50's Lifestyle

[TheCid]

One advantage of the crew cut, or whatever you want to call

it--very low maintenance.

As opposed to the very popular flat top which required a BIG dab of Butch Hair Wax daily.

[TheCid]

Barber shops, as such, are still only a fact of life in the black community, where they are an important community gathering place.. Everywhere else, guys generally go to unisex hair stylists.

My town has both.  I go to a "stylist" at a "salon."  Almost as many guys go as women based on what I have seen.  There are a couple of barber shops, but they are run by old guys and are closing as they retire.  Or else being sold to someone who makes it a "unisex" salon.

[TheCid]

 

Haha I never touch anything in a waiting room-I bring my own book. I once made serious points with my new dentist when he spotted me reading Shah Rukh Khan's autobiography.

 

TheCid said: Live in a 1949 Greek Revival house with formal living room. 

 

Heh I once owned a 1949 house...it looked like this: 

 

Although cars aren't my "thing", I do somewhat collect brightwork.

I keep wishing I could clone my Nash Metropolitan hubcap to be an entire vehicle!

 

Google Metropolitans for sale.  Lots of nice ones out there, for around $15-20K.  May get one with only three hubcaps for less.  Of course, may be more competitive if you want a Hudson Metropolitan or an AMC one.

[TheCid]

Reading an old car magazine today and article mentioned the recession of '57 and it's impact on auto manufacturing.  Vaguely remember that during that period my father would sometimes be at home instead of working due to shut downs at the paper mill.  Mill was unionized, but no pay during shut downs.

Interesting that recessions during Republican administrations - Eisenhower, Reagan, Bush II.

[Vautrin]

As opposed to the very popular flat top which required a BIG dab of Butch Hair Wax daily.

Yep, keep that baby standing straight up in front.

I had the regular crew cut so there was nothing to

work with or worry about.

[Princess of Tap]

I've been cutting my own hair, once a week, for the last 6 years. I'm getting better. I may open my own shop-----"Down Goes Frazier's Tonsorial Parlor".

That's how Perry Como started.

Do you know the words to "Catch a Falling Star"?

[Sepiatone]

I've been cutting my own hair, once a week, for the last 6 years. I'm getting better. I may open my own shop-----"Down Goes Frazier's Tonsorial Parlor".

 

!

 

Once a WEEK?  Does your hair really grow THAT FAST?   Well, I know MY hair falls OUT that fast!  If not FASTER!!! 

 

 

Sepiatone

[DownGoesFrazier]

!

 

Once a WEEK?  Does your hair really grow THAT FAST?   Well, I know MY hair falls OUT that fast!  If not FASTER!!! 

 

 

Sepiatone

If you cut your hair that often, there is less to do each time, so there's less chance of screwing up.

[RipMurdock]

maybe if Jack sold that Tiffany lamp in the background he could afford to eat out more.

they werent valauble then.

[RipMurdock]

Google Metropolitans for sale.  Lots of nice ones out there, for around $15-20K.  May get one with only three hubcaps for less.  Of course, may be more competitive if you want a Hudson Metropolitan or an AMC one.

yur the smartest here tiki

[Emily Dean]

Some other best things of the 50's lifestyle:

 

Only15 minutes of news nightly

5 Cent Cokes in glass bottles (eligible for 2 cent refund)

Playing card with clothespin on rear bicycle spoke

Politically incorrect cartoons (in the paper and at the movies)

Stores all closed on Sundays

Hardware stores with hardwood floors and walls full of glass fronted drawers

Gasoline stations with attendants

Trains

Oh yes, both parents with Mom at home

[TheCid]

Some other best things of the 50's lifestyle:

 

Only15 minutes of news nightly

5 Cent Cokes in glass bottles (eligible for 2 cent refund)

Playing card with clothespin on rear bicycle spoke

Politically incorrect cartoons (in the paper and at the movies)

Stores all closed on Sundays

Hardware stores with hardwood floors and walls full of glass fronted drawers

Gasoline stations with attendants

Trains

Oh yes, both parents with Mom at home

I remember when they went from 15 minutes of national news to 30 minutes.  Walter Cronkite said there isn't 30 minutes worth of world news every day.  I think he was right.

Stores were also closed on Wed. afternoons.

[DownGoesFrazier]

Some other best things of the 50's lifestyle:

 

Only15 minutes of news nightly

5 Cent Cokes in glass bottles (eligible for 2 cent refund)

Playing card with clothespin on rear bicycle spoke

Politically incorrect cartoons (in the paper and at the movies)

Stores all closed on Sundays

Hardware stores with hardwood floors and walls full of glass fronted drawers

Gasoline stations with attendants

Trains

Oh yes, both parents with Mom at home

Stores closed on Sundays? You, like me, must be from Pennsylvania, where there were "blue laws".

[Vautrin]

I grew up in NJ where you were not allowed to

pump your own gas. As far as I know, you still can't.

[Emily Dean]

Stores closed on Sundays? You, like me, must be from Pennsylvania, where there were "blue laws".

Well DGF, not certain of your age..however we lived in Michigan and I don't remember anyone discussing "blue laws"...stores just closed, even groceries and in those days gas stations only sold..guess what?  gas and they were closed as well.  Very few buses ran, traffic was dead.

 

 Sunday was for families and church.  For some of us with different religious days...we made do but still enjoyed quiet Sundays with the comics, radio shows (especially music shows from New York) and reading.  Sunday supper was always a fancy form of breakfast with waffles and the like.  Dads used to hang out, yard work was done and lots of adult conversations with us kids far away enough not to participate but to get a general gist (as we got older) of the prevailing topics of the day. 

 

When I see the world and compare to my childhood it really brings tears to my eyes.  My family wasn't rich but we were the "middle class" of post war vet dads who had steady jobs and if you had a car, home and were able to keep fed and clothed you were mostly content. That is what our dads fought for...the luxury of freedom, peace and safety. 

[Princess of Tap]

Well DGF, not certain of your age..however we lived in Michigan and I don't remember anyone discussing "blue laws"...stores just closed, even groceries and in those days gas stations only sold..guess what? gas and they were closed as well. Very few buses ran, traffic was dead.

 

Sunday was for families and church. For some of us with different religious days...we made do but still enjoyed quiet Sundays with the comics, radio shows (especially music shows from New York) and reading. Sunday supper was always a fancy form of breakfast with waffles and the like. Dads used to hang out, yard work was done and lots of adult conversations with us kids far away enough not to participate but to get a general gist (as we got older) of the prevailing topics of the day.

 

When I see the world and compare to my childhood it really brings tears to my eyes. My family wasn't rich but we were the "middle class" of post war vet dads who had steady jobs and if you had a car, home and were able to keep fed and clothed you were mostly content. That is what our dads fought for...the luxury of freedom, peace and safety.

Stores closed in Kansas on Sunday as a matter of course, but they actually had Blue laws in Missouri where it was the law that certain stores could not be open on Sun.

 

And of course it was the law that liquor stores could not be open in Kansas on Sunday.

 

I have to agree in the 1950s that many of us did enjoy Freedom, peace and safety, yet there were a number of people in the United States who did not have that luxury-- that's why there was a civil rights movement, which started in the 1950s.

[Emily Dean]

I have to agree in the 1950s that many of us did enjoy Freedom, peace and safety, yet there were a number of people in the United States who did not have that luxury-- that's why there was a civil rights movement, which started in the 1950s.

 

I think this posting is about what we personally experienced in the 50's for those of us lucky enough to live then.  I know about social issues but I really thought this was a post to share our experiences and memories. 

 

And just as an aside to the social issues, remember many of us going to school in the 50's went through the Brown vs. Board of Education experience so we weren't exactly encased in "Leave it to Beaver" plastic wrap. 

[Princess of Tap]

I think this posting is about what we personally experienced in the 50's for those of us lucky enough to live then. I know about social issues but I really thought this was a post to share our experiences and memories.

 

And just as an aside to the social issues, remember many of us going to school in the 50's went through the Brown vs. Board of Education experience so we weren't exactly encased in "Leave it to Beaver" plastic wrap.

 

I watched Leave it to Beaver on television and I watched black people getting beaten on television. That's part of my collective experience for the 1950's.

My parents took Life Magazine so I was able to see a great deal there too.

 

But in general, I would say it was a Saran Wrap/ strawberry Kool-Aid time for most people that I knew. However, because my parents always made me watch the news, I was very aware of what was going on in other states. So I knew about how other people lived.

[Vautrin]

Grape Kool-Aid.

[Princess of Tap]

Grape Kool-Aid.

You and my brother - - also he only drank grape pop!

[Vautrin]

You and my brother - - also he only drank grape pop!

I never liked grape soda that much. Too much fizz

and carbonation gave it a funny taste to me.

[Sepiatone]

Ahhhh............GRAPE POP!

 

I used to like a brand of it called "Sunshine".  And also NEHI.

 

And....How many of y'all remember getting ORANGE CRUSH when it came in BROWN BOTTLES?

 

Sepiatone

[DownGoesFrazier]

I grew up in NJ where you were not allowed to

pump your own gas. As far as I know, you still can't.

..but you pay less because there aren't attendants pumping gas for you.

[Emily Dean]

I watched Leave it to Beaver on television and I watched black people getting beaten on television. That's part of my collective experience for the 1950's.

My parents took Life Magazine so I was able to see a great deal there too.

 

But in general, I would say it was a Saran Wrap/ strawberry Kool-Aid time for most people that I knew. However, because my parents always made me watch the news, I was very aware of what was going on in other states. So I knew about how other people lived.

POT:  I agree with you that while we watched "Leave it to Beaver" and "Father Knows Best" on TV a large majority of us had parents with inclusiveness and awareness of the importance of knowing and understanding the goings on in the greater world. I believe that many of us lucky enough to have our parents survived WWII this group of parents were eager for their children to not experience what they did...so they did educate us informally through their own lives and through the information they exposed us to.  We enjoyed the 50's but we were not isolated. 

 

We too, watched the news on CBS (Walter was a favourite of my parents having begun his broadcasting career with Ed Murrow in London), however since we lived on CST we watched prior to supper (TV was not allowed at dinner time) and as we had both a morning an evening paper, the latest edition was available for review after dinner.  My parents subscribed to Time and we looked forward to its weekly arrival.  Since there was no TV or any other items allowed at the table there was a generous amount of conversation between our parents. 

 

Back to the WWII connection and our 50's upbringing...many of our parents had been overseas, met many people outside of their American cocoon and lived and died as the result of decisions made by others.  Consequently I believe this gave them a more realistic view of the world around them, consequently we received the benefit of their perspectives. My parents were both immigrants consequently we were exposed even more to information sources from outside the US and viewpoints shaded with their experiences as immigrants. Thanks for a great discussion re: nostalgia.

[Dargo]

I so identify with many of your experiences, Emily. 

 

Tell me, from which country did your parents immigrant?