The Good Old Days Really Were!

Okay, I have to admit that after looking at some 80 pages of vintage pix here, I am now officially depressed. (Well, not quite THAT depressed!)
I'm old enough to remember when having a wagon was actually something of a status symbol, and nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, owning a station wagon was expected of young people with kids, who were on their way up. Practicality really didn't have much to do with it, either. At least not as far as the car itself was concerned.
Now, it's minivan's, crossovers, or huge SUV's that are ever-present, and, for one, hate the damned things! Most are incredibly ugly, or they are so big that their very size is a menace to everyone else on the road.
So, I want to get into the Way Back Machine and go back a few decades. Join me if you like, although my ranting might get a wee bit old.
Remember when:
It seemed like half of the cars on the road were wagons?
And they came in a rainbow of colors and combinations of colors?
When white sidewalls were the norm, rather than the exception?
Which tire company was it that made Red Line tires?
When you could put a tiger in your tank?
Wing windows. I really do miss wing windows. You could direct air right onto yourself and it was almost as good as having air conditioning.
Remember having the hi-beam switch on the floor instead of the steering column? I can't help but wonder how many times someone accidentally hits the switch in newer cars compared to older ones?
And wiper controls! Whose bright idea was it to put them on the steering column? They should be horsewhipped!
Radios. Remember when your radio was not only simple to operate but was simply to program your favorite stations into? Now you have to be a friggin' computer engineer just to turn them on and off!
Oh hell! I could go on for hours just about how much there is to dislike about new vehicles.
But to be honest, there is a lot to be said FOR them. They last long, get better fuel mileage, and are infinitely safer.
But they are just so damned ugly!
But let's talk a little about what it was like back in the Good Old Days, for the benefit of the younger set, okay?

BITGOD, (Back In The Good Old Days), life really was a whole lot simpler in most ways.
Kids went to school to actually learn something, and most did. They treated their teachers with polite respect or paid for their insolence. Usually with a visit to the principal's office, usually for a visit with the Board of Education.
That happened enough to me to teach me a great life lesson. Don't screw up the same way twice!
Kids dressed neatly and wore clean, unmarked and untattered clothes. And it was plain to see who were the girls and who were the boys. None of this LGBT crap. Boys wore their hair short and kept it clean and everyone always had a comb in their pocket. Shirts had collars and buttoned up. Wearing a t-shirt, even a clean, unmarked one was unheard of, except in gym class.
BITGOD, teachers were much more interested in actually teaching than they were in politically/socially or sexually indoctrinating their students.
Girls generally wore dresses or skirts and blouses. And their skirts went down far enough to not only cover their panties, but they fevered the boy's imagination with what was under them.
Today... well, the less said the better.

Television is another area that has gone to hell. (I suppose that you can add movies to that, too.)
Remember when TV dads were actually pretty smart? And they wanted to spend free time with their kids? When kids and parents alike treated the other with respect and dignity? When a kid would never dare to smart mouth mom or dad?
Nowdays, all white male parents are complete idiots without a brain and are little more than targets for the rest of the families scorn and ridicule.
And mom is a egotistical, over-bearing, hateful shrew.
The kids are a just a bunch of greedy, self-centered little brats.
A far cry from the Cleaver family, that's for sure.

I can go on for hours, (and I probably will. Later.) But for now, I'm going to stop here and see if anyone else has something to say.
Don't get me wrong. I'm really not an embittered old man. I just see where we are going and I don't like it. Yes, I do think that the Good Old Days really were better.
What do you think?

 

The good old days had their goodness, but they weren't all that good.
Cars spewed pollution, sucked gas, and had steel dashboards that would cave your skull in in a crash.
Beavers school had some things missing: Any kids with brown or black skin. They had to go to ....less nice schools with out of date books.
Remember "duck and cover" drills, when we'd hide under our desks to protect us from the fallout that was immanent when the commies attacked?
All that said, I'd LOVE to own a 55-57 Buick wagon......
And I live in a house that was built in 1945.

 

Golly gee guys, thanks for telling me about the good ole days. Wished I could have lived back then.
Just like cave man days and Medeviel times. There was good and bad.
Even the cowboys got to ride in wagons.

 

There were some really great things about the Good Old Days but there were also some very, VERY bad things, too. Back then, kids went to school and learned! We were given a good, basic general knowledge-based education. We were taught how to learn, which is at least as important. I talk to people in their 20s and wonder just what, exactly, they have learned in school. Their body of general knowledge is too often absent.

When it comes to cars, the style was certainly there. Safely, however, was not on the radar. Certainly the tires and brakes did leave a lot to be desired.

There is one place, though, in which we have made very real, and very positive progress. Human rights, especially in the Southern U.S. were abysmal. Not just the issue of colour, but also of ethnicity and equally, sexual orientation and gender identification. Some countries have made more progress than others. I remember, as a kid, knowing a pair of men who had been a couple from the time they were teenagers. It was an honour to be included when they celebrated their 75th anniversary as a couple. Even as a child I wondered just why they were not allowed to marry. Unfortunately, the first died before he had the opportunity to marry his partner of well over 3/4 of a century.

I guess we have to take the good with the bad, and while we are at it, Try to nurture the good we do see around us.

 

rconner, how do you really feel,lol? Then vs. now, the quintessential debate continues just like it did when we were young'uns!

 

rconner----->Don't get me wrong. I'm really not an embittered old man. I just see where we are going and I don't like it. Yes, I do think that the Good Old Days really were better.
What do you think?
Yes rconner you embittered old man, tell us more.
As others wrote, there are mixed memories, good and bad, about the good ole days. We should all learn from our mistakes and enjoy the many good changes.
I often think about how it would be going back.
But at first I had little money. And soon I had to work for a living. I don't like either of those choices. So I guess me and my highschool sweet heart will just keep living in the 50's.
Not proper grammer. But at my age my English teacher will never know!

 

There was certainly alot about the good old days that were much better than today, but there was alot that wasn't so great as well. On the other hand, it now appears that here in the United States, we've gone way past the target and now have a country that is in decline. I wouldn't want to see this country return to the 50's, but I think a return to the 80's would be a step in the right direction, even though I wasn't all that impressed with the 80's when I was living it. Maybe we should go back and repeat the 70's and impeach our president like we did back then. The current President appears to be guilty of alot more than the President we impeached in the 70's.

 

Groan.

 

-^^^and Groin! It's not the past we need to worry about. It's the lack of a future.

 

My good old days vs today.....

Old....
Your Mom would call you by opening the door and yelling your name.

Today...
Cell phone or Tex

Old....
You left the house as a kid with out a care in the world, often during the day your parents never had a clue where you were and you could ask a stranger for help or directions. If your Mom had to look for you after dark, you were in trouble! If Dad came looking for you, you knew you were going to be in REAL trouble because that ment he was going to miss the 11PM news.

today....
HA!

Old...
Halloween...Home made candy and caramel apples, rice crispy squares, caramel pop corn The only parent you saw was with there 2-3 year old on jam packed streets.

today...
Just see how fast the cops arrive if you try giving a kid home made snacks!
No kids hardly anymore, all parents take them to malls,clubs, etc or other controlled supervised gatherings because it's safer.

Old...
My child hood toys... A wagon, hockey stick, basket ball, lacrosse stick, bace ball bat, glove, and ball. A couple Tonkas, some Hotwheels, and a box of Lego. I had a bike, I wreaked it.... made my next one from garbage parts


Today...
OMG!!!


Old...
My Dad saying..."You want a car when your 16, you better get a job and start saving". High school parking lots were what todays standards would be a auto wreaker.

Today....
High school parking lots look like car dealerships, you know the kid didn't buy it!

Old...
NEVER tell you dad you had nothing to do! He could allways find some thnig........

Today....
"Dad I'm bord"... Dad answers, "go play some video games."

Old....
You respected the elderly.....

Today....
WTF happened??

 

YEP ! Sad ain't it?

Of course before my damned kids gave me a worn out computer several years ago I was out outside beating on car parts or pulling weeds too!

 

Maybe

I know that the GOD had their bad points, PB. And you're right about pollution and the lack of safety features built into cars. Those things have improved tremendously.
The social issues are another thing entirely, but I dare not speak my mind about them for fear of being declared a racist, which I am not. But I think it safe to say that racial tensions have actually increased since the 50s and 60s, rather than decreased. Another area that has worsened, IMO.
As for the threat/fear of nuclear war, yes, it was a terrifying prospect. Hell, it still is. We've just become complacent about it, is all.

At least back then, the threats of terrorism, biological and chemical attacks were all but non-existant. Now, when we go somewhere by plane ot rain, etc, those fears are always in our minds.

For me, I'll take almost any American made wago from 55-68. I ain't terribly picky.

I wish I had a house. Apartment living sucks!

 

!

See! They WERE the Good Old Days!:2_thumbs_up_-_anima

 

Yes, I do agree! And I'm with you about keeping my mouth shut about certain issues. We love all people...figurativly speaking. But today being politically correct sucks. I'm a lot more worried about tomorow than I ever was about yesterday. And some of those yesterdays were scary!

Now to get personal. I once worked with a Robert Conner but he moved south of central Illinois where we lived. I calculate you live west of Illinois, possibly in a corn field. Had you been coworker conner he would have known me by my user name.

 

IMHO we make our own Good Old Days.

Its work, but thats how it was done then and it is done now.

Case in point, we just built six days of Good Old Days out camping with 55 other trailers and about 130 folks, kids included, who found and restored vintage trailers and are out doing fun things together. No pressure, no politics, no agendas if you don't want to participate in the various things, but just good fellowship, sharing of ideas and showing our latest tidbits we've done, or not done. Some used their vintage Tow Vehicles, some either didn't or don't have them. I look back at the weekend and it sure does look a lot like what I remember as a child going to a campground with my parents.

Car shows, not so much for me at least. Not anywhere near the emphasis on R&R and just spending time visiting.

Loading the family and going for a picnic somewhere goes a long ways toward building good old days. You look back and think holy crud, I took time away from my computer, my television, my yard work, my work, and spent time just doing something enjoyable. That is a good old day to look back on. Look at Texas Mike (81X) various posts with his family outings - now there is a family who are making good old days all the time. Nothing fancy, but finding the local swimming hole, going to the Friday night cruise, checking out the local hamburger joint(s), they are having fun and will always look back fondly at these times they've built. Kudo's to he and his wife for making this happen in their busy lives. Quite the example.

Go for a cruise, you don't have to go for a long one, just get out and look around the countryside. Enjoy the world around you, when was the last time you just went for a Sunday drive? Why not? Gas too high? Cut out a meal in a restaurant to pay for a half a day of family pleasure.

Go build them. You are the only one who can. Then tell your friends and maybe they will do the same, or even join you. Phone some buddies and tell them to pile the family in the vehicle and meet you at some spot with a picnic lunch and expect to visit for a while. Those who show up will have helped you and themselves build a good old day.

If you don't do it, who is going to? Well, ok, we are, but theres lots of room for you to join in.