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Post by DAS (formerly BushAdmirer) on Apr 22, 2020 14:46:38 GMT
Long ago and far away, in a land that time forgot, Before the days of Dylan , or the dawn of Camelot. There lived a race of innocents, and they were you and me,
For Ike was in the White House in that land where we were born, Where navels were for oranges, and Peyton Place was porn.
We longed for love and romance, and waited for our Prince, Eddie Fisher married Liz, and no one's seen him since.
We danced to 'Little Darlin,' and sang to 'Stagger Lee' And cried for Buddy Holly in the Land That Made Me, Me.
Only girls wore earrings then, and 3 was one too many, And only boys wore flat-top cuts, except for Jean McKinney.
And only in our wildest dreams did we expect to see, A boy named George with Lipstick, in the Land That Made Me , Me .
We fell for Frankie Avalon, Annette was oh, so nice, And when they made a movie, they never made it twice.
We didn't have a Star Trek Five, or Psycho Two and Three, Or Rocky-Rambo Twenty in the Land That Made Me, Me.
Miss Kitty had a heart of gold, and Chester had a limp, And Reagan was a Democrat whose co-star was a chimp.
We had a Mr. Wizard, but not a Mr. T, And Oprah couldn't talk yet, in the Land That Made Me, Me. We had our share of heroes, we never thought they'd go, At least not Bobby Darin, or Marilyn Monroe.
For youth was still eternal, and life was yet to be, And Elvis was forever in the Land That Made Me, Me.
We'd never seen the rock band that was Grateful to be Dead, And Airplanes weren't named Jefferson , and Zeppelins were not Led. And Beatles lived in gardens then, and Monkees lived in trees, Madonna was Mary in the Land That Made Me, Me.
We'd never heard of microwaves, or telephones in cars, And babies might be bottle-fed, but they were not grown in jars.
And pumping iron got wrinkles out, and 'gay' meant fancy-free, And dorms were never co-Ed in the Land That Made Me, Me. We hadn't seen enough of jets to talk about the lag, And microchips were what was left at the bottom of the bag.
And hardware was a box of nails, and bytes came from a flea, And rocket ships were fiction in the Land That Made Me, Me.
T-Birds came with portholes, and side shows came with freaks, And bathing suits came big enough to cover both your cheeks.
And Coke came just in bottles, and skirts below the knee, And Castro came to power near the Land That Made Me, Me. We had no Crest with Fluoride, we had no Hill Street Blues, We had no patterned pantyhose or Lipton herbal tea, Or prime-time ads for those dysfunctions in the Land That Made Me,Me.
There were no golden arches, no Perrier to chill, And fish were not called Wanda, and cats were not called Bill.
And middle-aged was 35 and old was forty-three, And ancient were our parents in the Land That Made Me, Me.
But all things have a season, or so we've heard them say, And now instead of Maybelline we swear byRetin-A. They send us invitations to join AARP, We've come a long way, baby, from the Land That Made Me, Me. So now we face a brave new world in slightly larger jeans, And wonder why they're using smaller print in magazines. And we tell our children's children of the way it used to be, Long ago and far away in the Land That Made Me, Me.
If you didn't grow up in the fifties, you missed the greatest time in history. Hope you enjoyed this read as much as I did.
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Post by rebel2020 on Apr 22, 2020 16:29:24 GMT
Thats real Good, And shows the Huge Changes in Society and Our World; I To was Born a Very Long time ago; King George 5th Was on the thrown in the UK; The Conservative Party under the Mass Murderer Churchill was in Power, Food Rationing was still in Force; British Economy was in Tatters; Radio was the Mass Entertainment, There Was TV [In London] But almost no one except the very rich had a TV Set; The "Top 20" was based on sales of "Music Sheets". And poverty was the norm.
Fast forward 60 + Years, and are things any Better; Conservatives Killing Thousands by Corruption and Mis-Management of Corona Virus; A Power mad Police Force trying to Copy Russian Tactics.
Mass Unemployment, About to Triple, So Apart from the Very Rich Bastards, Life for the "Working Class" Is Little better.
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Post by DAS (formerly BushAdmirer) on Apr 22, 2020 23:53:50 GMT
Yes our lives have changed greatly since the 1950's. I think mostly for the better but not in every aspect.
I'd say technology has been the biggest progress driver.
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Post by deyana on May 9, 2020 20:40:40 GMT
I can understand your love for the 50's Das, but lets not forget the negatives.
Segregation, poverty for many, illness that killed and now that we have cures for, racism, sexism, so many other things that were simply disturbing.
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Post by deyana on May 9, 2020 20:58:06 GMT
Some posters and adverts you might be familiar with from the 1950's: And then there were the numerous adverts to encouage people to smoke, without any health warnings. Just glamorizing cigarettes. But maybe most shocking of all were the truly Racist adverts that were the norm back then: Many others that are simply too offensive to put up. So these were not 'good ol' days' for all. Maybe for middle class white men though.
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Post by DAS (formerly BushAdmirer) on May 10, 2020 16:23:03 GMT
I can understand your love for the 50's Das, but lets not forget the negatives. Segregation, poverty for many, illness that killed and now that we have cures for, racism, sexism, so many other things that were simply disturbing. ___ I was a teenager in the 1950's and remember well. We lived in a poor section of Los Angeles that was gang infested and frankly dangerous. All my friends were from poor families living in small cramped and run down houses. I had to walk a long distance to school. There were no school busses. If your family was lucky enough to afford a new car you'd likely be taking it back to the dealer a couple times a month because cars weren't so reliable then. Flat tires were a frequent problem as one example. TV screns were black and white, 12 inches was a big one, and color TV was only a dream. No one owned a computer. The only foreign travels I heard about were from returning military. We didn't even know anyone who could afford a European vacation. Air travel was for rich folks. Blue skies and white clouds were something I'd only seen a few times because the skies over L.A. were gray with thick smog most of the time. Nice girls didn't sleep with boys until they got married. The only example of racism I recall were Latino gangs that targeted caucasian teenagers like me for taunting. Most of my close friends managed to get out of that neighborhood and have good careers and pleasant life styles. My best friend went to work for the Los Angeles Times as a copy boy and advanced all the way up to Financial Editor. My high school heart throb went to nursing school and became a registered nurse. We were fortunate to live during a time of great technological invention. Air travel matured, cars got a lot better, color TV, the Internet, computers, iPhones, etc. etc etc all improved our lives and drove our economies. This happened in most of the developed world, not just in America. Even cities destroyed by war, like Hiroshima and London, have turned into a nice habitable places.
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Post by Scottish Lassie on May 12, 2020 10:20:14 GMT
I was born in 1930, so was 20 years old. What O noticed most was the lack of people being killed deliberately compared to how it is today the music on the wireless was excellent especially love songs. As for dancing, we still had the waltz etc then later boogie woogie & Rock &roll. The worst thing that I remember is , that a woman couldn't go out on her own at night but she would probably be molested.. I emigrated to Australia and found that was the norm too, even in daytime. I have been molested a lot, but never raped. Someone was looking after me.
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Post by Scottish Lassie on May 12, 2020 10:29:34 GMT
Hi DAS, that must have taken you ages to compose, but it is an excellent recollection put together as poetry. I love the posts that make me laugh, but I enjoy all your posts. What would this forum do without you?
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Post by DAS (formerly BushAdmirer) on May 13, 2020 21:35:02 GMT
Some posters and adverts you might be familiar with from the 1950's: And then there were the numerous adverts to encouage people to smoke, without any health warnings. Just glamorizing cigarettes. But maybe most shocking of all were the truly Racist adverts that were the norm back then: Many others that are simply too offensive to put up. So these were not 'good ol' days' for all. Maybe for middle class white men though. _____ Deyana - You've dug up some really outrageous ads. I don't remember any of that. What I do remember is that people were always telling jokes and many of them were racist indeed. There were Italian Jokes, Polish Jokes, Jewish Jokes, Negro Jokes, Dutch Jokes, etc. Many of these jokes would be modified to target another group. For example, in Texas where I live, Aggie Jokes were a big thing. Aggies are graduates of Texas A&M University, a very fine college. However, students and alumni from other colleges in the state seemed to delight in telling Aggie Jokes. If they heard a good Italian Joke, or Polish Joke, they'd be likely to convert it to an Aggie joke and tell it to all the A&M graduates they knew. That was before our society got so touchy-feely and people got offended by almost anything. Some of those jokes were really funny. You can't tell them now or you'll be labelled a racist. Too bad. Jokes were a common every day way that people interactedd in a friendly way.
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Post by deyana on May 16, 2020 6:37:08 GMT
Hi Das, well these are actually quite well known Ads. A reminder of a more oppressive time for women and minorities. Even more than now.
What might seem like a joke to some can be quite offensive and hurtful to another person.
I would say if not sure, choose the kinder route. Why not?
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Post by deyana on May 16, 2020 7:03:48 GMT
I was born in 1930, so was 20 years old. The worst thing that I remember is , that a woman couldn't go out on her own at night but she would probably be molested.. I emigrated to Australia and found that was the norm too, even in daytime. I have been molested a lot, but never raped. Someone was looking after me.
Jeez.... how awful.
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Post by Scottish Lassie on May 20, 2020 10:12:32 GMT
I was born in 1930, so was 20 years old. The worst thing that I remember is , that a woman couldn't go out on her own at night but she would probably be molested.. I emigrated to Australia and found that was the norm too, even in daytime. I have been molested a lot, but never raped. Someone was looking after me.
Jeez.... how awful.
I have had my breast grabbed in the work place and by a passerby on the street. When waiting for the bus by myself a man was masturbating in the doorway opposite the bus stop. When walking home a guy passed me on the street on his bike with an erect penis showing. It seems that men have sex on their mind all the time.
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