
I remember the first R and R song I bought. Rock around the clock with Bill Haley and the Comets. I too went from the big band sound right into R and R. I worked planting Christmas trees for 50 cents an hour so that I could buy my first record player with detachable speakers. I had a rubber pad mounted on a old piano stool and would sit and drum on this pad, with music, for hours.

i still have a few 45s down south. Remember Earth Angel, Honey Don't, Blue Suede Shoes by Carl Perkins to mention a few?
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Loved all those songs, Pappy, and still love that cool big band sound, too.
 
A little nostalgia from the 50's .....

[h=2]Top Songs Of The 1950s[/h]Popular songs from the Fifties Decade, arranged by year but in no particular order. Do you remember listening to these songs on the radio?
19501951

  • Sentimental Me - Ames Brothers
  • Mona Lisa - Nat King Cole
  • All My Love - Patti Page
  • I Wanna Be Loved - Andrews Sisters
  • Music! Music! Music! - Teresa Brewer

  • If - Perry Como
  • How High the Moon - Les Paul & Mary Ford
  • Because of You - Tony Bennett
  • Come On-a My House - Rosemary Clooney
  • Be My Love - Mario Lanza
19521953

  • You Belong to Me - Jo Stafford
  • Here in My Heart - Al Martino
  • Why Don't You Believe Me - Joni James
  • Heart and Soul - The Four Aces
  • Unforgettable - Nat King Cole

  • The Doggie in the Window - Patti Page
  • Your Cheatin' Heart - Hank Williams
  • Till I Waltz Again With You - Teresa Brewer
  • That's Amore - Tony Bennett
  • Vaya Con Dios - Les Paul & Mary Ford
19541955

  • Secret Love - Doris Day
  • Mr. Sandman - The Chordettes
  • I Need You Now - Eddie Fisher
  • Sh-Boom - Crew-Cuts
  • Make Love to Me - Jo Stafford

  • Rock Around the Clock - Bill Haley and the Comets
  • Yellow Rose of Texas - Mitch Miller
  • Earth Angel - The Penguins
  • Autumn Leaves - Roger Williams
  • Love is a Many Splendored Thing - The Four Aces
19561957

  • Tutti Frutti - Little Richard
  • I Walk the Line - Johnny Cash
  • Blue Suede Shoes - Carl Perkins
  • Hound Dog - Elvis Presley
  • The Great Pretender - The Platters

  • Tammy - Debbie Reynolds
  • You Send Me - Sam Cooke
  • All Shook Up - Elvis Presley
  • Love Letters in the Sand - Pat Boone
  • Great Balls of Fire - Jerry Lee Lewis
19581959

  • Fever - Peggy Lee
  • Tequila - The Champs
  • Johnny B. Goode - Chuck Berry
  • It's Only Make Believe - Conway Twitty
  • All I Have to Do is Dream - The Everly Brothers

  • Peggy Sue Got Married - Buddy Holly
  • Mack the Knife - Bobby Darin
  • La Bamba - Ritchie Valens
  • Personality - Lloyd Price
  • Venus - Frankie Avalon
 

Aw Phil, you just had to come along and wreck our little rose-colored glasses didn't ya, with the philosophical stuff??? J/K....I agree with you; it was the only time we knew and really had no other time to compare it to.
I used to say I was born too late (that was a song, too), and should've been born in Pioneer days, when families stayed together and prayed together; people worked hard, but times were more simple....but, I know full well that it wasn't 'good times' back then, either.

I do have good memories of times that were safer; and I wonder what happened that brought us to a world that is no longer safe for our grandchildren, even in our own neighborhoods. What changed so much that people have gotten so desperate and downright nuts at times?? That could be another whole thread, tho.

All in all, we're fortunate to have those memories of the better times; some are not so lucky.
 
Actually, in thinking about it, what would be so terrible about being stuck in a certain time?

I know The Twilight Zone and Star Trek have done episodes on this and it's a favorite subject of sci-fi writers, but of course they're going to look only at the downside for the sake of dramatic effect. But given that you wouldn't have the knowledge of the now - that you wouldn't know what's going to happen in the future - I can't believe that at least a few people wouldn't choose to go back in time.

The problem, of course, is that since you wouldn't have any idea that you had indeed gone back in time, or why, you would just live out your life pretty much the same way you already had. Still, it's an enticing offer ...

Anne, interesting that you said -

Anne said:
I do have good memories of times that were safer; and I wonder what happened that brought us to a world that is no longer safe for our grandchildren, even in our own neighborhoods. What changed so much that people have gotten so desperate and downright nuts at times??
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Something very close to that was just in one of our local independent newspapers, in an article that was calling out the mayor for not taking care of business. In this case, they mentioned how kids used to jump on their bikes for a ride to the corner store or a family would go out for a post-dinner walk without having to worry about being shot (a problem this town is experiencing in record numbers this past year) ...
 
I can remember the good old days of the drive-inn theatres, we have only one left here now, the others have all gone to make way for new housing developments.I also liked the fact that you could leave your house open with relative safety if you went out for the day, not any more though.
 
nan said:
I can remember the good old days of the drive-inn theatres, we have only one left here now, the others have all gone to make way for new housing developments.I also liked the fact that you could leave your house open with relative safety if you went out for the day, not any more though.
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Wasn't that nice . . . leaving the house open and the car unlocked?! My neighbor knows better but leaves his house open and it drives me crazy.
 
I was born in the late 40's and they were wonderful days. Family get together's
and vacations spent together.Having many cousins who were also friends.Playing outside
till late at night. The biggest worry in school wasn't school shootings,and the fear of a bomb
could be solved by getting under a wooden desk,and in my school seeing a Nun with a ruler
looking to hit someone was another fear.. In the 50's I went to dances every Friday,Saturday and Sunday night.
Of course there was the Korean war that my Older brother served in and then the 60's
the Viet Nam war. I think every decade had good and bad times. I just can't see the Good
times in the years we are in now,I can only see the bad. I wish the children of today
had some of the good days we had then.
 
Sorry to burst the bubbles, but the 'good old days' only exist in our imaginations. If one was a white middle American class kid, he/she is sure to have had a fine time in the 50s/60s, unless they were scared out of their skulls every time there was a air raid drill at school and they had to hide under their desk (fear of nuclear attack by Russians).

If one was was in post-war Europe or Latin America, or worse in Japan after the A-bombs, things would be quite different, UK was completely cleaned out after the war and only upper classes had it easy. If one was a gay in the 50s they would go to prison for it, and if one was black one's fate would be even worse.

Personally, as a kid in Canada in the 50s and 60s, I enjoyed an innocent childhood. But my parents survived the war in Europe and we were always thankful.

Times are what they are with good and bad everywhere, still crime, still war and still domestic abuse (worse in the 50s with women a kind of domestic slave. We really need to check our privilege.
 
I grew up in the late 60's early 70's. The best thing was having a neighborhood of kids to play with. There was this huge construction site in the back of our housing development. It took several years for it to become a building, until then it was our playground. The thing I envy with today's kids is the video games. Even simple stuff like cooking and hair cutting games...Fruit Ninja...positively addictive. But I think we were healthier back in the day. You were outside every day after school until dark. On the weekends you watched morning cartoons and were out the door. A lot more exercise than kids get now I'm sure.
 
The freedoms and prosperity of the '50's and '60's remains unparalled. It was an awesome time to be born and to grow up. Domestic pets could run free safely and you didn't have to walk a dog or even leash one. Our pets mostly did their business out of doors.
Doctor visits cost only $15.00 and he'd come to our house. He had walk-in appointments anytime at his office so everyone in my family and friends too, had really good health.
Gun control was never an issue because almost everyone owned one (or more) and knew how to handle them responsibly. No one went to their workplace and shot people to death there. Ditto schools. Vacations were spent with family without question yet everyone had a great time. Each family owned a car. Mostly just one car - the family car. So pollution was less of an issue. We didn't have cellphones yet we survived, and it was awesome to engage in an activity uninterrupted.
The music was great, the art was colorful. The food was affordable, fresh, untampered with, and plenty of it. Cancer was a rarity in my world back then. Flower children and the age of Aquarius made us socially conscious.
The US's successes in the space race made me proud.

I'm happy to have been a boomer. :eek:
 
Cookie said:
Sorry to burst the bubbles, but the 'good old days' only exist in our imaginations. If one was a white middle American class kid, he/she is sure to have had a fine time in the 50s/60s, unless they were scared out of their skulls every time there was a air raid drill at school and they had to hide under their desk (fear of nuclear attack by Russians).

If one was was in post-war Europe or Latin America, or worse in Japan after the A-bombs, things would be quite different, UK was completely cleaned out after the war and only upper classes had it easy. If one was a gay in the 50s they would go to prison for it, and if one was black one's fate would be even worse.

Personally, as a kid in Canada in the 50s and 60s, I enjoyed an innocent childhood. But my parents survived the war in Europe and we were always thankful.

Times are what they are with good and bad everywhere, still crime, still war and still domestic abuse (worse in the 50s with women a kind of domestic slave. We really need to check our privilege.
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Exactly right. I grew up in the 50s and 60s and was ideal to me. But as a white, straight American girl. It wasn't ideal for minorities etc.
 
Ahh, nostalgia, ain't it grand. And life was good back then providing you weren't a minority of some sort...
 

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