HIGH SCHOOL -- 1957 vs. 2009

Jekyll wrote: And ANOTHER one!

http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Shel ... 373621.php

Edit: OH MAN! You guys are REALLY gonna like THIS one! HAHAHAHA!
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/lo ... mells.html

Thanks. Those three examples really highlight the change of the times. Again "social engineering" maneuvers come to mind. It is totally offensive. A leathermen and knife warrant arrests and mugshot???? Please.

archer wrote: I'm amazed at those who really think that life in the 1950's was so idyllic....perhaps they are suffering some grave memory loss or did not live through that era. I grew up in a very nice middle class suburb.....so no horror stories from inner city schools. First....it was definitly no time to be black or a woman, worse for blacks, not a lot of fun for a woman (girl) who had designs on a good career. I graduated high school at 16 and applied to college even though I was being discouraged by most everyone, except my father, from continuing my education. It was OK to go to the local teacher's college but not out of state to a "real" university. My mom only relented because she thought I might find a decent husband there.

Medical care was hit or miss in those days....my best friend contracted polio and the medical costs to keep her in the iron lung at home totally devastated and bankrupted her family, there was no health insurance to speak of.

Girls in high school were always going off to visit some mysterious aunt somewhere, then returning in about 9 months. They almost never returned to school to finish their education.

There were few blacks in our town, and they were unwelcome everywhere....those that had the guts to attend the local schools were intimidated daily. It was ugly, to say the least. Many were taken by their parents 20 miles to the city to attend all black schools. The native american students from the nearby reservation ( they were called indians then, with a lot of not-so-nice descriptors) weren't treated much better, they usually dropped out of high school rather than deal with the constant taunts and bullying. When I was a junior I dated a Native American who I had met over the summer at the lake and whom my mom and dad had hired to do some yard work, they pretty much adopted him and he spent a lot of time with my family.....the flack we both took for dating finally broke up that relationship, though we did start dating again when I was in college and he was at West Point.

Drinking was the vice of choice and underage drinking was not only tolerated, it seemed to be the norm. I don't recall ever being carded from a bar even though I was many years younger than legal drinking age.

Bad stuff happened at schools.....fights resulting in serious injury, rapes, horrible intimidation to geeks (they weren't called that then) but that stuff never made the news, it was covered up by parents, schools and the local authorities. I think we view our current society as being worse than those idyllic 50's because we know more now, it's all over the news. And that is OK with me....ignorance is NOT bliss....it is just ignorance.

The indoctrination of kids then was just as bad as conservatives say it is now, only from the right wing of politics. We used to have mock elections in grade school.....Ike and Stevenson....I voted for Stevenson and was promptly told by my teacher to change my vote because Stevenson was a commie and wanted to do something horrible to our nation. Ike got like 90 percent of the vote.

While it was a right of passage for a boy to get his driver's license and an old beat up car, girls had to fight to get the license and a car was simply out of the question.....

All in all....it was certainly a happy time for many....but miserable for many more. We were naive, we were content with simpler things, and we were ignorant pretty much of world affairs and national issues.

When my kids were young I tried to give them some of the best things from those simpler times (reading, outdoor play, respect for their elders etc) but added in more recent issues like tolerance for other races and religions, knowledge of technology and how to use it wisely, encouragement to follow their dreams and get as much education as they wished in whatever fields they wanted. I especially encouraged my daughter to dream big and reach high for what she wanted.

I would never want to go back to the 50's (no self respecting techno-geek ever would), but that doesn't mean we can't recapture some of the good things from that era and apply them to our own life and that of our children and grandchildren now.

edited to add....I almost forgot the Kennedy election in 1960....I had the guts then to vote for kennedy in spite of my teachers telling us the Pope would be running America if he won. In our high school, he lost badly.

DAMN, YOU'RE OLD!

Rockdoc Franz wrote:

Jekyll wrote: And ANOTHER one!

http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Shel ... 373621.php

Edit: OH MAN! You guys are REALLY gonna like THIS one! HAHAHAHA!
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/lo ... mells.html

Thanks. Those three examples really highlight the change of the times. Again "social engineering" maneuvers come to mind. It is totally offensive. A leathermen and knife warrant arrests and mugshot???? Please.

I know huh. Weird how I checked out today's headlines and found not one, but three separate articles that met up with this thread. MAN it's getting out of hand. On a side note, I'm not looking forward to going through security at DIA this June, after all that's been going on, but that's for another thread....

TPP wrote:

DAMN, YOU'RE OLD!

Yeah, well my Pa just turned Sixty. That's still pretty spry!! He grew up in the '50s on a farm in Iowa. HAAAARD times. Don't remember him saying anything real negative about his school days, but he didn't even graduate HS until '69, so perhaps times changed that much from HS in say '55?

I'm amazed at those who really think that life in the 1950's was so idyllic....perhaps they are suffering some grave memory loss or did not live through that era. I grew up in a very nice middle class suburb.....so no horror stories from inner city schools. First....it was definitly no time to be black or a woman, worse for blacks, not a lot of fun for a woman (girl) who had designs on a good career. I graduated high school at 16 and applied to college even though I was being discouraged by most everyone, except my father, from continuing my education. It was OK to go to the local teacher's college but not out of state to a "real" university. My mom only relented because she thought I might find a decent husband there.

Medical care was hit or miss in those days....my best friend contracted polio and the medical costs to keep her in the iron lung at home totally devastated and bankrupted her family, there was no health insurance to speak of.

Girls in high school were always going off to visit some mysterious aunt somewhere, then returning in about 9 months. They almost never returned to school to finish their education.

There were few blacks in our town, and they were unwelcome everywhere....those that had the guts to attend the local schools were intimidated daily. It was ugly, to say the least. Many were taken by their parents 20 miles to the city to attend all black schools. The native american students from the nearby reservation ( they were called indians then, with a lot of not-so-nice descriptors) weren't treated much better, they usually dropped out of high school rather than deal with the constant taunts and bullying. When I was a junior I dated a Native American who I had met over the summer at the lake and whom my mom and dad had hired to do some yard work, they pretty much adopted him and he spent a lot of time with my family.....the flack we both took for dating finally broke up that relationship, though we did start dating again when I was in college and he was at West Point.

Drinking was the vice of choice and underage drinking was not only tolerated, it seemed to be the norm. I don't recall ever being carded from a bar even though I was many years younger than legal drinking age.

Bad stuff happened at schools.....fights resulting in serious injury, rapes, horrible intimidation to geeks (they weren't called that then) but that stuff never made the news, it was covered up by parents, schools and the local authorities. I think we view our current society as being worse than those idyllic 50's because we know more now, it's all over the news. And that is OK with me....ignorance is NOT bliss....it is just ignorance.

The indoctrination of kids then was just as bad as conservatives say it is now, only from the right wing of politics. We used to have mock elections in grade school.....Ike and Stevenson....I voted for Stevenson and was promptly told by my teacher to change my vote because Stevenson was a commie and wanted to do something horrible to our nation. Ike got like 90 percent of the vote.

While it was a right of passage for a boy to get his driver's license and an old beat up car, girls had to fight to get the license and a car was simply out of the question.....

All in all....it was certainly a happy time for many....but miserable for many more. We were naive, we were content with simpler things, and we were ignorant pretty much of world affairs and national issues.

When my kids were young I tried to give them some of the best things from those simpler times (reading, outdoor play, respect for their elders etc) but added in more recent issues like tolerance for other races and religions, knowledge of technology and how to use it wisely, encouragement to follow their dreams and get as much education as they wished in whatever fields they wanted. I especially encouraged my daughter to dream big and reach high for what she wanted.

I would never want to go back to the 50's (no self respecting techno-geek ever would), but that doesn't mean we can't recapture some of the good things from that era and apply them to our own life and that of our children and grandchildren now.

edited to add....I almost forgot the Kennedy election in 1960....I had the guts then to vote for kennedy in spite of my teachers telling us the Pope would be running America if he won. In our high school, he lost badly.

So lets see- you were voting for communists way back then too huh? Stevenson was a commie- you should have listened to your teachers more.

What I hear complaints about - are mostly cultural things like blacks being supressed. Compared to the rest of the world at the time- blacks had it alot better here in the states than just about anywhere else. Women too- for the times - had better lives here in America.

While one can say that our treatment of blacks has changed since the 50's- and that's a good example of how things got better- I'm not so sure that the same thing can be said for women.

Back then a womans role and what was expected by society were different- I'm not so sure things are better now. The government and women;'s lib have chained you all into working careers. It now takes two incomes to live a middle class life- back then one good income was enough.

Is that progress- if you say so. You had to wear skirts and were expected to marry before you got out of college and become housewives- and the men were expected to earn an income for the family. But back then- kids had their mom's around- now they get home to an empty house and watch the boob tube and play video games.

I know a few women who might gladly trade the role they are forced into- for that of yester year. How many times have I heard women say "I wish I could be a stay at home mom and raise my kids". The economics of today won't allow it.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DLIvw6mZGBU/TMs1kmlO7lI/AAAAAAAAA1U/qksjHVw9iuU/s400/womenwork


As for violence and beatings- they still go on today. Drugs and gangs are worse now vs then. It's dangerous to be out at night in the wrong place today - just as then. The world is not a safer place. Now we live in a condition that is very close to being a police state- and nanny politics get worse every year trying to control our behavior.

Aside from the technicolor and technology filled lives you all like so much- I'm not convinced things are better.

And Rockdoc that's a cool photo of you in 1953- looks like your jeans were a little too long!

BearMtnHIB wrote:

I

And Rockdoc that's a cool photo of you in 1953- looks like your jeans were a little too long!

Grew up pretty poor. One pair of jeans a year is what we got if we were luck, so that meant they had to be long so you could grow into them. Note the home style hair cut too. lol We may have been poor, but we were mostly happy. Dad worried about getting work almost all the time so that was not too cool, but we had enormous freedom to live, acres of land to run around on, a garden, chicken and rabbits that kept us fed throughout much of the year. We worked hard, we played some, and we sat under the old cottonwood tree to take lunch during those summer work days. No we did not have TV, instead we listened to classical music, read, caught silver sides in the brook and tried to keep them in an aquarium, etc. What stands out most of all is the felling of freedom, freedom to roam, freedom from fear of someone breaking into your house, freedom to build and make as much out of your opportunities as hard work would allow.
Edited to add: Mother, a professional photographer, gave up that career to work as a maid, work more readily found. She elected to do so we could realize our dreams more quickly. It didn't quite work out that way for her other than we got a more comfortable house built.

And for those of you who think I'm old, think again. I'm simply seasoned and experienced.

BearMtnHIB wrote: So lets see- you were voting for communists way back then too huh? Stevenson was a commie- you should have listened to your teachers more.

Spoken like the fear monger my teachers were....I suppose you think Kennedy was a commie too.

What I hear complaints about - are mostly cultural things like blacks being supressed. Compared to the rest of the world at the time- blacks had it alot better here in the states than just about anywhere else. Women too- for the times - had better lives here in America.

Well, that makes a difference......we as Americans don't have to do things right, just do things better than somewhere else. I'm pretty sure blacks and women back then would disagree with your opinion, but then, as apparently now, good old white boys don't care much what blacks or women think. And if you are not a good old white boy, you sure think like one.

While one can say that our treatment of blacks has changed since the 50's- and that's a good example of how things got better- I'm not so sure that the same thing can be said for women.

Back then a womans role and what was expected by society were different- I'm not so sure things are better now. The government and women;'s lib have chained you all into working careers. It now takes two incomes to live a middle class life- back then one good income was enough.

Is that progress- if you say so. You had to wear skirts and were expected to marry before you got out of college and become housewives- and the men were expected to earn an income for the family. But back then- kids had their mom's around- now they get home to an empty house and watch the boob tube and play video games.

I know a few women who might gladly trade the role they are forced into- for that of yester year. How many times have I heard women say "I wish I could be a stay at home mom and raise my kids". The economics of today won't allow it.

I disagree with your assessment....My mom had to work in the 50's to make ends meet, she had a dance studio in our basement. Though she tried to be with us when she could, my brother and I took on a lot of responsibility for meals and house work while she had classes. It was good for us, he is a terrific cook and we were both very independent and responsible kids.

I had a terrific career and then stayed home with my kids till they were in school full time, then started my own business where I could work while they were in school and be home when they weren't. A good education, which many wanted to deny me, is what made that possible. Many couples choose to have two incomes because that is how they wish to live.....we chose to live less extravagently for several years on one income so I could be home with the kids when they were young.

Choices, that is what women have been given, what a radical idea.

Aside from the technicolor and technology filles lives you all like so much- I'm not convinced things are better.

So tell me, were you in high school in the 50's, or is this nostalgia for what you never experienced?

Jekyll wrote:

TPP wrote:

DAMN, YOU'RE OLD!

Yeah, well my Pa just turned Sixty. That's still pretty spry!! He grew up in the '50s on a farm in Iowa. HAAAARD times. Don't remember him saying anything real negative about his school days, but he didn't even graduate HS until '69, so perhaps times changed that much from HS in say '55?

OK, but that was for archer...
My Dad's 85 in Nov.

No- I was not born yet in the 1950's, but I did see American Pie and I stayed in a Holiday inn express. My father was in high school in the 50's- as I explained earlier.

Another thing.....
The number of Americans who own their homes outright has changed over the decades. In 1950, more than half were free and clear of a mortgage. How many do you suppose live today mortgage free? Have things really got better- or do we all have our lifestyles borrowed from the bank- our lives mortgaged to the hilt?

BearMtnHIB wrote: No- I was not born yet in the 1950's, but I did see American Pie and I stayed in a Holiday inn express. My father was in high school in the 50's- as I explained earlier.

Another thing.....
The number of Americans who own their homes outright has changed over the decades. In 1950, more than half were free and clear of a mortgage. How many do you suppose live today mortgage free? Have things really got better- or do we all have our lifestyles borrowed from the bank- our lives mortgaged to the hilt?

the price of homes went up faster than the income of those who wanted to be home owners...plus people were told that a mortgage was a good investment......you could get a mortgage for 6% then write off that interest against your income.....it was a bit of fuzzy math, but in the good years right up to a few years ago it might have been good advice. I'm sure I'm not the only person who bought a house with a mortgage and sold it 5 years later for twice it's value and pocketed all that equity. which then paid off the mortgage on my husbands house and we are free and clear of any debt.

Of course people stretched too far, somewhere along the way people got complacent......real estate would ALWAYS rise, jobs would ALWAYS be available if you were educated and worked hard, and yes, borrowing was a good idea because you would be getting raises and you could pay later. NOT....if I tought my kids nothing else I tought them home finances....how to balance a check book.....how to manage credit....and how to know when they were in trouble and STOP whatever they were doing. My son internalized the info....my daughter took a while. I don't blame the times we live in as much as I blame parents and the financial pundits who seem to push the risky economic lifestyle, along with TV shows from the 50's, 60's right up to now that show the happy little family in the safe little neighborhood with the white picket fence and no one is hungry and no one fights over money and there is always a shiny car in the driveway and money for clothes and whatever else the kids want. We've been brain washed by the "haves" in this country to believe that everyone can be rich if they just spend enough money.