Schools
taught reading, writing and arithmetic, the Pledge of Allegiance and
the Constitution. America was grand — free and respected throughout the
world, from all anyone could see. Everybody went to church on Sunday to
learn about God, and you knew what was right and wrong because the
minister told you; you had no reason to disbelieve. On Sunday night, the
family played a game together—Monopoly, Fish, or Pick-Up Sticks.
To those who grew up in the 1950s, life was uncomplicated and innocent. It’s a time to remember with longing.
In
the 50s, families were large and houses were small, with a kitchen that
you ate in, one bathroom, and a few bedrooms filled with your brothers
and sisters. Divorce was rare; almost everyone had a
head-of-the-household dad and a mom who stayed home and cooked real food
with real ingredients. You ate with the family morning and night, with a
blessing on the food, lots of jokes and a few parental sermons for
seasoning. Everybody had chores and did them; parents were strict, and
nobody you knew sassed their parents.
After
school, every kid headed outside to climb trees, jump rope and play
hopscotch. Vacant lots were for baseball, to the detriment of nearby
windows. By the 50s, every household had one telephone and a three-digit
phone number, and unless you could afford more, your phone was on a
party line. You could listen in on the local gossip club that tied up
the line half the day, but you couldn’t butt in — it wasn’t polite. So,
forget about calling your friends; just meet the gang on the corner lot.
You could ride a bike — your most prized possession — to a friend’s
house alone, play outside after dark, and be gone for hours without
panicking your parents.
Saturday
afternoons were for the movies. Almost every kid in town hit the 2:00
PM Saturday matinee. Cars discharged expectant children, each clutching
the quarter that would buy a ticket and a candy bar or popcorn — your
choice. No one worried about the movies. They were always innocent — a
kid who got in trouble, made a mess and said he was sorry, a slapstick
comedy for your funny bone, or a western with good guys in white hats
who rode white horses and always won. TV was occasional: Leave it to
Beaver and The Ozzie and Harriet Show, starring every girl’s heartthrob,
Ricky Nelson. If his song, Travelin’Man, meant anything shady, you
never suspected.
Nobody
had much money and kids never saw that their parents worried about it
much. If your dad clerked at the local grocery store, his occupation was
honorable. Policemen were universally respected and obeyed, and some
little boys really did grow up to be firemen.
Sadly,
times have changed. Families are small and houses are large. Closets
bulge with annual fashion changes, T-shirts are the new business cards,
and recreation means shopping at the mall. A game is a screen and a
remote, and kids can go days without seeing the sun. (Do they even know
how to play outside anymore?) We talk to each other through smart
phones, rather than smart relationships. Broken homes are commonplace;
dads are often missing-in-action, and too many moms are gone into the
workplace. Everybody aims to be a professional, parents work long hours,
and the family can maybe grab a meal together on Sundays.
Dinner
comes from the drive through window, home-cooked means the microwave,
and you’d better read labels on your food. Friends have replaced
brothers and sisters, without the unfailing loyalty a sibling brings.
Kids don’t do chores, they sass their parents and teachers, and church
attendance is dropping steadily. Music is raunchy and TV offends more
than it entertains. Morals are in jeopardy if you go to the movies much,
so don’t forget to check the ratings before you take the kids. Out of
wedlock pregnancies are celebrated, rather than shameful, and people
spend money they don’t have, so they borrow, and borrow some more.
Most
progress is good, but some is not. Modern benefits, such as
communication and transportation, with its interconnected highways, were
only dreamed of in the 50s. Wouldn’t it be grand if we could bring back
the simplicity of the 50s, added to the positives of the 21st century?
The world would be a more stable place if we did.