50's Lifestyle

[ElCid]

Noticed that MeTV is now showing 77 Sunset Strip weeknights at 4:00 AM.  GetTV is again showing The Thin Man TV series sometimes.

It appears the networks that show old TV shows are introducing new schedules so you may wish to check the ones in your area.  You can find the schedules on their websites, but fundtionality varies.

These are networks such as GetTV, MeTV, Cozi, Grit, etc.

[DownGoesFrazier]

Exploring through houses under construction was a favorite pastime for me and my friends also.  And not only houses.  For example---

 

The high school I attended and graduated from was constructed in 1957(completed by 1960) and I still have the memory of that poor overwheight cop chasing us all up, down and around he site to get us out of there.  Risking a CORONARY to do so!  You could almost HEAR the sweat popping out on his beet red forehead!

 

Sure, I go along with kids learning some things the hard way.  But even in MY day( and yours too I guess) there were limits.  Another example---

 

The house I lived in once had two good sized Elm trees in the section between the sidewalk and the street.  Me and my best friend got the idea to tie a bunch of old inner tubes together, tie the ends around each one of the elms and try to SLINGSHOT ourselves across the street to the vacant property that was there( our combination baseball, football field, ice rink in winter, and kite flying area)   So, I placed myself dead center of the connected tubes and started pushing back with my feet.  Looking down at my feet while doing so.  Halfway to where I wanted take off from I looked up to see my friend was NOWHERE IN SIGHT.  Then I felt a tap on my shoulder and looking up saw my MOM looking down at me!  She simply said, "I don't think so."  Well, I slowly stepped foreward to loosen the tension on the tubes and moved away from them.  I also learned that day that a pair of pinking shears can turn inner tubes to confetti REAL quick!  

 

That friend of mine's Dad had a huge roll of that brown paper that people used for wrapping pakages in his basement.  Why, I don't know, but his adventurous older brother one day tore a few huge sheets of it off the roll and we walked into his backyard just as he was done duct-taping them together in one HUGE rectangle.  He then enlisted us to help him fold it into a giant paper airplane saying he was going to fly it off the roof of the house!

 

WE thought he meant he was going to THROW IT from the roof to see how far it would fy.  Turned out HIS idea was to see how far HE could fly while hanging ONTO it!  He took a running start from the peak of the roof and jumped with it once he reached the end.  Went about six feet out and dropped like a ROCK!  Broke his arm in two places.  As he swirled like CURLY HOWARD on the ground screaming in pain, his Dad came out, stood there looking at him and asked us waht happened.  When we told him, well, I had NEVER heard Mr. Jackson use THAT kind of language before!   Loudly telling the boy, "I oughta make you CRAWL to the hospital you #@*%#@%&  FOOL!"  and all like that. 

 

Now, THAT'S learning the HARD way! 

 

 

Sepiatone

Speaking of your high school, have any of you heard of the documentary award-winning film HIGH SCHOOL (1967)? That was my high school, Northeast High School in Philly. The camera crew was let in there the year after I graduated, and they wish they hadn't let them in. The film made the school look ridiculous.

[Sepiatone]

Speaking of your high school, have any of you heard of the documentary award-winning film HIGH SCHOOL (1967)? That was my high school, Northeast High School in Philly. The camera crew was let in there the year after I graduated, and they wish they hadn't let them in. The film made the school look ridiculous.

 

To my recollection, high school doesn't have to look ridiculous to BE ridiculous. 

 

 

Sepiatone

[DownGoesFrazier]

To my recollection, high school doesn't have to look ridiculous to BE ridiculous. 

 

 

Sepiatone

The documentary made the school seem like a prison....strict dress regulations, having to see the dean for being in the hallways during classes without a hall pass, etc.

[kingrat]

Riot in Cell Block 11, partially filmed in Folsom Prison, portrayed the prison guards as being so poorly paid that they had to have second jobs.

 

My, my, how times have changed. In California the average prison guard salary is more than $100,000 per year, and the prison guard union is often considered the most single powerful political entity in the state of California.

[Janet0312]

The house I lived in once had two good sized Elm trees in the section between the sidewalk and the street.  Me and my best friend got the idea to tie a bunch of old inner tubes together, tie the ends around each one of the elms and try to SLINGSHOT ourselves across the street to the vacant property that was there( our combination baseball, football field, ice rink in winter, and kite flying area)   So, I placed myself dead center of the connected tubes and started pushing back with my feet.  Looking down at my feet while doing so.  Halfway to where I wanted take off from I looked up to see my friend was NOWHERE IN SIGHT.  Then I felt a tap on my shoulder and looking up saw my MOM looking down at me!  She simply said, "I don't think so."  Well, I slowly stepped foreward to loosen the tension on the tubes and moved away from them.  I also learned that day that a pair of pinking shears can turn inner tubes to confetti REAL quick!  

 

That friend of mine's Dad had a huge roll of that brown paper that people used for wrapping pakages in his basement.  Why, I don't know, but his adventurous older brother one day tore a few huge sheets of it off the roll and we walked into his backyard just as he was done duct-taping them together in one HUGE rectangle.  He then enlisted us to help him fold it into a giant paper airplane saying he was going to fly it off the roof of the house!

 

WE thought he meant he was going to THROW IT from the roof to see how far it would fy.  Turned out HIS idea was to see how far HE could fly while hanging ONTO it!  He took a running start from the peak of the roof and jumped with it once he reached the end.  Went about six feet out and dropped like a ROCK!  Broke his arm in two places.  As he swirled like CURLY HOWARD on the ground screaming in pain, his Dad came out, stood there looking at him and asked us waht happened.  When we told him, well, I had NEVER heard Mr. Jackson use THAT kind of language before!   Loudly telling the boy, "I oughta make you CRAWL to the hospital you #@*%#@%&  FOOL!"  and all like that. 

 

Now, THAT'S learning the HARD way! 

 

 

Sepiatone

 

That is wicked funny!!!!

[Tikisoo]

Riot in Cell Block 11, partially filmed in Folsom Prison, portrayed the prison guards as being so poorly paid that they had to have second jobs. My, my, how times have changed.

 

Indeed.

MrTiki is a correction officer and he makes really decent money. And (to my horror) being "ordered mandatory overtime" is a common practice. Time & a half pay is cheaper than hiring (paying additional generous benefits) but overtime it's taking a toll on his health. And you're dealing with inmates welfare-something important!

Those who volunteer to work holidays receive double time pay.

He loves working holidays, no 2nd job needed.

 

Teachers, otoh.....I think are poorly paid for what they do & their responsibility (and my #1 soapbox issue-wait staff sub-minimum wage!!)

[Sepiatone]

Riot in Cell Block 11, partially filmed in Folsom Prison, portrayed the prison guards as being so poorly paid that they had to have second jobs.

 

My, my, how times have changed. In California the average prison guard salary is more than $100,000 per year, and the prison guard union is often considered the most single powerful political entity in the state of California.

 

Yeah, in California maybe.

 

But the guy next door to me is a guard at a women's prison facility, and HE doesn't make 100K .  For SURE.

 

 

Sepiatone

[Sepiatone]

So, have we worn out this dicussion, or have I "bumped" this up for naught?

 

Sepiatone

[DownGoesFrazier]

Yeah, in California maybe.

 

But the guy next door to me is a guard at a women's prison facility, and HE doesn't make 100K .  For SURE.

 

 

Sepiatone

He might not make $100 K, but he could have all the women he could ever want.

[Princess of Tap]

He might not make $100 K, but he could have all the women he could ever want.

We've had male Correctional guards at female correctional facilities in Kansas who have actually done just that.

 

Now they themselves are now prisoners in male correctional facilities in Kansas.

 

BTW--And I haven't made this comment to encourage you to post another tasteless observation.

[DownGoesFrazier]

We've had male Correctional guards at female correctional facilities in Kansas who have actually done just that.

 

Now they themselves are now prisoners in male correctional facilities in Kansas.

 

BTW--And I haven't made this comment to encourage you to post another tasteless observation.

I don't need any encouragement.

[midwestan]

So, have we worn out this dicussion, or have I "bumped" this up for naught?

 

Sepiatone

My Mom hated the fact that I loved watching "The Three Stooges" when I got home from school.  She thought I'd try some of their gags on my friends.  I was never that foolhardy trying out their physical comedy, but I learned a lot of snappy and wise-cracking dialog which I carry to this day (much to the chagrin of my more mature friends).

[Emily Dean]

So, have we worn out this dicussion, or have I "bumped" this up for naught?

 

Sepiatone

Well Sepiatone...I think discussing correctional guards was a little off topic and as I was perusing some old photos (actually slides) of our family vacations it brought to mind those 1950 road trips that were synonymous with family holidays.  We didn't start those famous road trips until my dad brought home his 1955 Ford Fairlane.  In those days all new cars rated a snap with the proud owner beside it.  There was my Mom and her 1953 Plymouth (she had her hat and suit on) as it was our first two toned car and the first one without a divided windscreen.  It was a light and dark green.  Then came the Ford and my dad stood proudly beside it to display its two tones of beige..dark on the bottom and light on top. 

 

We were living in Grand Rapids at the time and the first trip I remember was along the coast of Lake Michigan to see the sand dunes.  While I don't remember much of the day time events I do remember the evening events especially in selecting an appropriate motel.  Of course most of the day time was spent in the backseat amusing ourselves either with books, toy soldiers or in my case paper dolls.  There was of course the reading of Burma Shave signs, identifying out of state license plates and ABCs using Billboards.  It got particularly harder when you got to the end of the alphabet as xy and z were much harder to identify.  There was the bickering, the space intrusion and the occasional passing swipe of my father's arm to address particularly annoying incidents.  He was amazingly good at this....he never took his eyes off the highway and always managed to find some portion of our lower anatomy.  

 

My mother's responsibility was to do the road finding.  The family never traveled without the aid of a Triple A TripTik travel planner which had been arranged in advance.  This eliminated cumbersome large maps and much arguing over the best route.  More to come.

 

To 50's posters...famous vacations you can remember before the Interstate and Holiday Inns.

[Sepiatone]

Well said.

 

But ruefully, since in the '50's my Mom was a single Mom, and didn't remarry until '59, and also didn't yet drive, family vacation "road trips" were something only other families did.  My first road trip vacation I can recall was a camping trip me, my step brother Reggie, my Dad( which is how for 21 years I referred to him as, him passing in '80) and my Mom took to Houghton Lake.  The Houghton campsite was full-up, so we camped nearby to Higgins lake, also filled, but there was a gas station nearby with enough vacant acreage behind us that let us set up camp there.   But that was in '61.  But still before much of any interstate freeways were completed in Mich. 

 

I DO recall my Grandparents telling of travelling from Detroit to visit relatives and friends in Grand Rapids in the late '40's and early '50's by taking GRAND RIVER all the way there. (for all NON-Michiganders here, Grand River is NOT a waterway.  It's possibly the LONGEST single roadway in the state that's NOT an interstate freeway.).

 

Sepiatone

[ElCid]

Speaking of cars in the 50's, first one I remember is a 52 Chevy two tone.  Sometime around 56, my grandmother was hospitalized and we had to drive about 750 miles in dead of winter.  Car did not have a heater, which was not that unusal for cars in the South at the time.  Heaters were still opitons on most cars back then.

While there, my father got a heater for the car.  Still vaguely recall sleeping in the car at some closed for the night gas station in the middle of AL or MS so old man could get a couple hours of sleep. Mother could drive, but he was a stickler for doing the driving himself.

My father never owned a new car in his 99.5 years.  Closest he came was a couple of demonstrators he got in late 60's.

Not sure any dealers actually have "demonstrators" anymore.

[Sepiatone]

Hey!

 

When my Mom first married my stepdad, HE had a '52 Chevy.  Not two tone though.  My Grandfather's '54 Olds was .  Maroon and grey.

 

My Dad's car also had a "suicide knob" on the steering wheel and some little plastic device on the dash that was ribbed and set in a position as to where he could see, without craning his neck to do so, when the traffic light changed.

 

And did ANY of you EVER complain about sitting over the HUMP in the floor while riding in the back?

 

I laugh now that I remember when riding in the back when my Grandmother ws driving her and my Mother to work, I'd sit OVER the hump and pretend it was the tank on my "motorcycle" while holding my hands on the imaginary "handlebars" as the car moved over the road. 

 

I WAS only about five years old at the time, so....cut me some slack! 

 

 

Sepiatone

[Dargo]

...To 50's posters...famous vacations you can remember before the Interstate and Holiday Inns.

 

It was the Summer of '62.

 

Pop and this then 10 year old kid had packed up our family's '59 Chevy station wagon and which looked just like this rendering, same color and all...

 

...and left L.A. to go back east to Indianapolis and visit the rest of his family for a week. Pop had been one of the many WWII veterans who upon getting discharged and returning home had heard opportunities abounded out there in California, and so he and my Mom moved to L.A. in 1947. Mom didn't go with us this time, as she could not get the time off from her job.

 

The road trip's route was mostly along the old Route 66, at least as far as St. Louis, but I remember seeing large earth movers along side the old "mother road" and stretches of the new Interstate (40) being graded for paving next to it while riding shotgun, and in charge of such duties as properly re-folding the Rand McNally road maps after Pop had checked them, retrieving the snacks and finding the next radio station that would come in fairly clearly on that Chevy's old Delco AM radio's dial.

 

Now, during that Summer of '62, Nelson Riddle's instrumental theme song for the television series "Route 66" had become a Top 40 hit recording, and it seemed as we made our way from Barstow CA to Kingman AZ to Williams AZ to Flagstaff AZ, well, as we headed east, each new radio station that would come in fairly clearly on that Delco would seem to eventually play that tune...

 

And I think it was just about the time we hit Winslow AZ when to the imagination of this then 10 year old kid, that station wagon we were in had magically turned into a shiny new '62 Corvette, Pop into George Maharis, and I into Martin Milner as that town's AM radio station played that hit song.

 

(...well, at least for a few miles down the road anyway and until Pop woke me from my daydream and said "Hey look! The Meteor Crater. Wanna go see it? It's just a few miles off the highway."...of course I said yes)

[Vautrin]

I don't know where he got it from, but my dad acquired a pink

1950s Ford station wagon. Not hot pink of course, very subdued

pink and thinking back, it looked pretty sharp, at least to a

little kid. The one thing I hated about road trips was getting

up at some ungodly hour in the morning so we could "beat

the traffic and make good time." Yeah, sure. The worst way

to start a trip. I remember a trip to Florida and stopping

at one of those alligator "farms," where the gators looked

pretty well sedated, the guide was some old guy with bad

teeth, and the placed smelled to high heaven. And likely

advertised with one of those countdown series of signs--

50 miles to Alligator Haven, 25 miles to Alligator Haven,

etc. That's one childhood memory I'm happy to leave where

it was.

 

Hey Dargo, was there a cute girl in a flat-bed Ford when you

went through Winslow, Arizona?

[Sepiatone]

I remember an uncle of mine had a '57 Ford Fairlane SKYLINER with that retractable hardtop. 

 

That thing was SO cool! 

 

 

Sepiatone

[ElCid]

I don't know where he got it from, but my dad acquired a pink

1950s Ford station wagon. Not hot pink of course, very subdued

pink and thinking back, it looked pretty sharp, at least to a

little kid. The one thing I hated about road trips was getting

up at some ungodly hour in the morning so we could "beat

the traffic and make good time." Yeah, sure. The worst way

to start a trip. I remember a trip to Florida and stopping

at one of those alligator "farms," where the gators looked

pretty well sedated, the guide was some old guy with bad

teeth, and the placed smelled to high heaven. And likely

advertised with one of those countdown series of signs--

50 miles to Alligator Haven, 25 miles to Alligator Haven,

etc. That's one childhood memory I'm happy to leave where

it was.

 

Hey Dargo, was there a cute girl in a flat-bed Ford when you

went through Winslow, Arizona?

The color was probably called coral or somethng other than pink.  Although Dodge did sell a car, the La Femme, in 55-56 that was pink and specifically marketed to women.  Had a lot of pink personal accessories with it.

Lewis Grizzard (from GA) had a comedy routine re:  Southerners never stopped at alligator/reptile farms.  They were tourist traps for yankees.  

I do remember the trips with my father.  Up and on the road before dawn.  Only stops were when the car needed gas and ate lunch when refueled around noon.  Drove until about dark and then he started looking for a motel.  This was in the summer, so on the road from before 6:00 AM until after 7:00 or 8:00 PM.

One of my uncles got a 57 Skyliner to keep his daughters from dropping out of high school.  Plan didn't work, but the car was impressive anyway.

 

Sepia, we called the "suicide knob" a necker's knob where I grew up.  Although I never got to benefit from one.  Put one on my father's 57 Chevy when I was in high school and he promptly took it off because it interferred with his using the steering wheel.

Ostensible purpose was to make it easier to turn the steering wheel, especially in cars (many) without power steering.  Also made it easy to spin the car around in circles to make doughnuts or to make real fast turns.

 

Dargo, I watch an episode of Route 66 about every couple of weeks.  Interesting show, but much more serious than would think.  Ironically only a couple of episodes were actually filmed along Route 66.  Series begins in south Mississippi, moves to New Orleans and ends up season one in LA(?) on the beach near end of Route 66.

[Emily Dean]

On the road again.   As I stated yesterday the first road trip I remember was along Lake Michigan's coast line heading for Mackinaw Island.  As I have noted from earlier posts it appears that dads of that era all had similar road trip behaviour...up early to beat the rush, noting mileage traveled and maintaining discipline for the back seat inhabitants.  Two goals were formulated for all trips....most miles in one day...returning home with no dirty clothes.

 

Besides the "up early" facet of the trip was the motel selection process.  This entailed stopping and going to the motel's lobby which my dad did on his own.  Once he decided the price was right he would come out of the lobby with the desk clerk and go to inspect the room.  At this point he would gesture to my mother who remained in the car with his index finger signalling her to accompany her.  She would then leave the car with strict instructions to "behave ourselves" which we immediately ignored.  My mom and dad would go and inspect the room and if it my parents standards (clean and cheap) my dad would then register us and we would proceed to the room and unload the car.

 

Now we never had separate rooms...my brother and I slept in one bed and my parents in another.  Once checked in we were required to take a bath and change into clothes that would be worn the next day. This done we would drive on looking for a restaurant and have dinner.  Our menus were selected by our parents...we all then ate and returned to the room.  There of course was no TV, maybe a radio, or books to read once we were in our pajamas.

 

Mom would then get out a clothesline and string up in the room and wash everyone's underwear in either the tub or sink (she carried soap powder with her) strung up on the clothes line with clothes pins and then my parents got ready for bed and either read or reviewed the trip for that day and plans for the next.  Our holidays, while we experienced new sites and activities were rather regimented (once I was able to look back that seemed more like military missions to me) so that upon returning home it was assured that all objectives were met. 

 

These types of holidays proceeded on for many years....the Thousand Islands, through upper New York and Lake Champlain (much history recited along the way) to Boston and on to Maine for a stay in Portland.  South through Ohio on to Williamsburg, the Pacific Coast Highway One to Washington, Route 66 to the West Coast, Highway 50 and 40 east through Nevada and Utah on to Ohio. 

 

Two events, among many, remain firmly entrenched in my mind...in West Virginia coming home from Williamsburg we stopped in the town of Greenbrier.  Naturally we stayed at inexpensive acommodations (not the fancy hotel) which was actually a series of cabins attached to each other by car ports.  We had all gone to bed and were sleeping soundly when this horrible siren wailing began.  Now my mother, having lived in London during WWII immediately sat up in bed and it took her several minutes to get her bearing, my father turned on the light, got dressed and went outside as did others.  Turns out the fire station was next to the motel and consisted of volunteers and the siren was used to call them to the station.  Once our safety from dropping bombs was assured we all got up and of course used the bathroom.  As we got back into bed and rested our heads we then listened to the sounds of synchronated flushing toilets up and down the row of cabins and we laughed our heads off.

 

Another unforgotten moment occurred on our Route 66 trip when after being roused from our beds with the goal of 100 miles before breakfast we left a motel west of St. Louis and headed for breakfast.  All of a sudden my mother yelped and had to tell my dad that she had left her bridge on the bathroom sink in the motel.  After much offensive language my father turned the car around and returned to the scene of the crime.  My brother and I only worried that we would have to repeat the 100 miles or so from the motel before we could stop for breakfast. 

 

At the end of each trip my father would compare daily mileage obtained for each segment with other fathers and my mother would bask in the knowledge that she had returned home with minimal washing.  My brother and I would pile out of the car and look forward to unrestrained activity and a review of the assorted trip knick knacks we had acquired.  Oh the 50's, the era of road trips...no McDonalds, no Quick Stops, but Howard Johnsons, some Dairy Queens and there was a chain of candy stores but I forget their name.  Of course stopping at Howard Johnsons was a big deal and we were usually allowed to order one of their 28 ice cream selections.

[Princess of Tap]

The color was probably called coral or somethng other than pink. Although Dodge did sell a car, the La Femme, in 55-56 that was pink and specifically marketed to women. Had a lot of pink personal accessories with it.

Lewis Grizzard (from GA) had a comedy routine re: Southerners never stopped at alligator/reptile farms. They were tourist traps for yankees.

I do remember the trips with my father. Up and on the road before dawn. Only stops were when the car needed gas and ate lunch when refueled around noon. Drove until about dark and then he started looking for a motel. This was in the summer, so on the road from before 6:00 AM until after 7:00 or 8:00 PM.

One of my uncles got a 57 Skyliner to keep his daughters from dropping out of high school. Plan didn't work, but the car was impressive anyway.

 

Sepia, we called the "suicide knob" a necker's knob where I grew up. Although I never got to benefit from one. Put one on my father's 57 Chevy when I was in high school and he promptly took it off because it interferred with his using the steering wheel.

Ostensible purpose was to make it easier to turn the steering wheel, especially in cars (many) without power steering. Also made it easy to spin the car around in circles to make doughnuts or to make real fast turns.

 

Dargo, I watch an episode of Route 66 about every couple of weeks. Interesting show, but much more serious than would think. Ironically only a couple of episodes were actually filmed along Route 66. Series begins in south Mississippi, moves to New Orleans and ends up season one in LA(?) on the beach near end of Route 66.

My grandfather had one of those knobs on the steering wheel of his old Packard. No one ever told me what it was for--I wondered about that because nobody else had one on their car.

 

I remember a Chrysler car that was particularly designed for women because the controls were all push button. It was some kind of Chrysler or Dodge-- I believe it was called the Imperial. The publicity had a lady dressed up with white gloves pushing the buttons as it was much more feminine than actually changing gears. I think I heard that the buttons got stuck and they had accidentd, so they discontinued it.

[ElCid]

My grandfather had one of those knobs on the steering wheel of his old Packard. No one ever told me what it was for--I wondered about that because nobody else had one on their car.

 

I remember a Chrysler car that was particularly designed for women because the controls were all push button. It was some kind of Chrysler or Dodge-- I believe it was called the Imperial. The publicity had a lady dressed up with white gloves pushing the buttons as it was much more feminine than actually changing gears. I think I heard that the buttons got stuck and they had accidentd, so they discontinued it.

All Chrysler cars with automatic transmissions in the mid 50's to early 60's had push button shifters.  Think AMC (Rambler) may have had them for a while as well.  The push buttons were not designed for women, but the "Mad Men" on Madison Ave. may have seen an advertising gimmick to present them that way.

Ironically, the new Lincoln Continental for 2017 has push buttons on the dash for shifting, but electronic not mechanical.

[Sepiatone]

OOH Yeah!

 

The couple who lived in the little apartment next door  that was upstairs in old Mrs. Barret's house had no kids and spent money on "trendy" luxuries of the day.

 

They came over one night to show off their new POLARIOD LAND CAMERA.  What a TRIP those were back then!

 

They also bought one of those '58 Thunderbird's, a convertable with that "swing aside" steering wheel and the "swivel" front bucket seat.

 

They were nice people.  All I remember of them( besides the car and camera) is that HER name was SILVIA.  I don't remember his name.

 

 

Sepiatone