I've been noticing that a lot lately. Wally NEVER really disobeys Ward. Even Eddie never really rebels. I was watching the episode tonight where Beaver lets the tramp in. At the beginning Beaver has broken a babysitting appointment to go to a show and when Ward tells him to call the woman, Beaver readily gives in. This doesn't quite ring true. I mean, wouldn't Beaver at least whine a little? :wave: :)

Yeah, it's almost sickening isn't it? And they call their dad sir all the time! Well, not all the time. I NEVER call my dad that. If I do it's as a joke!

...were representatives of the 'goodness' and 'wholesome values' that we seemed to have lost a long time ago! :crying:

pontoon :cool:

Originally posted by pontoon
...were representatives of the 'goodness' and 'wholesome values' that we seemed to have lost a long time ago! :crying:

pontoon :cool:

Yeah, I've always heard that kids were "a lot more respectful back then." It is hard to believe that kids were THAT well behaved though.

Originally posted by BeaversBiggestFan


Yeah, I've always heard that kids were "a lot more respectful back then." It is hard to believe that kids were THAT well behaved though.

I don't know about that one. I'm sure compared to the kids of today, the kids of the 50's were angels! The 50's were just a perfect time era.

Look at Elvis Presley in the 50's, adults thought he danced provocatively then. Just imagine if the adults from the 50's were involved in a time warp and got sent to the year 2002 to see some of the musicians and how they dance today. Sorry I got off topic there.

As someone "made in the 50's, I have to tell you that kids were rebellious then, too. Look at "Rebel Without a Cause" or "The Wild Ones" I frankly found the Marlon Brando character really scary and would not want to meet up with him.

I think there is just a natural adolescent occurrence that takes places where in order to define his own personality, the child has to separate or rebel. There were a few episodes where I kind of expected Beaver or Wally to put up just a little resistance to Ward, but they didn't. They never tried to talk him into anything. Ward's word was law. And look at Eddie Haskell. What keeps him from joining a motorcylce gang?

I think that we children of the fifties and early sixties were much more obedient, yes, but there was still a lot of rebellion to go around.

Originally posted by frani
. And look at Eddie Haskell. What keeps him from joining a motorcylce gang?



LOL! I won't ever be able to look at Eddie again without imagining him with a leather jacket on and zooming around on a motorcycle. lol

Frani did point out a good example with 'Rebel Without a Cause' of some of the rebellion type situations in the 50s.

Originally posted by Jenny


LOL! I won't ever be able to look at Eddie again without imagining him with a leather jacket on and zooming around on a motorcycle. lol

Frani did point out a good example with 'Rebel Without a Cause' of some of the rebellion type situations in the 50s.


On The New Leave it to Beaver, he usually wore a leather jacket. I remember an episode about a motorcycle too, and Wally rode it and got injured. For some reason, I'm thinking the bike was Eddie's or that Eddie rented it or something.

This kinda has nothing to do with anything except the motorcycle thing, but Ken Osmond (Eddie for those who didn't know) did become an L.A. Motorcycle cop in the 70s and was on the force for like 20 something years!

Originally posted by WallyCleaverisaPimp
Yeah, it's almost sickening isn't it? And they call their dad sir all the time! Well, not all the time. I NEVER call my dad that. If I do it's as a joke!

Therein lies a big difference between older and younger generations. When I was growing up, I always called my father sir and my mother maam. I referred to other adults the same way. It wasn't a joke. It was about respecting your elders, something kids these days don't do.

...that kids years ago were not all 'angels', and violence and heinous crimes DID take place!

However...the DEGREE of violence and said behavior was considerably lower than today IMHO.

As in 'Rebel Without a Cause'...it was KNIVES that were used to intimidate, instead of guns! And if someone had a knife in school it was a BIG DEAL! Now, bringing a gun to school seems to be acceptible among many of todays youth!

As far as Elvis...if you call swinging hips a provocative move, what would ya call what we see today? Crotch grabbing and simulated sex from todays pop 'icons' seems to be acceptible now!

And the 'sir or maam' thing...If I called my dad 'sir', he usually thought I was being sarcastic and told me to stop! :lol: I think it just depends on the individual attitude of the family. In my case, saying 'Mom' or 'Dad' was just as respectful as 'sir' or 'maam'. Once in a while I'd call 'em by their first names...NEVER well recieved, and just to get a comedic 'rise' outta them! :lol:

pontoon :cool:

Hey, did you guys see yesterday's episode about Wally's graduation party? Eddie Haskell said that he wanted a motorcycle!!!:D I bet the only reason he doesn't wear a leather jacket in the original series is for the same reason Fonzie wasn't allowed to wear a leather jacket for the first season of Happy Days. Leather jackets were seen as being a sign of a hoodlam or a gang-member.