Nostalgia can be a tricky thing. I know that I tend to romanticize my past, especially my childhood years , because I had less responsibility and everything I experienced was new to me. I had talks with my dad about it when I could and he didn't look at that time in the same way I did. His "rose colored glasses days" was when he was young, which was during The Great Depression. So I think nostalgia is just a matter of perspective and unique to each person. If I see a picture of a pack of Topps baseball cards from the 60's or 70's my mind takes me back instantly for a second to my youth. I doubt the same picture would have the same effect on most people.
It's a darn sight more than just "nostalgia". I'm only two years shy of ninety. I know what I'm talking about when it comes to "nostalgia".
In the '40s and '50s, Me and other kids could be in one of the Chicago parks, especially Lincoln Park, sit on the "rocks" enjoying sound of Lake Michigan slapping against the rocks below our feet. Be in the same spot today, in day or night, and you in all probability will be robbed and beaten. If your a female - well, we won't go there.
We also could ride our bicycles in the dark along the pathways of Lincoln Park Zoo. Those pathways were lined with animal cages containing Tigers, lions, raccoons etc. Not anymore. They had to fence off the zoo at night in the '60s because of the scum who where harming the animals at night.
When I was not even 10 years of age, I could walk the darkened streets on my way home from the movie theater. Lot's of luck being able to be out at all after dark in a major American City.
My mother raised me until my late teens on her $30 a week paycheck. And we still could afford pork chops and roundsteak for supper. Whole chickens were around 29 cents a lb.
The stress inherent in our existence was little when compared to the stress weighing down the average American today.
And all this despite my mother being a LEGITIMATE immigrant from Ireland with a 3rd grade education. In other words, she came into America through Ellis Island. Believe me when I tell you America was truly America back then. To us the past isn't simply nostalgia. It was real. It was damn near paradise compared to today.
- Indiana Joe -