I was born in 1951 in Switzerland, and here are some of the things I remember from the 1950s:
The economy was somehow such that it was economically feasible to have the mail delivered to the house three times a day and parcel post twice. The milkman, of course, brought dairy products, and the baker delivered bread and pastries every morning. Newspapers came in, and were delivered, a morning and afternoon edition.
Though it was just a few years after World War 2, Switzerland seemed completely unaffected and whole. And to us kids, so seemed our neighbors Germany, Italy, Austria and France, though all had been nearly destroyed in the war.
The adults, though, were affected. I remember my dad showing me our always packed emergency backpacks, in case the Soviet Union rolled over Western Europe.
East Germany was generally seen as the ultimate bad guys.
There was no crime. And traffic was so mild that even as Kindergarteners, we walked to school by ourselves.
Few families had a car. Those who did usually had a Volkswagen Beetle, or a small Opel or Ford. My father's Fiat 1400 was considered quite special, and when he bought a Jaguar sedan in 1958, it was the talk of the neighborhood.
No TV throughout the 50s. I recall a couple of friends whose families had small black & white sets where we occasionally got to watch Lassie, Father Knows Best and such.
Tourism was already big. For vacations we would drive to the Italian Riviera or the western coast of France and stay in hotels for weeks at a time.
Of course, no credit cards. Whatever you needed was in cash.
You did not go to the doctor if you were sick; the doctor came to the house.
Japan was viewed as the maker of cheap, crappy toys and other cheap stuff that instantly fell apart, like we now view a lot of cheap stuff from China.
No video games, of course. We did have some of the board and other games that are still popular today (Monopoly , Scrabble, Lego, etc.). I had hundreds of small model cars (Dinky Toys, Gorgy Toys?) and a model railroad.
Refrigeration was in its infancy. As a result, we were nauseous a lot.
There were no speed limits on most open roads. I remember the white street sign with a bar through the local speed limit number at the end of most villages and towns. It meant: have at it, go as fast as you like. Which wasn't such a big deal as VWs and most other affordable cars of the day maxed out at 70-75mph with a good tailwind.
This was all in Switzerland. I assume things may have been quite different here in the United States.
The economy was somehow such that it was economically feasible to have the mail delivered to the house three times a day and parcel post twice. The milkman, of course, brought dairy products, and the baker delivered bread and pastries every morning. Newspapers came in, and were delivered, a morning and afternoon edition.
Though it was just a few years after World War 2, Switzerland seemed completely unaffected and whole. And to us kids, so seemed our neighbors Germany, Italy, Austria and France, though all had been nearly destroyed in the war.
The adults, though, were affected. I remember my dad showing me our always packed emergency backpacks, in case the Soviet Union rolled over Western Europe.
East Germany was generally seen as the ultimate bad guys.
There was no crime. And traffic was so mild that even as Kindergarteners, we walked to school by ourselves.
Few families had a car. Those who did usually had a Volkswagen Beetle, or a small Opel or Ford. My father's Fiat 1400 was considered quite special, and when he bought a Jaguar sedan in 1958, it was the talk of the neighborhood.
No TV throughout the 50s. I recall a couple of friends whose families had small black & white sets where we occasionally got to watch Lassie, Father Knows Best and such.
Tourism was already big. For vacations we would drive to the Italian Riviera or the western coast of France and stay in hotels for weeks at a time.
Of course, no credit cards. Whatever you needed was in cash.
You did not go to the doctor if you were sick; the doctor came to the house.
Japan was viewed as the maker of cheap, crappy toys and other cheap stuff that instantly fell apart, like we now view a lot of cheap stuff from China.
No video games, of course. We did have some of the board and other games that are still popular today (Monopoly , Scrabble, Lego, etc.). I had hundreds of small model cars (Dinky Toys, Gorgy Toys?) and a model railroad.
Refrigeration was in its infancy. As a result, we were nauseous a lot.
There were no speed limits on most open roads. I remember the white street sign with a bar through the local speed limit number at the end of most villages and towns. It meant: have at it, go as fast as you like. Which wasn't such a big deal as VWs and most other affordable cars of the day maxed out at 70-75mph with a good tailwind.
This was all in Switzerland. I assume things may have been quite different here in the United States.
