Saturday, March 12, 2016

Kids Before The 70's



















TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE

1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's!! 


I am blessed to have been raised during the late 40’s and 50’s.  It was a great era for kids to grow up, playing outside with no fears of being abducted and using commons sense.

First, we survived being born to some mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had baseball caps not helmets on our heads.

As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes.

Riding in the back of a pick-up truck on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and no one actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter and bacon. We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar.  And, we weren't overweight.  WHY?  Because we were always outside playing...that's why!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day. And, we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride them down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes.  After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's and X-boxes. There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet and no chat rooms. 

WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them. 

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team.  Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment.  Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of.  They actually sided with the law! 

These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever.

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.  We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.  


Kids now days protest and destroy property if they don’t get what they want or demand.  And they do it because they never learned to deal with problems or simply because they can with no danger of punishment.  Nope!  I am glad I was raised during the great days of the USA.

If YOU are one of our generation, CONGRATULATIONS!

While you are at it, forward this to your grandkids so they will know how brave and lucky their parents and grandparents were.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?

5 comments:

lotta joy said...

If we fell off our bikes, no one sued Schwinn. If we got an electrical shock from sticking a fork in the receptical, no one installed safety plugs. We were called "idiot" and told we "got what we deserved".

NO ONE wore helmets and knee pads while riding their bikes or skating. We would have had a "not politically correct" name for them and would have avoided them at all cost.

We LEARNED by experience.

Well Seasoned Fool said...

My son and daughter-in-law are raising their kids in much the same way excepting car seats. They are required to spend time out of the house, weather permitting.

Anonymous said...

I looked at Lotta joy's blog list and realized you were missing from mine. I deleted everyone when I quit blogging and boy that was a mistake. Anyway I have found you again and will catch up in time. Glad you are still blogging.....

Old NFO said...

+1 on Lotta... sigh...

Coffeypot said...

LJ - Playing stick ball in the streets, running all over the neighborhood barefooted. Yep, we grew up in a better time, IMHO.

WSF - BZ on your son and dil. Nothing can beat the fresh air and sunlight on kids.

Rat - I stopped blogging,too. Just started back a few days ago, but don't know how long I'll keep at it this time.

ONFO - LJ always has some good advice and comments. Wise woman (except she moved to Florida).