The America You Remember
Aaron Miller ·
Feb 25, 2011 at 5:32pm
Here's a question for all you old fogies. What has changed about America since you were young?
I'm less interested in statistics than impressions and anecdotes. What I want to know is what aspects of American life y'all perceive have changed the most. For example, more than a few senior citizens I know have said they remember a time when they didn't always lock their doors.
I'm hoping to see a wide variety of topics. So please don't limit yourself to responding to others' thoughts.
Try to think of both good changes and bad ones.
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Jul '10
Re: The America You Remember
Fun post, Aaron
It is far, far wealthier than it was when I was a child. You see that everywhere; in the size and quality of housing, in the types of vehicles people drive, in the quality and variety of businesses that serve the working and middle classes and in the ubiquity of luxury and entertainment.
Just some of the marvels that amazed me when I first saw them: automatic doors; power windows and air conditioning in cars; escalators, Xerox copiers; electronic calculators; fax machines. None of those things existed when I was a young boy.
On the downside, people have become much more slovenly. Aside from those who were simply too poor to maintain a decent wardrobe, people used to take pride in a tidy appearance. I remember a moment, in the '80's, walking through Columbus Circle in New York City, when I turned to a friend and asked, "When did everybody start dressing like five-year-olds?"
Oh - and tattoos. There was a time when one saw them only on sailors and ex-cons.
And don't call me a fogie, you little snot.
Edited on Feb 25, 2011 at 11:31amSep '10
Re: The America You Remember
What Kenneth said, plus:
A problem with another person's hoodlum kid or crazy uncle or disabled child was usually taken care of locally, rather than calling in some social worker-type to handle it.
Like the title of one of G. Gordon Liddy's books says, When I Was a Kid, This Was a Free Country. No seat belt laws (not every car even had them), no "No-Smoking" sections in restaurants (just about every adult smoked, though), the public education system was decent, and somebody else's parents instantly became yours if they saw you doing something wrong.
Definitely more national pride, though that generally is showing signs in some quarters of coming back (Tea Party). We made fun of Soviet Union failed space launches, inferior (at that time) Japanese products, etc.
Race relations are better now. We actually had race riots in the mid-1970's at my high school in a town of about 4500. After those times, things did indeed change for the better, with fewer (of those formerly hostile to minorities) seeming to care or complain about minorities getting hired, mixed marriages, etc.
Running a business then seemed much less hassle than now, too.
Oct '10
Re: The America You Remember
All police cars were black with white doors.
Kids use to wait for milk truck to get pieces of ice to suck on.
All the neighbors new which kids belonged to which dogs.
All strangers were expected to correct rowdy children.
All moms could be heard yelling for the kids anywhere inside a mile radius.
In the summer, kids would leave home in the morning and return at sunset.
Everybody loved to ride in the back of pickup trucks.
Black auto paint was actually bluish and would rub off.
Flat head Fords were very popular.
Car starter switches were mounted on the floorboard.
Most folks had a party line.
Most folks would occasionally listen in on the party line.
Sleeping in sheets fresh off the clothes line was wonderful.
A pack of cigarettes was 15 cents
Candy was sold by so many pieces per penny.
Kids played cowboys and indians.
Kids had sticker fights.
Kids had dirt ball fights.
Kids climbed all over houses under construction.
Kids spent Saturday mornings weeding the garden.
Newspaper boys went collecting.
Jun '10
Re: The America You Remember
Great change: my daughter has unlimited opportunities, equal to those of her brother. Nobody stopped her from taking drafting or computer science courses or restricted her from participating in sports like I experienced.
Horrible change: Where did virtue & civility & chivalry go? What about dating? How did feminism morph from equal rights into a bizarre view that ignores gender differences?
Sad change: Why do parents feel compelled to micromanage thier kids' activities? What happened to the freedom to roam unsupervised in the park all day?
May '10
Re: The America You Remember
Kenneth:
Just some of the marvels that amazed me when I first saw them: automatic doors; power windows and air conditioning in cars; escalators, Xerox copiers; electronic calculators; fax machines. None of those things existed when I was a young boy.
I seldom pay any mind to automatic doors (unless they're slow enough to interrupt my step), but automatic sinks and toilets still seem futuristic to me.
Though I'm only 31, I can recall riding in a cousin's 1970 Chevelle without air conditioning during many summers in Mobile (humidity always over 90%). Even in the late 80s, many poor people in that area lacked AC in their homes and so would gather at the malls.
Cell phones and the internet are the major innovations of my lifetime. My youngest sister doesn't remember DOS.
I've always had the impression that people change residencies more often these days than in previous generations, but I'm not sure if that's true. I have relatives who have lived in the same town for sixty years or more. That seems exceptional.
I regret that my nephews can't play with the metal Tonka trucks. Thank God for BB guns.
Jul '10
Re: The America You Remember
One thing I frequently notice is how old America has gotten. In many places, it seems like there just aren't any young people anymore.
Jul '10
Re: The America You Remember
I forgot jet airliners. Before those came along in the late 1950's, air travel was for the elite and going anywhere overseas involved either travel by ship or an arduous, bumpy, multi-stage flight. Hawaii? Forget about it.
Sep '10
Re: The America You Remember
Another general thought occurs to me--all us kids without question respected authority, in whatever form--parents, teachers, other kids' parents, law enforcement officials, business owners, every single adult.
Sep '10
Re: The America You Remember
Kids could play outside all over the neighborhood and someone's Mom would ring a bell for dinner. Families had five to eight kids (I was an only child) I walked about a mile to kindergarten by myself.
By the time I was 12 a lot of kids smoked in public, you could easily buy a pack without question. But five of us got caught smoking in school and were suspended from the baseball team = losing season for the small school.
I hitch-hiked everywhere from age 12 to 19. It was an easy way to get around and pretty safe. A couple times I got picked up by a pervert but I just bolted from the car they were harmless fags (can I say that? yeah they were because they were hitting on a teenager for godsakes!)
Nuns were pretty crazy sometimes...
There were only three TV stations. I looked forward to Friday night shows and Saturday morning cartoons. Saturday matinees at the local movie theater - you walked there or rode your bike.
James Bond movies were racy. Playboy only had bare breasts nothing more was revealed.
Gas stations had attendants who would be courteous and wipe your windshield
Oct '10
Re: The America You Remember
More:
It was against the law for lawyers to advertise.
Doctors would make house calls.
Doctors would live in your nieghborhood.
When your oldest sister was babysitting, you'd ask her if she smelled smoke just to see if she would call the fire department.
Radios were beautiful pieces of furniture.
You got your new clothes from your older sibling.
Shoe stores had x-ray machines to ensure your shoes fit.
Kids would hunt agates along the roads and in the gravel pits.
Eggs and milk would be delivered to your door.
Steam shovels were steam shovels.
Automatic transmissions were rare.
Drive in theaters were cool.
Regular theaters advertized their air conditioning.
Incandescent ligt bulb would last for years.
Ice boxes really used ice.
Wood stoves were common.
Large families had more than 10 kids.
Small families had less than 4 kids.
The ice man would deliver ice for the ice box.
Knife sharpeners were men who went door to door.
Your mother made your sisters clothes.
Mom would heat the clothes iron on the stove.
Mom loved her wringer washing machine.
Jul '10
Re: The America You Remember
I'm not an old fogie, but I'll participate:
In the movies good and evil were clearly defined. The bad guys wore black and the Good Guys wore white or Red,White, and Blue.
And television stations actually signed off.
Dec '10
Re: The America You Remember
Well, I don't classify myself as a "fogie" yet, but things HAVE changed. My teen/early 20's kids have never seen a rotary dial phone. For that matter, in the town I grew up in you only had to dial the last 4 numbers to call someone locally. Pong was a HUGE deal. Someone already mentioned kids staying out til sunset in the summer - we stayed out past sunset. It was perfectly normal for a 7-8 year old kid to throw his hockey equipment over his shoulder and trek through the snowy landscape (about a mile) to the rink for a practice or game on a Saturday morning.
Someone else above mentioned that there was more patriotism back in the day, which I actually find to be a strange concept. I was in college a couple of years after we got out of Vietnam (77-81) and that episode in our history had seriously poisoned any notions of patriotism. It is heartening that even the lefties now have to pay homage to the troops, even if they don't mean it.
Dec '10
Re: The America You Remember
I made my first airline flight at age 18. My 17 year old daughter will be leaving for France in 3 weeks, and has already been to Uganda, the UK, and the east coast (we live in Oregon) at least 8 times.
May '10
Re: The America You Remember
Dan Holmes:
...somebody else's parents instantly became yours if they saw you doing something wrong.
Matthew Osborn:
All strangers were expected to correct rowdy children.
The stigma against even scolding (let alone grabbing) other people's kids has always bugged me. I wonder if there was any less diversity of standards regarding children's behavior back when neighbors looked after strangers' kids.
StickerShock:
Sad change: Why do parents feel compelled to micromanage thier kids' activities? What happened to the freedom to roam unsupervised in the park all day?
How much of this is because of perceptions of crime, or that kids are more likely to be arrested for things that previously would have been handled without police? People seem more fearful of injury today, too.
My parents would always send us outside if we were watching too much TV or playing video games.
Since post-9/11 security, I avoid air travel like the plague.
May '10
Re: The America You Remember
Matthew Osborn:
You got your new clothes from your older sibling.
In the 80s, my mom would patch our clothes rather than buy new ones. My teenage sister often complained about having to go to school looking like a hobo. Then companies started selling jeans brand new with patches.
That sister learned to write shorthand just before our public school stopped teaching it.
My grandma kept one until her dying day. She still used her clothesline on occasion, too. Needless to say, this is the same grandma who didn't allow hats in the house or elbows on the table. Manners were strictly enforced.
Our great aunt kept a telegraph and phonograph, though neither was still used.
Feb '11
Re: The America You Remember
Irony had not been discovered. Bliss it was in that dawn to be alive.
Edited on Feb 25, 2011 at 1:45pmJul '10
Re: The America You Remember
I also miss the days when you didn't have music forced upon you wherever you went. Yes, there was Muzak in some spaces, but now we're assaulted with pop music everywhere.
Sometimes I'm tempted to shout, "Hey, can you shut off the jungle music? Those of us who still can are trying to think!"
Dec '10
Re: The America You Remember
Kenneth: I also miss the days when you didn't have music forced upon you wherever you went. Yes, there was Muzak in some spaces, but now we're assaulted with pop music everywhere.
Sometimes I'm tempted to shout, "Hey, can you shut off the jungle music? Those of us who still can are trying to think!" · Feb 25 at 2:18pm
I'll put in a vote for restaurants without TV sets. Even if my beloved Oregon Ducks happen to be playing, I don't appreciate the distraction from those I'm dining with.
Nov '10
Re: The America You Remember
A few, off the top of my head...
Our first TV was black and white and we had to change channels with needle nose pliers, because the Bakelite knobs always broke off. I love remote controls and 60" widescreen HDTV's. I can see the quarterback's mouth moving in a wide shot. Life is good.
Technical design was done with a pencil, a T-square and an expensive calculator. I've used a computer for the last 24 years. I don't own a calculator. I draw with a pencil for recreation. Life is great.
The rotary dial phone was black, hung on the wall, had a 20 ft cord and the number in the middle of the dial said TU1-3806. I thought my friends with push-button phones were so lucky. Quality of life took a meaningful jump with that invention. Boy, I don't miss rotary dial.
Every car that went down the road, you knew the make and usually the model. Now, you don't have the slightest clue, unless it's an antique. Cars are so much better now.
Jul '10
Re: The America You Remember
Risky:
Every car that went down the road, you knew the make and usually the model. Now, you don't have the slightest clue, unless it's an antique. Cars are so much better now. · Feb 25 at 3:06pm
Roger that. Even the muscle cars I drove in the 60's can't compare to a decent family sedan these days. And I remember when the selling point for Cadillac was how quiet it was in the cabin. Econoboxes are quieter these days.
In the 50's and 60's, it was a marvel if a car lasted 75,000 miles - after endless tune-ups, engine and transmission rebuilds and brake jobs. Now, you can easily go 250,000 miles with little more than basic maintenance.
The only advantage the old American cars had were wide bench seats, which served teenagers well for, um, dates.