A little before my time, but I recognize a lot of stuff I haven't seen in forever.
Funny how you can see one of those yellow plastic swirly things you put in the center of a 45rpm record and instantly know what it is.
Coincidentally, I happened to catch an episode of "Father Knows Best" the other day, for the first time in decades. This one was about the teenage daughter (what's her name??). She was going thru some teenage girl turmoil, trying to figure out what life is all about, and having no direction in her life, but convinced everything her parent's generation had put together just wasn't working. So she's all pissed and moping around the house, until she finally decides she's gonna hop on a bus and leave.
So she heads down to the bus terminal, no idea where she's going, or even how to ride the bus, and gets a ticket for someplace she's never heard of before.
So she's sitting there waiting for the bus to leave, and this old guy sits down next to her. Clearly the guy is very old and very confused, and can't speak English very well. He's muttering and upset, so she asks him what's wrong. He's going to see his daughter, but doesn't know what to do or what bus to get on or where she lives.
So she has to make a decision...her bus is about to leave...does she stay and help him or hop on the bus. She gets kinda frantic, cuz she really wants to get out of town.
Well, she finally decides to help him. Her bus leaves, she's all upset, but she takes him to the ticket guy, gets him straightened out, walks him to his bus, and makes sure he's okay.
And the old man is so happy and grateful that he's almost in tears.
And suddenly she smiles, and finally realizes what life is all about.
No generation is perfect. But one thing that generation had going for it was, IMO, a good grasp of what is really important in life. Shows like that were a pretty good model, IMO, for kids who were growing up. Nowadays, people make fun of stuff like that. Too bad.
A lot of the moral lessons I learned as a child came from a carton caled Davey and Goliath. No matter how lousy I behaved as I grew older, I never stepped completely over the line and made it safely to a productive and decent life. About 5 years ago my wife and I caught an episode on cable when we were in Alabama. Until then I hadn't realized that it was a Christian cartoon. I just learned from it when I was young. As an atheist it pains me to say it but the loss of religion and the nuclear family in America killed this country. Sorry to those who feel othewrwise simply because momentum of a country. like a freight train takes a long time to slow and come to a complete stop.
"...loss of religion and the nuclear family in America killed this country."
Yeah, unfortunately I fear you're right.
Personally, I think we've ultimately shifted from a "male" society to a "female" society. We're becoming a society whose primary values are protecting everyone's emotions, never honestly evaluating and criticizing ourselves or others, making sure we include everyone and judge nobody because it might hurt their feelings, and ultimately not taking a stand on anything. A good society is a balance of both male and female aspects. I think our pendulum has swung much too far in one direction.
It's no longer about honesty and righteousness, or doing your best and high achievement, it's about emotions. As a nation we've lost our balls.
Maybe I'm wrong, but I think this country is on a steady but certain economic decline, because we're too busy being pussies.
And too much of our economy is now based on personal entertainment...youtubes and video games and smart phones and iPads and music and video downloads and facebooks and twitters and stuff that we really don't need....and if the economy really goes south for a big portion of the nation, we'll jettison those billion $$ industries in a hearbeat.
Oh, and I know people nowadays love to denigrate the concept of the nuclear family, but IMO there are good ways and bad ways to run your life. Some stuff works best, other stuff not so good. And if we had a manual on how to structure our lives for best results, having a nuclear family, with a strong male figure and a supporting female figure, is the best way to do it.
Yeah, you can have a gay couple adopting a kid and trying to convince the world that it's just as wonderful, or a single mom telling the world her kids don't really need a father, but I think time will tell that some things are just wrong in the long run. And in future generations our pendulum may swing back a bit when we realize that maybe a nuclear family works best.
^^^ okay, that was finally close to an intelligent post from you. Like to do it 1 in every 20 posts or so just to throw us for a loop, huh, jerkoffson?
Shadow, Great stuff and great memories. I think I could name 98% of the people shown (actors/actresses, politians, government officials, and athletes of the era). I recognized over half of the products shown. All the others were definitely typical of the time.
I detected one anachronism: at 3:23 a photo is shown of Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris. Maris didn't join the Yankees until 1960. Both left the Yankees following the 1968 season. So the pic dates to 1960-68.
Jerikson, I met Jerry Mathers once. I lived in Valencia, CA at the time, and I knew he did too. About every few years there'd be a story about him in the local paper, with a current photo, so I knew what he looked like presently.
I was walking on one of the local trails one day in March 2005. I saw a somewhat portly man walking toward me on the trail. Even though he was completely covered with a bulky jacket, hat, and sunglasses, I thought to myself, "I'll bet that's Jerry Mathers." I was hoping his walk on the trail would be like mine was due to be, in that he'd reverse his direction at some point and we'd meet again. Exactly that happened, and this time I stopped and chatted with him for a few minutes. He was very gracious about stopping to talk to a fan.
There are many things about the fifties that were good. The sixties were shitty!! I grew up in the sixties and LBJ's "Great Society" and his little war (vietman) he escalated to help his buds in the defense industries. In the fifties people actually paid for things and most lived withing their means (if you could not afford a tv or new car you did you made do with the old car and no tv) The Great Society taught this country that if you can't afford it the government will take it from the guy down the street that works 70 hrs per week trying to get somewhere and buy you anything you want as long as you vote for him. We also did not pay women to have illegitimate babies for the government to raise. In the 50's you actually helped your neighbor and did not wait for a government official to come and hand out checks. Guess what? people immigrated here legally and followed the rules to citizenship not cross the border saying you owe me!The only thing we owe them is a one way ride back across the border.
The fifties, we have lost more than we have gained. People say cell phones are a gain. I personally do not like being in touch 24/7/365 at everyone's beck and call. I do not like the government monitoring my phone calls. I do not like air travel and could live without the internet and 5000 cable/satellite channels that all have garbage playing not to mention CGI movies that have not plot or story. Or women who are more plastic than flesh.
The fifties, when you went fishing it was with a boat with 3 hp motor, oars, pole, lure or bait, stringer and maybe a guide. Now you need trolling motor, fish finder, gps, pole with fancy digital reel, down riggers(whatever the fuck those are) live well (because catching and eating fish is politically incorrect) plus a boat with a 300 hp motor that goes 130 MPH to beat the other guy to the fish. Modern times has even fucked up fishing.
19 comments
Scary how many of these things I remember seeing or experiencing, lol.
Wonder who will be the first dystopic and dysphoric PL to drop a toxic turd on this post?
A little before my time, but I recognize a lot of stuff I haven't seen in forever.
Funny how you can see one of those yellow plastic swirly things you put in the center of a 45rpm record and instantly know what it is.
Coincidentally, I happened to catch an episode of "Father Knows Best" the other day, for the first time in decades. This one was about the teenage daughter (what's her name??). She was going thru some teenage girl turmoil, trying to figure out what life is all about, and having no direction in her life, but convinced everything her parent's generation had put together just wasn't working. So she's all pissed and moping around the house, until she finally decides she's gonna hop on a bus and leave.
So she heads down to the bus terminal, no idea where she's going, or even how to ride the bus, and gets a ticket for someplace she's never heard of before.
So she's sitting there waiting for the bus to leave, and this old guy sits down next to her. Clearly the guy is very old and very confused, and can't speak English very well. He's muttering and upset, so she asks him what's wrong. He's going to see his daughter, but doesn't know what to do or what bus to get on or where she lives.
So she has to make a decision...her bus is about to leave...does she stay and help him or hop on the bus. She gets kinda frantic, cuz she really wants to get out of town.
Well, she finally decides to help him. Her bus leaves, she's all upset, but she takes him to the ticket guy, gets him straightened out, walks him to his bus, and makes sure he's okay.
And the old man is so happy and grateful that he's almost in tears.
And suddenly she smiles, and finally realizes what life is all about.
No generation is perfect. But one thing that generation had going for it was, IMO, a good grasp of what is really important in life. Shows like that were a pretty good model, IMO, for kids who were growing up. Nowadays, people make fun of stuff like that. Too bad.
Yeah, unfortunately I fear you're right.
Personally, I think we've ultimately shifted from a "male" society to a "female" society. We're becoming a society whose primary values are protecting everyone's emotions, never honestly evaluating and criticizing ourselves or others, making sure we include everyone and judge nobody because it might hurt their feelings, and ultimately not taking a stand on anything. A good society is a balance of both male and female aspects. I think our pendulum has swung much too far in one direction.
It's no longer about honesty and righteousness, or doing your best and high achievement, it's about emotions. As a nation we've lost our balls.
Maybe I'm wrong, but I think this country is on a steady but certain economic decline, because we're too busy being pussies.
And too much of our economy is now based on personal entertainment...youtubes and video games and smart phones and iPads and music and video downloads and facebooks and twitters and stuff that we really don't need....and if the economy really goes south for a big portion of the nation, we'll jettison those billion $$ industries in a hearbeat.
Oh-noes! It's all over! It's all over!
Yeah, you can have a gay couple adopting a kid and trying to convince the world that it's just as wonderful, or a single mom telling the world her kids don't really need a father, but I think time will tell that some things are just wrong in the long run. And in future generations our pendulum may swing back a bit when we realize that maybe a nuclear family works best.
I detected one anachronism: at 3:23 a photo is shown of Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris. Maris didn't join the Yankees until 1960. Both left the Yankees following the 1968 season. So the pic dates to 1960-68.
Jerikson, Elinor Donohue was the actress who played the older daughter, Betty, on "Father Knows Best." See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elinor_Dona…
Oh, wait....
I was walking on one of the local trails one day in March 2005. I saw a somewhat portly man walking toward me on the trail. Even though he was completely covered with a bulky jacket, hat, and sunglasses, I thought to myself, "I'll bet that's Jerry Mathers." I was hoping his walk on the trail would be like mine was due to be, in that he'd reverse his direction at some point and we'd meet again. Exactly that happened, and this time I stopped and chatted with him for a few minutes. He was very gracious about stopping to talk to a fan.
The fifties, we have lost more than we have gained. People say cell phones are a gain. I personally do not like being in touch 24/7/365 at everyone's beck and call. I do not like the government monitoring my phone calls. I do not like air travel and could live without the internet and 5000 cable/satellite channels that all have garbage playing not to mention CGI movies that have not plot or story. Or women who are more plastic than flesh.
The fifties, when you went fishing it was with a boat with 3 hp motor, oars, pole, lure or bait, stringer and maybe a guide. Now you need trolling motor, fish finder, gps, pole with fancy digital reel, down riggers(whatever the fuck those are) live well (because catching and eating fish is politically incorrect) plus a boat with a 300 hp motor that goes 130 MPH to beat the other guy to the fish. Modern times has even fucked up fishing.
Yeah, the guys saved the world from fascism.
Most of the household items were literally made in the USA.