(Under age 40? You probably won't understand.)
Black and White

You could hardly see for all the snow,
Spread the rabbit ears as far as they go.
Pull a chair up to the TV set,
"Good Night, David. Good Night, Chet."

Depending on the channel you tuned,
You got Rob and Laura - or Ward and June.
It felt so good. It felt so right.

Life looked better in black and white.

I Love Lucy, The Real McCoys,
Dennis the Menace, the Cleaver boys,
Rawhide, Gunsmoke, Wagon Train,
Superman, Jimmy and Lois Lane.

Father Knows Best, Patty Duke,
Rin Tin Tin and Lassie too,
Donna Reed on Thursday night!
Life looked better in black and white.

I wanna go back to black and white.
Everything always turned out right.
Simple people, simple lives...
Good guys always won the fights.

Now nothing is the way it seems,
In living color on the TV screen.
Too many murders, too many fights,
I wanna go back to black and white.

In God they trusted, alone in bed they slept,
A promise made was a promise kept.
They never cussed or broke their vows.
They'd never make the network now

But if I could, I'd rather be
In a TV town in '53.
It felt so good. It felt so right.
Life looked better in black and white.

I'd trade all the channels on the satellite,
If I could just turn back the clock tonight
To when everybody knew wrong from right.
Life was better in black and white!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Another Goody For The Oldtimers

My Mom used to cut chicken, chop eggs and spread mayo on the same cutting board with the same knife and no bleach, but we didn't seem to get food poisoning.

My Mom used to defrost hamburger on the counter AND I used to eat it raw sometimes, too.
Our school sandwiches were wrapped in wax paper in a brown paper bag, not in icepack coolers, but I can't remember getting e.coli.

Almost all of us would have rather gone swimming in the lake instead of a pristine pool (talk about boring), no beach closures then.

The term cell phone would have conjured up a phone in a jail cell, and a pager was the school PA system.

We all took gym, not PE... and risked permanent injury with a pair of high top Ked's (only worn in gym) instead of having cross-training athletic shoes with air cushion soles and built in light reflectors.
I can't recall any injuries but they must have happened because they tell us how much safer we are now.

Flunking gym was not an option... even for stupid kids!
I guess PE must be much harder than gym.

Speaking of school, we all said prayers and sang the national anthem, and staying in detention after school caught all sorts of negative attention.

We must have had horribly damaged psyches.
What an archaic health system we had then.
Remember school nurses? Ours wore a hat and everything.

I thought that I was supposed to accomplish something before I was allowed to be proud of myself.

I just can't recall how bored we were without computers, Play Station, Nintendo, X-box or 270 digital TV cable stations.

Oh yeah... and where was the Benadryl and sterilization kit when I got that bee sting? I could have been killed!

We played 'king of the hill' on piles of gravel left on vacant construction sites, and when we got hurt, Mom pulled out the 48-cent bottle of Mercurochrome (kids liked it better because it didn't sting like iodine did) and then we got our butt spanked.

Now it's a trip to the emergency room, followed by a 10-day dose of a $49 bottle of antibiotics, and then Mom calls the attorney to sue the contractor for leaving a horribly vicious pile of gravel where it was such a threat.

We didn't act up at the neighbor's house either because if we did, we got our butt spanked there and then we got butt spanked again when we got home.

I recall Donny Reynolds from next door coming over and doing his tricks on the front step, just before he fell off.
Little did his Mom know that she could have owned our house.
Instead, she picked him up and swatted him for being such a goof.
It was a neighborhood run amuck.

To top it off, not a single person I knew had ever been told that they were from a dysfunctional family.
How could we possibly have known that?

We needed to get into group therapy and anger management classes?
We were obviously so duped by so many societal ills, that we didn't even notice that the entire country wasn't taking Prozac!
How did we ever survive?

LOVE TO ALL OF US WHO SHARED THIS ERA, AND TO ALL WHO DIDN'T- SORRY FOR WHAT YOU MISSED.
I WOULDN'T TRADE IT FOR ANYTHING

 

That was pretty darn accurate

Thanks ....I still wane for the good old days.

 

how about this one??
when you did something wrong,or stupid, and were caught by the cops, like racing on the street, the cops beat you up. then one cop would drive your car back home, while the other cop drove you home in the back seat,and they both stood there, while you told your dad what you did to be escorted home in the back seat of a police car. and then your dad put a whoopin on you.

and you learned not to do it again.
and did not sue the cops, and your dad did not go to jail for child abuse.

 

Good post sierra. It was great to be raised in that era. Lots of good memories.

 

The 60's and 70's were my favorite time for almost everything. Music, attitudes, friends, food and wages were all better.

That said, high definition on a 55" screen in Dolby surround with perfecly tuned subwoofer and friends sitting around watching the Bears game on DVR is a good time unimaginable 30 years ago. Wouldn't trade this Sundays get together for much from back then.

 

You did not see little kids run all over a store and getting into things they shouldnt. Another adult could reprimand the little kid and not be called "interferring"

If a child started a tantrum in a store, he or she was taken outside and spanked. To let sit in the car to "cool off" as punishment with no fear of being called an "abusive parent".

You, as an adult, could safely smile and wave at a little child who returns the favor. Be helpful if it's needed. Play peekapoo with a little one and not be considered a pervert or possible sex offender.

You said "yes ma'am"/no ma'am" or "yes sir/no sir" to all adults. Use "Mr, Mrs. or Miss"
with their names. Informality was not proper with adults other than close family....if they allowed it.

Most certainly you did not use a "smart mouth" while talking to adults....even if you were angry.

Play for hours with your friends and when you came home, your mother was not scared to death that someone kidnapped you.

Manners were taught at an early age and you remembered them for the rest of your life.

 

hey yall,
I wasn' given the chance to grow up in a stituation like that. Although it does sound right nice. I know I still did however ge to grow up in a situation kinda like that. I grew up and still live in a small country town that I love deeply. I know i may not be able to put myself in some of yalls shoes and I'm not intending to step on any toes here. I do know though that my Mom has raised me to still believe many things that were mentioned here. I know I am sure glad and thankful she did. You know no matter how old ya are what you do still reflects on your parents and you should always do what you should to show them the most respect that they deserve. I gotta say alot of people my age don't seem to realize that anymore. I may be 19 and I may be an adult but I ain't never to big or grown to realize how and who got me to where I am today.

 

my oldest nephew is 24. at age 17 he took his car out for a ride with only his learners permit and no licensed driver.needless to say, he got caught by a cousin , who is also a police officer.
as my sister was reading him the riot act in the driveway, the neighbor told her she could not talk to him that way, and if she did not stop immediately, she would call the proper authorities to report child abuse.

my nephew told the neighbor something to the effect of excuse me, but don't tell my mother how to raise me. we don't tell you what to do with your kids.
the neighbor called dyfs(division of youth and family services) and the police.
dyfs and cops show up, and start an investigation. my nephew told the police and dyfs case worker very politely to kiss off, it was a family affair, and none of their business. this is from a young man that always says please and thank you, sir and maam, and holds doors open for everyone to enter before he does.

so you are not alone in having good parenting.

 

Back then every one watched out for each other and you knew your neighbours.

 

I am from that time. It was much better than today IMO

 

I remember those days.....fondly. What a time. When I tell my kids about standing in my Grandma's living room and watching Neil Armstrong walk on the moon and I can remember it like it was last week they look at me like I am making it up.

 

Yeah, Texas Outlaw.....I remember watching that too. Nowadays, there are kids who believe it was never done. All a hoax. But I remember being all excited when John Glenn going up in "Freedom 7", watching the NASA feed from the Gemini program and the early Apollo (my mother is a retired Aerospace Engineer and helped work on the latter two.) Heady, exciting times. Still is today with that has been going on "up and out there".

Bigsexy, you dont have to have lived in "those times". Just being raised in a similar environment as you have been. Tjc, your nephew had a good grip on what was important and that neighbor did not.

 

Actually John Glenn JR. went up in Friendship 7 (I sat in that capsule at the Seattle World's Fair in 1962)

Alan Shepard went up in Freedom 7.

I was quite interested in space flight back.

The Walk on the moon was a made exactly One week before my 19th birthday and I thought to myself ,as far as technology goes..I am living in wondrous times

I think we got our first colour TV in 1963 or 64.

It was Clairtone made with a blonde coloured cabinet.

 

move to eastern europe, russia, or a few of the ex-ussr republics and life is still culturally like that, thats why i like it over there, economy sucks but culturely it is very relaxing, thats why my wife and i are planning on living there soon one day.

 

Yeah, it was Friendship 7. But do remember Shepard going up.