* In the fifties, you could leave your doors unlocked and feel safe. Now you have to deadbolt them and paint your windows shut.

* In the fifties, minorities were heavily discriminated against. Now they are receiving more and more rights.

* In the fifties, a woman had very limited choices for a career or had to be a stay at home mom. Now we have women in charge of companies, have a secretary of state, some are judges.

* In the fifties, we had only 3 or 4 channels that had wholesome, family shows. Now we have thousands of channels with mindless crap.

* In the fifties, a child could walk down the street safely. Now if a child does this, he or she may end up on a milk carton with the caption MISSING placed above.

* In the fifties, you could feel free to get dirty or play in the mud. Now you would have to wash your hands down with all these sanitizers.

* In the fifties, Polio was a big scare. Now it is not.

* In the fifties, teenagers/young adults had a good time by watching a movie or playing games. Now they have a good time by getting drunk and smoking the latest marijuana.

* In the fifties, you had a mom and dad at home. Now it is just 1 mom or 1 dad.

* In the fifties, we had stuff that was more durable and made in the USA. Now it is cheaply made garbage made in Zimbabwe, Vietnam and China.

So true! I remember the 50's well! Time marches on.:)

Overall, I would much prefer the '50s.

So do those I have asked who lived through it (my parents, Aunts/Uncles, friends).

I spent my childhood in the 50's. Of course it was good! But I'll always remember my grandma saying "I don't know how people can bring children into this world. " And this was the 50's!:lol: I raised my kids in the 70's and they wandered all over the neighborhood and I thought nothing about it! Of course I wouldn't let them do that these days!:eek: So I guess it's all relative.

I spent my childhood in the 50's. Of course it was good! But I'll always remember my grandma saying "I don't know how people can bring children into this world. " And this was the 50's!:lol: I raised my kids in the 70's and they wandered all over the neighborhood and I thought nothing about it! Of course I wouldn't let them do that these days!:eek: So I guess it's all relative.
As a kid of the 70's I remember going everywhere in the neighborhood by myself. I rode my bike up to the 7-11 all the time to get snacks or my weekly comic book. By the time my 2 sisters were kids in the 1980's they weren't allowed to leave the street in front of the house. :lol:

I have to say that while I'm intrigued by other decades (mainly the 1960's), I'm quite content with the fact that I grew up in the 1990's. I loved it. In terms of safety, I think a lot of it has to do with geography. I grew up and currently still live in a small town of just 40,000. So I have always felt very safe. Who knew the early 90's had some of the highest crime rates of any era! As a kid, my friends and I were outside all the time by ourselves. In the summers we stayed out until it got dark, playing hide and go seek, tag, and had water balloon/water gun fights (just to name a few). Granted, this was just in our subdivision, but we were by ourselves nonetheless. Now, were we outside as much as kids in the 50's? Definitely not. We had awesome stuff to do inside like play Super Nintendo or watch Nickelodeon. I can remember getting our first computer when I was in 4th grade and thinking that was the coolest thing ever, and when we got the internet? Even better. I think there's something special about every decade. Each of course had positive aspects as well as negatives. But looking back, it's all about the memories and I have are great memories. :)

Each of course had positive aspects as well as negatives. But looking back, it's all about the memories and I have are great memories. :)

You are absolutely right! It's all about memories which shape our opinions.Every decade had it's problems. My dad grew up in the 30's on a farm with no central heating or running water. It was also during the Depression.He had to break the ice in the water bucket just to wash up in the morning. He always said and I quote: "The good old days. I'm glad they're gone!":lol:

Back in my day (the 90s - yeah I'm old...) if I wanted to see my friends I would go outside and hang with them out in the street. Now socializing seems to be mostly done via Facebook and text messaging.

If I couldn't see them in-person I would call them up so at least there was some contact, but now that has been replaced with communicating on a screen.



Also, you now have to worry about every little detail about yourself being mentioned all over the web. Even if you don't use Facebook or Twitter yourself people can still mention what you talk about between friends and things about you online.

Privacy doesn't seem to exist anymore.

* In the fifties, you could leave your doors unlocked and feel safe. Now you have to deadbolt them and paint your windows shut.

* In the fifties, minorities were heavily discriminated against. Now they are receiving more and more rights.

* In the fifties, a woman had very limited choices for a career or had to be a stay at home mom. Now we have women in charge of companies, have a secretary of state, some are judges.

* In the fifties, we had only 3 or 4 channels that had wholesome, family shows. Now we have thousands of channels with mindless crap.

* In the fifties, a child could walk down the street safely. Now if a child does this, he or she may end up on a milk carton with the caption MISSING placed above.

* In the fifties, you could feel free to get dirty or play in the mud. Now you would have to wash your hands down with all these sanitizers.

* In the fifties, Polio was a big scare. Now it is not.

* In the fifties, teenagers/young adults had a good time by watching a movie or playing games. Now they have a good time by getting drunk and smoking the latest marijuana.

* In the fifties, you had a mom and dad at home. Now it is just 1 mom or 1 dad.

* In the fifties, we had stuff that was more durable and made in the USA. Now it is cheaply made garbage made in Zimbabwe, Vietnam and China.


Some of these aren't specific to the 50's, as a kid of the 70's and early 80's these were true.

And not all teens get drunk or smoke pot today, just like not all teens didn't get drunk in the 50's.

I have to say that while I'm intrigued by other decades (mainly the 1960's), I'm quite content with the fact that I grew up in the 1990's. I loved it. In terms of safety, I think a lot of it has to do with geography. I grew up and currently still live in a small town of just 40,000. So I have always felt very safe. Who knew the early 90's had some of the highest crime rates of any era! As a kid, my friends and I were outside all the time by ourselves. In the summers we stayed out until it got dark, playing hide and go seek, tag, and had water balloon/water gun fights (just to name a few). Granted, this was just in our subdivision, but we were by ourselves nonetheless. Now, were we outside as much as kids in the 50's? Definitely not. We had awesome stuff to do inside like play Super Nintendo or watch Nickelodeon. I can remember getting our first computer when I was in 4th grade and thinking that was the coolest thing ever, and when we got the internet? Even better. I think there's something special about every decade. Each of course had positive aspects as well as negatives. But looking back, it's all about the memories and I have are great memories. :)
I was born in 1989 so I was a 90's kid, too. I thought it was great! Then again, we're gonna have kids born in 1999 thinking the '00's were great. I think the decade of your childhood is always gonna hold a special place in your heart no matter how turbulent everything going on in the world was.

In the 50's the country was racially segregated.


Just saying.

I was an 80's/90's Child and I used to hang-out with my neighbors down the street, watch some good broadcast TV, my mom was stay-at-home most of the time, I have a mom and dad which are STILL together, and we'd go out and do things every summer.

I still wish I can do a few more things before this summer ends....

In the 50's the country was racially segregated.

Just saying.
As early as 1954, there was work being done to end that.

In the 1950s, kids would see a Movie for free by hiding in the trunk of a car on its way to the drive-in. Today kids see a movie for free by downloading it illegally on the Internet.

In the 1950s the biggest fear was getting nuked by the Russians, today the biggest fear is getting nuked by Terrorists. :eek:

In the 1950s if you missed a show on TV there was a possibility you'd never see it again. Today if you miss a show on TV you'll possibly have dozens of chances to see it, including the possibility of buying it on something called a DVD. :lol:

In the 1950's there was no internet, no text messaging, no I phones (or cell phones of any kind), no computers, no emails, no instant messaging.

People had to communicate with each other the old fashioned way. Talking to each other person to person, face to face.


Frankly thats my favorite way to talk to another person.

Sad how the world has gone downhill so much since then :(

Better TV programming,etc........


I have lost hope for just about everything...........

Well, about going downhill, for a big issue, we've grown so much as a population.

And as much as I have watched TV for myself, using when raising my daughter and she using it raising her children, I believe a lot of not great stuff came from tv. All in all more good stuff. In my later years I got more interested in National Geographic and Discovery and now no tv. But I'm alone here on all this I'm certain.

The 1950's had ubiquitous passenger rail transportation.(mostly) black and white TV, dirt cheap gasoline, low cost housing, cheap utilities, and low cost groceries. There were no pride parades, no obsession with "political correctness", an expanding middle class, and,(except for the wealthy) much lower taxes and the government was generally perceived as honest and just..

We also relied more on two lane highways to drive across country (the interstates were in their infancy) most plane travel was by much slower propeller driven airplanes, we lived in the constant shadow of the red scare, we were blissfully ignorant of the perils of pollution, long distance phone calls were seen as prohibitively expensive, you could smoke in public buildings and belch smoke into anyones face who complained, parochial schools were still thriving, and women were generally more dependent upon men for their well being .

The 1950's had ubiquitous passenger rail transportation.(mostly) black and white TV, dirt cheap gasoline, low cost housing, cheap utilities, and low cost groceries. There were no pride parades, no obsession with "political correctness", an expanding middle class, and,(except for the wealthy) much lower taxes and the government was generally perceived as honest and just..

We also relied more on two lane highways to drive across country (the interstates were in their infancy) most plane travel was by much slower propeller driven airplanes, we lived in the constant shadow of the red scare, we were blissfully ignorant of the perils of pollution, long distance phone calls were seen as prohibitively expensive, you could smoke in public buildings and belch smoke into anyones face who complained, parochial schools were still thriving, and women were generally more dependent upon men for their well being .


Now they're often dependent on the government. Think that's better? I don't. 85 - 90% of black children are born to single mothers. Now we have expressions like "baby daddy" and their single parent children are in gangs and shoot each other for no reason. But women are "liberated!" so the liberals are happy.

Now they're often dependent on the government. Think that's better? I don't.

I really wasn't trying to editorialize when mentioning those items, I was just trying to recall as many things as I could that were not already listed.

As far as women being more dependent upon men back then. What I was thinking about was the "marriages of convenience" where a gal could decide to marry a guy and have his family just as a way to get a roof over her head, since women in the workforce was not as common back then compared to today.

So true! I remember the 50's well! Time marches on.:)The world has become a piece of garbage and the sooner it ends the better!

Im very sad Penny :(

I would not want to be a child of the 1950's and be subject to a military draft in the 1960's that I would actively try to avoid at all costs. I have never been in the military and would have no interest, or desire to be in it, and would hate being forced in it against my will. Lots of young men had to do just that.

There was a real threat of war with the Russians from the late 1940's basically all the way until the mid 1980's. But there was great fear of an atomic war with Russia and an overall threat of Communist aggression. Schools even did drills where kids had to hide under their desks, like being under your desk will protect one from a bomb blast.

Lots of teenagers drank alcohol and had sex then. Heroin was a problem in the inner cities with the poor and minorities. It wasnt all bobby socks and malt shops. People were robbed and murdered, kidnapped. There were serial killers then, as a matter of fact, it was much easier to have been a serial killer back in the 1950's than it would be now because now we have technology. I will say however the streets of America were safer because people had respect for laws and laws were much stricter then for violent crime.
I dont know how interested in television I would have been in the 1950's. It was something to do at night when there wasnt much else to do. What would interest me are the news programs and shows of that nature. Documentaries. What's My Line would have been one of my favorites. Maybe Ed Sullivan if someone was on I was interested in. You can keep Lucy and Milton Berle.

Music except for Buddy Holly was kind of lame. Music didnt get good until the 1960's (until the 1990's)

My life in the 50's, 60's and 70's were pretty darn good and I'd love to have them now.

Draft was not an issue and my brother worked hard to keep out. Good clean fun and the good ole aspirin, Anacin, Bufferin, Excedrin were our drugs....and then the Ibuprofen world stepped in. I'll bet ebay still sells Bufferin etc....

I would not want to be a child of the 1950's and be subject to a military draft in the 1960's that I would actively try to avoid at all costs. I have never been in the military and would have no interest, or desire to be in it, and would hate being forced in it against my will. Lots of young men had to do just that.

There was a real threat of war with the Russians from the late 1940's basically all the way until the mid 1980's. But there was great fear of an atomic war with Russia and an overall threat of Communist aggression. Schools even did drills where kids had to hide under their desks, like being under your desk will protect one from a bomb blast.

Lots of teenagers drank alcohol and had sex then. Heroin was a problem in the inner cities with the poor and minorities. It wasnt all bobby socks and malt shops. People were robbed and murdered, kidnapped. There were serial killers then, as a matter of fact, it was much easier to have been a serial killer back in the 1950's than it would be now because now we have technology. I will say however the streets of America were safer because people had respect for laws and laws were much stricter then for violent crime.
I dont know how interested in television I would have been in the 1950's. It was something to do at night when there wasnt much else to do. What would interest me are the news programs and shows of that nature. Documentaries. What's My Line would have been one of my favorites. Maybe Ed Sullivan if someone was on I was interested in. You can keep Lucy and Milton Berle.

Music except for Buddy Holly was kind of lame. Music didnt get good until the 1960's (until the 1990's)
Much of what you listed was a problem with most decades, not just the '50s.

One of my aunts was 18 years old in 1950. She was aware of the Cold War but did not give it much thought. Went about her life... worked, got married, bought a house, went out for dinner or movies, etc.

Music, of course, varies a lot by taste but I certainly wouldn't rate '90s music over '50s, '60s and '70s music.

Music except for Buddy Holly was kind of lame. Music didnt get good until the 1960's (until the 1990's)

At least back in the 1950s, no one had yet heard Kurt Cobain's music, the 50's had THAT going for it. ;)

I guess you could sit around watching TV and wondering why your family is nothing like the families you see in the shows?

Much of what you listed was a problem with most decades, not just the '50s.

One of my aunts was 18 years old in 1950. She was aware of the Cold War but did not give it much thought. Went about her life... worked, got married, bought a house, went out for dinner or movies, etc.

Music, of course, varies a lot by taste but I certainly wouldn't rate '90s music over '50s, '60s and '70s music.

Hi Fleet! I absolutely agree with you about the music!:) As a child of the 50's I was blissfully oblivious as to what was going on in the world. Happy Belated Halloween!pumpkin::wave:

I loved loved the music of the 50's, 60's, 70's and danced my legs off. What a great music time --

There were no overlong news broadcasts on local stations then. For the most part early evening blocks consisted of ten minutes of local news at either 6:30 or 7 PM followed by 5 of sports and/or weather at 6:40 or 7:10 and network news at 6:45 or 7:15. Late news included 10 minutes of news followed by sports and/or weather at 11:10-Eastern-followed by the late movie on most non-NBC stations.

Network news was 15 minutes long because news wasnt seen as entertainment then. Plus people mostly read newspapers.

Hi Fleet! I absolutely agree with you about the music!:) As a child of the 50's I was blissfully oblivious as to what was going on in the world. Happy Belated Halloween!pumpkin::wave:
Thanks, Penny Lane. Happy (belated) Halloween to you, too.