Lost In The Fifties

A few days ago somebody sent me a great video about life in the fifties, when I was a kid. I loved it, but a bunch of stuff was missing, so here is my revised version.

If you want some music to play in the background, click on this video. If not, just read the text below it.

Close your eyes .… And go back…..
Way back….
Before the Internet or PCs or the MAC.
Before semi-automatics and crack.…
Before Playstation, SEGA, Super Nintendo, and even before Atari.…
Before cell phones, CDs, DVDs, answering machines, voicemail and e-mail…
Go way back….way….way….way back…
I’m talking about playing hide and seek at dusk.
Red Light, Green Light
Red Rover….Red Rover.
Playing hide and seek or kickball until the first…no..second…no….third street light came on.
Ring around the Rosie.
London Bridge.
Hot Potato.
Hop Scotch.
Dodge Ball.
YOU’RE IT!!
Parents stood on the front porch and yelled (or whistled) for you to come home, and you did, immediately – no pagers or cell phones.
Take One Giant Step.
May I?
Looking for shapes in the clouds.
Endless summer days and hot summer nights (No Air Conditioning) with the windows open.
Ninety-Nine Bottles of Beer On The Wall.
Berma Shave signs.
Ipana tooth past and Buckie Beaver.
Catching tadpoles.
The sound of crickets.
Running through the sprinkler.
Cereal boxes with that GREAT prize in the bottom.
Cracker Jacks with the same thing.
Ice Pops with 2 sticks that you could break and share with a friend, or not.
But wait……..there’s more.
Watching Saturday morning cartoons, Tom and Jerry, serial adventures, Captain Midnight, Flash Gordon, Space Patrol, The Cisco Kid, The Lone Ranger, Boston Blackie, and Howdy Dooty.
Having the Sunday Comics read on the radio, while you followed along.
Black and White TVs, with little screens and rabbit ears on the top. If you could afford it, an antennae on the roof for better reception.
Catching lightning bugs in a jar.
Christmas morning.
Your first day of school.
Bedtime Prayers and Goodnight Kisses.
Climbing trees.
Swinging as high as you could in those long swings to try and reach the sky.
A million mosquito bites.
Sticky fingers.
Burning trash in the backyard incinerator.
Jumping down the steps.
Metal skates that you strapped to your shoes and adjusted with skate keys.
Jumping on the bed.
Pillow fights.
Running home from the western movie you just saw ‘til you were out of breath.
Laughing so hard that your stomach hurt.
Being tired from PLAYING.
WORK: this meant taking out the garbage, cutting the grass, washing the car, or doing the dishes.
Your first crush. It hurt and felt good at the same time.
Your first kiss. (I mean the one that you kept your mouth CLOSED and your eyes OPEN.)
Rainy days at school and the smell of damp concrete and chalk erasers.
The wonderful smell of mimeograph papers.
But, I’m not finished yet.
Kool-Aid was the drink of the summer.
Eating Saltine crackers with either butter or mayonnaise
The wonderful taste of
So was a swig from the hose. (Remember the taste?)
Giving your friends a ride on the handlebars of your bike.
Making tunnels in the tall grass or building a fort out of cardboard boxes.
If you were really lucky, you had a tree house, or your best friend did.
Attaching playing cards to your bike frame to rub against your spokes.
Wearing your new shoes on the first day of school.
Class Field Trips with soggy sandwiches.
Nearly everyone’s mom was at home when kids got home from school.
Cowboys and Indians.
Cops and Robbers.
When a quarter seemed like a fair allowance, and another quarter a MIRACLE.
When ANY parent could discipline ANY kid, or feed them or use them to carry groceries…… And nobody, not even the kid, thought a thing of it.
Teachers could spank you if you were bad in class. They could even use a paddle if you were really bad and your parents didn’t complain to the principal.
When your parents took you to the cafeteria it was a real treat.
Being sent to the principal’s office was nothing compared to the fate that awaited you at home.
We were in fear for our lives, but it wasn’t because of drive-by shootings, drugs, gangs, etc. We simply did not want our parents to get mad at us when we screwed up.
Didn’t that feel good?
Just to go back and say, “Yeah, I remember that!”
Well, let’s keep going then!!
Let’s go back to the time when….
Mistakes were corrected by simply exclaiming, “Do Over!”
“Race Issues” meant arguing about who ran the fastest.
Catching fireflies could happily occupy an entire evening.
It wasn’t odd to have two or three “best” friends.
The worst thing you could catch from the opposite sex was cooties.
Nobody was prettier than Mom.
Scrapes and bruises were kissed by Mom and made better.
Getting a foot of snow was a dream come true.
Abilities were discovered because of a “Double-Dog-Dare.”
Spinning around, getting dizzy, and falling down were cause for giggles.
The worst embarrassment was being picked last for a team.
Water balloons were the ultimate, ultimate weapons.
If you can remember most or all of these, then you have lived during a more pleasant, simpler time! I wonder how many of you who read this remember all of these things.
Those of you who remember lived in an era that no one else will ever experience. The era has passed and slowly those of us who lived it are passing also.
If you don’t remember, then ask your parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents.
We went from AM radio to the stars. Your era is here, be part of it. Make it worthwhile for future generations to build on.