The 1950's

Remember the Wednesday evening dances at the Jewish Community Center?

Were you young in the Fifties or so? Everybody makes fun of our childhood! Comedians joke. Grandkids snicker. "Twenty-somethings" just shudder and say, "Eeeew!" But was our childhood really that bad? Judge for yourself:

In 1953 The US population was less than 150 million... Yet you knew more people then, and you knew them better...

And that was good.

The average annual salary was under $3,000...
Yet our parents could put some of it away for a rainy day and still live a decent life...

And that was good.

A loaf of bread cost about 15 cents... but it was safe for a five-year-old to skate to the store and buy one...

And that was good.

Prime time meant a test pattern (above), Ed Sullivan, I Love Lucy, My Three Sons, Ozzie and Harriet, Gunsmoke, and Lassie... so nobody had ever heard of ratings or filters... And that was good.

We didn't have air-conditioning... so the windows stayed up, and half a dozen mothers ran outside when you fell off your bike.

And that was good.

Your teacher was either Miss McCaughan, Miss Tumbleson, "T", or Mr. Barnett, Mr. Lockridge, or Mr. Lory, but not Ms. Louise, Ruth, Teresa, or Mr. Walter, Mr. Lowell, or Mr. Ellsworth...

And that was good.

The only hazardous material you knew about... was a patch of grassburrs around the light pole at the corner... And that was good.

A clothesline was a news forecast For neighbors passing by. There were no secrets you could keep When clothes were hung to dry.		It also told when illness struck, As extra sheets were hung; Then nightclothes, and a bathrobe, too, Haphazardly were strung.

It also was a friendly link For neighbors always knew If company had stopped on by To spend a night or two.		It said, "Gone on vacation now." When lines hung limp and bare. It told, "We're back!" when full lines sagged With not an inch to spare.

For then you'd see the fancy sheets and towels on the line; You'd see the "company" tablecloths With intricate design.		New folks in town were scorned upon If wash was dingy gray, As neighbors raised their brows, and looked disgustedly away.

The line announced a baby's birth To folks who lived inside As brand-new infant clothes were hung So carefully with pride.		But clotheslines now are of the past For dryers make work less. Now what goes on inside a home Is anybody's guess.

The ages of the children could So readily be known By watching how the sizes changed You'd know how much they'd grown.		I really miss that way of life. It was a friendly sign When neighbors knew each other best By what hung on the line!

You loved to climb into a fresh bed... because sheets were dried on the clothesline...And that was good.

People generally lived in the same hometown with their relatives... so "child care" meant grandparents or aunts and uncles... And that was good.

Parents were respected and their rules were law..... Children did not talk back...And that was good.

Even the birds were singing!

TV was in black and white... but all outdoors was in glorious color...And that was certainly good.

Your Dad knew how to adjust everybody's carburetor... And the Dad next door knew how to adjust all the TV knobs...

And that was good.

Your grandma grew snap beans in the back yard...and chickens behind the garage...

And that was definitely good.

And just when you were about to do something really bad, chances were you'd run into your Dad's high school coach... or the nosy old lady from up the street... or your little sister's piano teacher... or somebody from Church... ALL of whom knew your parents' phone number...And YOUR first name... And even THAT was good! ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

REMEMBER...

Surely you remember Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, Laurel & Hardy, Abbott & Costello, Sky King, Little Lulu comics, Brenda Starr, Howdy Doody and The Peanut Gallery, The Lone Ranger, The Shadow Knows, Nellie Belle, Roy and Dale, Trigger and Buttermilk, as well as the sound of a reel mower on Saturday morning and summers filled with bike rides, playing in cowboy land, playing hide and seek, kick-the-can, Simon Says, baseball games, amateur shows at the local theater before the Saturday matinee, bowling, and visits to the pool...and wax lips, bubblegum cigars, and eating Kool-Aid powder with sugar.

Didn't that feel good, just to go back and say, Yeah, I remember that! And was it really that long ago?

With this recollection of our lifestyle inthe 50's, relish the comparison between then and now. We enjoyed...


	Melody in our music
	Pride in our appearance
	Romance in our love
	Commitment in our marriage
	Responsibility in our parenthood
	Togetherness in our family
	Learning in our education
	Service in our patriotism
	Religion in our school
	The Golden Rule in our rulers
	The nativity scene in our cities
	Civility in our behavior
	Refinement in our language
	Dedication in our employment
	Prudence in our spending, and
	Ambition in our achievement

Regarding your classmates:

Dear Keeper:
We grew up in the Fifties with practical parents...a Mother, God love her, who washed aluminum foil after she cooked with it, then reused it. She was the original recycle queen before they had a name for it.
A Father who was happier getting old shoes repaired than buying new ones. Their marriage was good, their dreams focused. Their best friends lived barely a wave away. I can see them now, Dad in trousers, tee shirt, and hat, and Mom in a house dress; lawn mower in one hand and dish towel in the other.
It was a time for fixing things...a curtain rod, the kitchen sink, oven door, the screen door, a hem in a dress. Things we keep. It was a way of life, and sometimes it made me perplexed. All that refixing, reheating, renewing...I wanted just once to be wasteful. Waste meant affluence.
But then my Mother died, and on that clear summer's night, in the warmth of the hospital room, I was struck with the pain of learning that sometimes there isn't any "more." Sometimes what we care about most gets all used up and goes away, never to return.
So...while we have it, it's best we love it, care for it, fix it when it's broken, and heal it when it's sick. This is true for marriage, old radios, old cars, children with bad report cards, dogs with bad hips, and aging parents and grandparents.
We keep them because they are worth it! Some things we keep...like a best friend who moved away or a school classmate.
There are just some things that make life important, like people we know who are special...and so, we keep them close!
Classmates are keepers!

Four things you cannot recover:
(1) The stone...after the throw (2) The word...after it's said (3) The occasion...after it's missed (4) The time...after it's gone

TWO NEW PAGES (links below)

Go to "Senior Heavenly Body" or "Magazine Rack" , both taken from North High Oracle dated May 22, 1953